§ Mr. Leeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in the light of extra funds being paid to the farming industry, as a result of the 7½ per cent. green pound devaluation, he will introduce legislation providing for the dispossession of inefficient farmers on the lines of the equivalent provision contained in the Agriculture Act 1947 but since repealed.
§ Mr. StrangNo. The Agriculture Act 1947 provided the Minister with powers of dispossession in Sections 16 to 20 and of supervision and direction in Sections 12 to 15. Their intention was to keep land in full production in times of scarcity following the last war. Little use was made of these powers, which were largely operated by the county agricultural executive committees, and they were repealed by the Agriculture Act 1958. The CAECs were abolished by the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1972.