Examination of Witness (Questions 160-161)
9 NOVEMBER 2004
LORD HASKINS
Q160 Chairman: Tell me what you think
should happen.
Lord Haskins: Change is always
very painful for people. When I was in business we were always
in the business of shutting factories and I always tried to make
sure that we told the people in those factories, "We are
going to shut it but we are not going to shut it for two years,"
and give people time to adjust. I always found that if people
know what the end game is they will go along with it. What they
hate is the uncertainty or what they hate is if someone comes
and says it is going to happen tomorrow morning. So I think whilst
it is painful for people going through this change, and it is
difficult particularly in the public sector because the scale
of what we are talking about is enormous, I still think it is
right to be up-front early on and say this is where we want to
get to, there will be some discomfort, on the other hand over
a two year period you have got time to adjust, you have got time
to decide whether you want to go with the new agency or elsewhere.
What I am hearing is that everybody is behaving in a very, very
sensible way. The new Land Management Agency requires legislation
but nevertheless the various people—from the Countryside
Agency to English Nature to the Forestry Commission to the Rural
Development Service—are all working together to make the
thing work and from that point of view I am very encouraged. If
you treat people in a grown-up, trusting way you are surprised
how well they respond.
Q161 Chairman: Right, on that very positive
note, thank you very much for coming to talk to us and telling
us what you are hearing. I am, as I said at the beginning, very
grateful to you for coming because certainly there could well
have been a view, "I have done my report; implementation
is up to other people" but, as I say, the Committee were
very keen to see you just to get a snapshot from you and some
robust views about what is happening at the moment, so thank you
very much, Chris.
Lord Haskins: Thank you very much.
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