Agriculture (Amendment) Act, 1944

Payment of travelling expenses to members of committees of agriculture.

2.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a committee of agriculture shall defray the expenses of locomotion incurred—

(a) by each of its members in travelling to and from meetings of such committee held after the 30th day of June, 1943, and

(b) by a member of a sub-committee of such committee in travelling to and from meetings of such sub-committee held after the 30th day of June, 1943.

(2) No person shall be paid under this section expenses in respect of a meeting held at a place less than five miles by any route from his ordinary place of residence.

(3) The amount of the expenses paid under this section to a person in respect of a meeting shall not exceed the amount of the expenses which would reasonably have been incurred by him in travelling from and to his ordinary place of residence to and from the place of that meeting.

(4) No person shall be paid under this section expenses in respect of a meeting of a sub-committee of a committee of agriculture unless the Minister, on the application of that committee, authorises the payment, under this section, of expenses to members of that sub-committee.

(5) A claim for payment under this section of expenses shall be made in writing and the Minister, if he so thinks fit, may direct the form to be used in making such claim.

(6) A person who knowingly makes or allows to be made a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a payment under this section for himself or another shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.

(7) A person who is convicted of an offence under this section shall thereafter be disqualified from being elected or being a member of a committee of agriculture or of a body which is a local authority for any of the purposes of the Local Government Acts, 1925 to 1941, or of a council established by law in respect of a county or county borough or a committee of such council and shall also be disqualified from holding an office or employment under a committee of agriculture or any such body, council or committee as aforesaid.

(8) The references in section 17 and in paragraph (d) of sub-section (1) of section 38 of the Principal Act to the provisions of the Principal Act relating to the payment of travelling expenses to members of committees shall be construed as including references to the preceding provisions of this section.

(9) Section 18 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 2 of the Agriculture (Amendment) Act, 1934 (No. 20 of 1934), and the Third Schedule to the Principal Act shall cease to apply in relation to a meeting, held after the 30th day of June, 1943, of a committee of agriculture.