Transparency data

Minutes: 18 March 2025

Published 21 May 2026

Forestry Commission board of commissioners 939th meeting minutes, Tuesday 18 March 2025, 11:00–13:30 in person at Bristol and via MS Teams.

1. Introductions and apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, introducing Kate Cheetham who was to take on the position of Commissioner, and Crispin Thorn who would be taking over from Richard Barker, both commencing their roles from April.

2. Declarations of interest

The declarations of interest were confirmed as accurate.

(Paper) Memo 02/25

3. Minutes of the board of commissioners, 31 October 2024 and matters arising

The minutes were agreed as an accurate recording of the previous meeting with these amendments. All actions from the previous meeting were confirmed as complete.

(Paper) Memo 03/25

4. Chair’s update

The Chair summarised the meetings and events he had attended since October including Baroness Hayman visiting Alice Holt, the timber and construction summit and a conference at Kew discussing planning for the future with a focus on urban trees.

The financial uncertainty raised at the previous meeting continued, the Forestry England board were working well together to devise an achievable budget. New board apprentice schemes had commenced on the Forest Services and Forestry England boards, replacing the external candidates appointed in the last 2 years with internal candidates with one appointed to each board. This new scheme was to be trialled for a year commencing on 1 April.

5. Balancing duties

Ian Tubby reminded the board that in July 2024 the Forestry Commission published a statement on how it complied with the enhanced biodiversity duty. The aim of the discussion was to define what was regarded as ‘adequate reserves of growing trees’ and what actions should be taken to demonstrate ‘development of afforestation, the management of forests and the production supply of timber’ both of which are requirements of the Forestry Act (1967).

4 questions and 3 options for actions were posed to the board for discussion. It was recognised that mistakes with planting had been made historically, which would need to be learnt from when planting going forward especially regarding conifer species. The land use framework provided a good opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the management of woodlands and forestry, with good communications being key to a successful outcome. Discussions were being held with Natural England, the Woodland Trust and Confederation of Forest Industries as stakeholders to get a consensus on the approach to take.

It was agreed that the third option provided in annex 1, to plant and maintain the mix of woodlands required to hit statutory tree cover targets, next zero and nature recovery. Ian Tubby agreed to develop a statement capturing the key discussion points by 31 July.

(Paper) Memo 04/25

Action

Ian Tubby to develop a statement from the key discussion points by 31 July.

6. Land use framework

Mark Stevenson provided the initial Forestry Commission response to the government’s proposed land use framework, with the board to send further comments on the planned response to Mark with it to return as an agenda item later in the year. It was agreed that examples and case studies should be included in the response so they could be highlighted and used further as work on the land use framework progressed, with a headline statement needed to gain attention and set the scene to the key messages in the response. The final version is to be circulated to the board once completed.

(Paper) Memo 05/25

Action

Mark Stevenson to circulate the final response to the land use framework once completed.

7. Finances and spending review update

While the 2025/26 allocations were adequate, there would be a £4 million cut to Forest Services resulting in the loss of 46 fixed-term appointments with 25 other staff members leaving the Forestry Commission, with others going back to previous roles. Discussions were ongoing on how programmes may be impacted in 2026/27 and what could be done differently to mitigate the financial risks. Work was underway to review what the ‘should cost’ position was regarding grants and other areas. It was acknowledged that future years would be challenging with additional cuts to come so long term future planning was essential.

The Gravetye charity articles had been reviewed, it was found that while the Forestry Commission is the only shareholder and appoints the trustees, it had not been mentioned in the accounts. The issue was being investigated with the charity, with the options being either to change the articles or look at consolidating them into the accounts at the back end of the current financial year. An update would be provided at the July meeting.

(Paper) Memo 06/25

8. Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) Chair report

Accounting Officers and their staff were commended for the hard work undertaken in managing the valuation issue and further inspections undertaken by the external auditors. The audit timings had been split going forward so that Forestry England would now be laid later in autumn after the Forestry Commission and Forest Research accounts. This would help reduce the pressure on the finance staff but would also increase the level of scrutiny from the external auditors. It was noted that the higher burden of regulation being introduced by government and auditors also increased the associated costs.

The ARAC Chair role was now ‘roving’ across all three sub-boards to provide a holistic view of the Forestry Commission to the ARAC. ARAC updates had become a standing agenda item on each sub-board to held improve the links between sub-boards and ARAC. Concerns were raised about commissioner access to all papers from each sub-board, Sarah Clancy is to review and check the papers are up-to-date.

(Paper) Memo 07/25

Action

Sarah Clancy to ensure all sub-board papers are available and up-to-date for commissioners.

9. Corporate plan

The corporate plan was on track with three previously amber items now moved into green. Strategic opportunities were progressing well with the land use framework, ecosystem resilience and green finance. A large amount of work had been undertaken on negotiating pay and reviewing structures.

The executive board had made the decision to move to one system for HR and finance with work actively progressing since the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs programme ‘Synergy’ was delayed and a solution was required sooner for the Forestry Commission. The principle on how to address the pay structure in the Forestry Commission was ongoing with continuing communications to keep staff updated as it progresses.

(Paper) Memo 08/25

10. Renewable energy powers

Item redacted.

11. Authentication of the official seal

The official seal could only be used by Richard Barker and Richard Stanford. Owing to Richard Barker’s retirement it was proposed that authority for the seal also be given to the individual CEO’s, the Forest Services Director, Forestry Commission Director of Finance and Forestry England Director of Estates. The proposal was approved by the board.

(Paper) Memo 09/25

12. Any other business

The commissioner’s induction is to be formalised and will be uploaded to SharePoint with associated documents once complete. It was agreed that more regular updates would be provided to the commissioners to keep them informed of ongoing work and pieces of information they needed to be aware of.

Ross Murray had hosted the Senior Leadership Programme final day and graduation which had been very successful, with the next graduation due on 11 June. It was requested that any board members with suggestions for locations or would like to join and meet the senior leaders of the Forestry Commission to please contact Richard Stanford.

Peter Latham’s term as a commissioner was to end on 30 September, Hilary Allison and Sandy Storrie would also be stepping down in 2026. The recruitment campaign to replace Peter was under way and the others would be progressed in the autumn. Chris Simpson would be standing down and Forestry England was working the campaign to replace him, John Lockhart would likewise be standing down in August from Forest Services who were reviewing the position. It was noted that board membership and Forestry and Woodland Advisory Committee attendance would be reviewed as part of these changes.

Action

All to contact Richard Stanford with any suggested locations for the next Senior Leadership Programme graduation day or if they wish to attend.