HC Deb 26 July 1951 vol 491 cc77-8W
49. Sir W. Smithers

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will introduce legislation which will enable the decisions of the Minister and of county executive committees, with regard to dispossession or control of farmers and smallholders, to be appealed against in an independent law court.

Mr. T. Williams

No. Part II of the Agriculture Act, 1947, and the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1948, already provide that any of my decisions which materially affect either a landlord or a tenant shall be subject to an appeal to an agricultural land tribunal, which is an independent body whose decision is final and binding on all parties.

50. Sir W. Smithers

asked the Minister of Agriculture on how many occasions since the Agriculture Act, 1947, and the Small Holdings Act, 1948, became law he and the county executive committees have exercised, under those Acts, their powers of dispossession; and on how many occasions appeals by the farmers or smallholders concerned were successful.

Mr. T. Williams

One hundred and twenty-eight farmers and five landowners have been dispossessed. Nine appeals, all by farmers, have been upheld.