§ Sir A. Baillieasked the Minister of Agriculture how many cases of flooding of agricultural land have been reported to him this winter; and whether in all such cases proper drainage is being put in hand.
Mr. HudsonI regret that records are not kept in a form which would enable me to supply the information asked for in the first part of the Question without a great deal of clerical labour; but only a small proportion of the reports made to me on the drainage of agricultural land are concerned with flooding. Remedial works are a matter for local drainage authorities or owners and occupiers of land, but every effort is made by my Department and by County War Agricultural Executive Committees, through the provision of grant-aid and otherwise to see that such works are carried out where the expenditure is justified by the likely benefits to food production.