Regulatory Reform (Forestry) Order 2006

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 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 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.