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Baroness Byford: I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord for his comments. Does he imagine that several different companies could apply in areas or is he looking to have one company that will organise that side of the Forestry Commission throughout the UK?
Lord Clark of Windermere: I thank the noble Baroness for that question. We are thinking of one organisation. The truth is that we are good at running forests, but we are not very good at running other things, because that is not our skill and expertise. We are seeking a partner who has empathy, who has similar wishes, desires and values. The partner will run not only our three cabin sites, but our 20 or so caravan sites. The objective is that they would all be run together.
As the noble Baroness knows, we have a lot of experience in working with partners, not only in the current voluntary sense. We have planted enormously in the north-west of England. As I have told the Minister, in recent years we have planted 2 million trees in St Helens, 1 million in Wigan, 1 million in Warrington, 1 million in Knowsley and almost a million in Ellesmere Port. We have provided the cash, the expertise and some labour, but we could not do it without our partners in local government, in Groundwork and in 101 other organisations. We are used to working with private sector partners. About £20 million each year is given in grants to private landowners who helped us to provide the green cloth across this country. They are an integral part of providing the wooded base for Britain. We want to build on that experience. That is the background, experience and philosophy we have when we are asking for permission to free us up a little so that we
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can build into the state forest service the benefits of private enterprise and can work in partnership, sharing the skills and the profits.
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: I thank the three noble Lords who have taken part in this short debate. If I fail to answer in a fully satisfactory way, I shall of course write to them.
I was asked whether there was a danger that joint ventures could skew the present focus on biodiversity and sustainability. The proposals are about being able to deliver public benefits on the estate more effectively and efficiently. As my noble friend Lord Clark of Windermere said, they will not affect the commissioners' general statutory duties or policy objectives. Moreover, the Forestry Commission has specific statutory obligations on the protection of the environment. These will remain unchanged.
Questions were asked about research. The order will remove restrictions imposed by the Forestry Act and will enable Forest Research to undertake joint research and to manage its intellectual property in line with current best practice in the UK research community. The majority of the Forestry Commission's research is carried out by its own dedicated executive agency, known as Forest Research. All new powers requested will apply to it. The order will strengthen its research resources and allow it to exploit innovative opportunities that arise as a result of research. It will be given the freedom to participate in joint ventures, form spin-off companies and undertake joint research with private sector partners, which offer the forestry and environmental services access to new sources of research funding.
There is no intention to favour commercial research at the expense of social and environmental research. We believe that by more effectively being able to do this work through the proposals in the order, we would enable better commercial exploitation. There is no intention to inhibit the free exchange of information that exists between Forest Research and other research and countryside organisations. Rather, we want to put Forest Research on the same footing as other research establishments by allowing commercial exploitation where there is a clear benefit.
I understand the point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, about whether there is a danger that the information would not be in the public domain. Forest Research, which is the Forestry Commission's research and development agency, recently won a £500,000 award to help it to bring the products of its research to the commercial market place. I want to look into the noble Baroness's narrower point about whether others will be able to benefit from that line of research, or whether it could be held back from them.
Questions were asked about the appeals system on factual judgments deciding whether a person has committed the offence of unlawful felling. The decision will be evidence-based, following the involvement of several different people. Alleged illegal felling will be investigated by the staff, who will also interview witnesses. Details will be raised and the country director, who is a forestry commissioner, will
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decide whether the circumstances of an offence and the evidence in the case warrant further action. There will be an appeal procedure. The existing procedure involves the Minister and a committee of three people, two of whom are closely involved in forestry matters. The appellant may appear to make representations before the committee, which has power to inspect the trees or land in question and make a report to the Minister for consideration. Those involved in the appeal process bring objectivity and expertise. Moreover, the court's judicial review powers are also available. The appeals system will be kept under review, with reform being considered if thought necessary, especially if the number of appeals increases significantly over a three-year period. Over the past three years there has been only one appeal in England and Wales.
The noble Baroness asked about the relationship with Natural England. I am confident that the Forestry Commission, with its fine record of working with other bodies and agencies, will bring great skill and dedication to the task of working with Natural England.
If, like my noble friend Lord Clark of Windermere, I could go home to Lancashire for a moment, at least spiritually rather than physically—we have been here a long time—I assure the noble Baroness that the Forestry Commission takes the subject of grey squirrels extremely seriously. There are barrier areas to protect the red squirrels that remain in the north-west, the Lake District and Formby. She can be confident that wherever the Forestry Commission is
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involved, it will do all that it can to ensure that the damage and the threat to the red squirrel population is kept to an absolute minimum.
I understand that there is no cap on the amount of money that may be involved, except in so far as Treasury approval has to be sought.
I hope that I have answered all the questions.
Baroness Byford: Technically I cannot ask the noble lord, Lord Clark of Windermere, a question, so perhaps I could pose a question through the Minister. With today's real concern about climate change and attempts to get alternative sources of energy, I wonder whether the Forestry Commission has a steer on how we can use our woodlands better in producing energy rather than just for the traditional uses that they have been put to. If somebody wants to write me about that I should be grateful. This seems like a good opportunity to raise it, although I apologise for not raising it earlier.
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: I am in a little difficulty here. I am sure that my noble friend Lord Clark of Windermere will write to the noble Baroness giving details of the current position. I am confident that the new arrangements will, if anything, facilitate such joint ventures rather than otherwise.
I thank the noble Baronesses and my noble friend for taking part in this short debate. In commending the order to the Committee, I should like to place on record my thanks to the staff, who have worked later than they should have done this evening. That is not a matter of our choosing. I offer particular thanks to the Hansard staff.
On Question, Motion agreed to.
The Committee adjourned at twenty-three minutes before seven o'clock.
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Written Statements
Thursday 2 March 2006
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Advantage West Midlands
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville): My right honourable friend the Minister for Industry and the Regions (Alun Michael) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
I have decided to appoint the new Board Members listed at Annex A.
| RDA | Name |
| Advantage West Midlands (AWM) | John Crabtree |
| Dr David Brown | |
| Cllr Kenneth Taylor | |
| One NorthEast (ONE) | Kate Welch |
| Yorkshire Forward (YF) | Barry Dodd |
The new appointments for Advantage West Midlands began on 13 February 2006 and the new appointments for One Northeast (ONE) and Yorkshire Forward (YF) will begin on 13 March 2006. All of the appointments will expire on 13 December 2008. I have placed further details of the five new appointments in the Library of both Houses. All of them were made in accordance with the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
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