§ 80. Mr. Haymanasked the Minister of Agriculture how many prosecutions have been instituted in each of the last eight years under the Fertiliser and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1926; and in how many of these convictions were obtained.
§ Mr. NugentIn England and Wales, prosecutions by local authorities under the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, 1926, for certain offences require the prior consent of the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. The following table gives the number of prosecutions under this provision during the last eight years:
Year Number of prosecutions taken Number of convictions obtained 1946 3 2 1947 2 2 1948 3 1 1949 2 2 1950 1 1 1951 3 2 1952 6 4 1953 2 — Totals 22 14 For other, minor offences, prosecutions can be taken without the consent of the Minister. No information is available of the number of prosecutions in these cases. The prior consent of the Secretary of State is not required for prosecutions in Scotland and there are no statistics relating to prosecutions in Scotland. In Northern Ireland one prosecution under 177W the Act has been taken during the last eight years. This prosecution was taken in 1952 by the Ministry of Agriculture and a conviction was obtained.