Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minutes of Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Forestry Commission (V12)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  This memorandum sets out the role and work of the Forestry Commission in relation to the Rural Strategy 2004.

  The Rural Strategy in line with Lord Haskins' recommendations will have the following implications for the Forestry Commission:

    —  responsibility for strategic forestry policy in England will transfer to Defra so they will be able to consider the role of forestry as part of an integrated approach to delivering public benefits from land management;

    —  Defra will transfer their forestry delivery responsibilities to the Forestry Commission. This will broaden the responsibilities of the Forestry Commission as the lead delivery body for forestry; and

    —  the Forestry Commission will become a close working partner of the new Integrated Agency providing distinct but complementary expert roles and will work with the Agency to modernise and streamline arrangements for more effective and efficient delivery of rural policy objectives.

  The Forestry Commission welcomes the Rural Strategy and modernised rural delivery arrangements.

  The Forestry Commission has a track record of sustaining its distinctive skills in managing land and woodland for public benefit and adapting delivery mechanisms to serve the changing needs of society. It looks forward to adapting to serve the Rural Strategy and an integrated approach to land management.

INTRODUCTION

  1.  This memorandum sets out the role and work of the Forestry Commission that is relevant to the Government's Rural Strategy 2004. The Commission also works on issues that are outside the scope of the Rural Strategy, for example in urban areas and the regeneration of former industrial land in support of the Sustainable Communities Plan led by ODPM. This memorandum considers the rural aspects of the Commission's work.

STATUS, FUNCTIONS AND ORGANISATION OF THE COMMISSION

  2.  The Forestry Commission is the non-ministerial government department responsible for advising on and implementing forestry policy in Great Britain. It is a cross-border public authority responsible separately to Ministers in England, Scotland and Wales and collectively on GB functions. Forestry is a devolved matter and in England the Commission reports to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Commission is headed by a Board of Commissioners, whose principal duties and powers are defined in the Forestry Acts 1967 and 1979.

  3.  The Commission manages the public forest estates in each country, offers grants for expanding, regenerating and managing forests and regulates tree felling. It also provides advice to Ministers, undertakes and commissions research, sets standards for good forestry practice and protects Britain's forests from pests and diseases. In England the public forest estate amounts to 260,000 hectares, equivalent to about one fifth of the country's woodlands.

CONTINUITY AND CHANGE

  4.  Forestry is a distinctive and very long-term use of land. This calls for an approach that fosters both continuity in the management of land and relationships with landowners together with flexibility in adapting outputs to serve the changing needs of society.

  5.  The Forestry Commission has a track record in exemplifying this approach. The Commission was originally charged with creating plantations to provide more substantial and secure supplies of wood. Since the creation of the Forestry Commission woodland area has doubled and wood production has significantly increased. Priorities of society have, however, changed. The response of the Commission is illustrated by the following examples:

    —  Great Britain was the first country in the world to secure internationally recognised independent certification for the sustainable management of its public forest estate;

    —  the Forestry Commission is the largest individual provider of public access and informal recreation facilities in the countryside;

    —  over 90% of all grant aid to private landowners for the creation of new woodlands is to support the planting of native broadleaves; and

    —  the Forestry Commission is now a major partner in the restoration of derelict land, creating improved environments and accessible green space in our major cities and coalfield communities.

FORESTRY POLICY

  6.  The Government's aims for forestry in England are:

    —  the sustainable management of our existing woods and forests; and

    —  a continued steady expansion of our woodland area to provide more benefits for society and our environment.

  7.  The Government's priorities and programmes for delivering sustainable forestry in England are set out in its forestry strategy, A New Focus for England's Woodlands[8]. The forestry strategy is a sister document to the Strategy for Farming and Food published by Defra. Taken together they provide the main land-use context of the Rural Strategy 2004.

  8.  The England Forestry Strategy was published in December 1998 and is based around four inter-related programmes: Rural Development; Economic Regeneration; Recreation, Access and Tourism; and the Environment and Conservation. Each of the four programmes includes a range of actions that the government plans to take over the next five to 10 years.

    —  Forestry for Rural Development covers forestry's role in the rural economy with particular reference to timber production and the development of markets. The focus is upon how woodlands can be managed to deliver more benefits to local economies, by creating jobs both upstream and downstream of the forest industry.

    —  Forestry for Economic Regeneration outlines opportunities for woodlands to play a positive role in strategic land-use planning. These include restoring former industrial land and creating a green setting for future urban and urban fringe development.

    —  Forestry for Recreation, Access, and Tourism describes what can be done to promote more and better quality public access to woodlands. The programme also includes opportunities for ensuring that woods and forests continue to be used for a wide range of recreational pursuits as well as complementing and supporting the tourist industry which is now a major contributor to the rural economy.

    —  Forestry for the Environment and Conservation embraces the role that woodlands can play in conserving and enhancing the character of our environment, our cultural heritage and in delivering the Government's nature conservation, biodiversity and climate change objectives. It also considers the impact that woodland creation and management may have on other environmental resources and other land-uses.

FORESTRY AND THE RURAL STRATEGY

  9.  The Rural Strategy 2004 recognises that forestry is a key land-use which, through the England Forestry Strategy, helps to protect our natural resources, provides public services and underpins sustainable development.

  10.  The Forestry Commissioners have welcomed the new arrangements in the Rural Strategy which implement recommendations made by Lord Haskins:

    —  responsibility for strategic policy on forestry in England will transfer to Defra who will now be able to consider the role of forestry as part of an integrated approach to delivering public benefits from land management;

    —  the Forestry Commission will focus within this framework upon being the main delivery body for forestry, developing woodland solutions for the Government's policy priorities on sustainable development, natural resource protection and health and wellbeing. In order to rationalise delivery arrangements, Defra will transfer responsibility to the Forestry Commission for community forestry around towns and will strengthen the role of the Commission in supporting the creation of new woodlands on farms by transferring responsibility for the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme; and

    —  the Forestry Commission will become a close working partner of the new Integrated Agency. This will reflect our distinctive areas of expertise, complementary objectives and stakeholders who are based on the use of land for a range of social, economic and environmental purposes. The new partnership will also build upon the close working relationship that the Commission already has with English Nature, the Countryside Agency, the Rural Development Service and other local and national partnerships which include the Environment Agency, English Heritage, Regional Development Agencies, the Association of National Parks and the Association of AONBs.

DEVELOPING NEW PARTNERSHIP APPROACHES FOR STREAMLINED EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY

  11.  The transitional period preparing for the full operation of the new Integrated Agency provides scope for substantial advances in the delivery of rural services through a partnership with the Forestry Commission. The following points illustrate the potential scope of such an approach which would exemplify modernised rural delivery:

(a)   Shared Objectives

  Both organisations should work closely with Defra to identify joint interests/responsibilities in delivering objectives and contributions to Public Service Agreements. Key areas of joint working should include:

    —  land management solutions to diffuse pollution, soil and water conservation and mitigating the risks posed by climate change;

    —  protection of designated sites SSSIs, Natura 2000 sites and scheduled Ancient Monuments;

    —  implementation of the England Biodiversity Strategy with special reference to habitat and species action plans;

    —  tackling deficiencies in access provision or recreation facilities in the countryside;

    —  conserving and enhancing cultural landscapes with particular reference to AONBs; and

    —  exemplifying sustainable use of land for beneficial public purposes with particular reference to National Parks.

(b)   Distinctive but Complementary Roles

  The two bodies should agree a Memorandum of Understanding on our shared objectives and arrangements for joint working. This should complement memoranda specifying the relationships that both bodies should have in future with Defra.

(c)   Integrated Approaches to Land Management

  The Commission considers that there is considerable scope for co-operation at the strategic, catchment, landscape and farm scales between itself and the integrated agency when considering interactions between land-uses to secure better policy outcomes.

(d)   Statutory Mechanisms

  The legislation to establish the new integrated agency should require it to work closely with the Commission, particularly on issues concerning land-use change and the protection of woodland, for which the Commission has statutory duties involving Environmental Impact Assessments and the licensing of tree felling. There is also scope for streamlining existing consultation procedures to improve public services and decision making.

(e)   Grant Schemes to Landowners

  The Commission's new English Woodland Grant Scheme is being developed for introduction in 2005 alongside the Defra's new agri-environment schemes using wherever possible consistent values and approaches. Both schemes will form part of the new Environmental Land Management Fund and there may be scope within this for further integration.

(f)   Shared Services

  Building upon the work of the modernising rural delivery review, the Commission believes that there is scope to develop a wide range of shared services with the Integrated Agency for greater efficiency in delivery. The scope includes: "first stop shops"; co-location of staff; sharing specialist staff and support services; interoperable systems for the management of grant applications and data and a shared Internet interface with customers.

REGIONAL AND LOCAL DELIVERY

  12.  The Commission is already organised on regional lines and we are working with English Nature, the Countryside Agency, Government Offices for the Regions and the Rural Development Agencies in the prioritisation of rural delivery resources and the tailoring of delivery arrangements to serve local needs. To prepare the ground for an increased regional approach we are:

    —  supporting Government Offices in the preparation of Regional Forestry Frameworks which are due for completion by March 2005; and

    —  preparing to deliver the new English Woodland Grant Scheme through Regional Grants responding to regional needs and priorities with a national framework.

THE PUBLIC FOREST ESTATE

  13.  The changes announced for rural delivery by the Government as part of the Rural Strategy will have no direct impact on arrangements for managing the public forest estate.

  14.  At 260,000 hectares, the public forest estate vested in the Secretary of State and entrusted to the Forestry Commission is, nevertheless, the largest individual vehicle available to the Government to engage directly in the rural and urban delivery of public services from land management. The public forest estate is an exemplar of sustainable development as recognised internationally through independent certification of its woodland management. It is the largest provider of access and recreational facilities in the countryside, a major land manager in National Parks and with the Ministry of Defence, the largest manager of Sites of Special Scientific Interest and ancient monuments. The estate is also growing rapidly in creating and managing green space in and around our major urban centres.

  15.  Building on this experience the Commission sees considerable scope for broadening the partnership with the new agency by using the public forest estate as an exemplar of best practice in the delivery of sustainable solutions for land management and as a catalyst for working with adjacent landowners on projects which can only be tackled at a landscape scale.

CONCLUSIONS

  16.  The Forestry Commission welcomes the Rural Strategy and the modernised rural delivery arrangements. We look forward to developing a close partnership with Defra and the new Integrated Agency based on distinctive but complementary roles and building upon the good working relationships we have with existing delivery bodies.

  17.  The Forestry Commission is well placed to support Government Offices and partners in identifying the priorities for forestry in each region and adapting delivery arrangements to suit local circumstances.

  18.  The Forestry Commission has a track record of sustaining our distinctive skills in managing land and woodland for public benefit and adapting our delivery mechanisms to serve the changing needs of society. It will continue to adapt to serve the new Rural Strategy and an integrated approach to land management.

17 September 2004





8   A New Focus for England's Woodlands. Strategic Priorities and Programmes. Forestry Commission 1998. Back


 
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