1. Where the Minister has given to any person a notice specifying any action proposed to be taken and informing him of his right to make representations, that person may within ten days from the date of the giving of such notice make representations to the Minister in writing, by serving on the Secretary of the Committee a statement setting forth in detail the matters which he desires the Minister to consider before taking the action in question.

2. Whether or not representations are made to the Minister in writing pursuant to the preceding regulation, the person to whom notice as aforesaid has been given by the Minister may, within ten days from the date of the giving of such notice, serve on the Secretary of the Committee a request in writing signed by him that an opportunity be afforded to him of being heard by a person appointed by the Minister for the purpose.

3. The provisions of the two preceding regulations shall have effect, in any case where notice as aforesaid shall have been given by the Minister to a smallholdings authority pursuant to subsection (2) of section fifty-seven of the Act, or to any person pursuant to subsection (4) of section eighty-five or subsection (4) of section eighty-six of the Act, as though for any reference to the Secretary of the Committee there were substituted a reference to the Minister.

4.-(1) In these regulations, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them:-

"The Act" means the Agriculture Act, 1947;

"The Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries;

"The Committee" means the County Agricultural Executive Committee for the administrative county in which is situated or deemed to be situated the agricultural land affected by the proposed action of the Minister, or (in case the said land is situated or deemed to be situated in more than one administrative county) in which is situated or deemed to be situated the greater part of the said land.

(2) The Interpretation Act, 1889, shall apply to the interpretation of these regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

5.-(1) These regulations may be cited as the Agriculture (Making of Representations) Regulations, 1948, and apply to England and Wales.

(2) These regulations shall come into operation on the first day of March, 1948.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Agriculture Act, 1947, provides for the taking of certain courses of action by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, only after affording the persons concerned an opportunity to make representations to the Minister, written or oral or both. Section 104 of the Act empowers the Minister to prescribe the time and the manner in which such written representations are to be made, and the time and the manner in which a request for an oral hearing is to be made. The present Regulations are made in the exercise of that power. They come into operation on 1st March, 1948.