Corporate report

Minutes: 29 July 2024

Published 21 May 2026

Forestry Commission board of commissioners 937th meeting minutes, Monday 29 July 2024, 14:00–16:30 in person at Bristol and via MS Teams.

1. Introductions and apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and congratulated Julian Evans for being awarded the Royal Forestry Society’s gold medal and Jo Bradwell on becoming an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters.

2. Declarations of interest

The declarations of interest were confirmed as accurate.

(Paper) Memo 15/24

3. Minutes of the board of commissioners, 15 April 2024 and matters arising

The minutes were agreed as an accurate recording of the previous meeting with all action points completed or in date.

(Paper) Memo 16/24

4. Chair’s update

Following attendance at a conference in June 2024 plant health and disease was the primary concern for most countries, with similar issues faced at varying levels. The Chair had spoken with the Secretary of State and discussed the primary risks, timber security and gave an overview of the work of the Forestry Commission.

5. Gravetye

The background to the forming of the Gravetye charity and Forestry Commission involvement was summarised, Julia Grant is Chair and Peter Latham a member both attending as part of the Forestry Commission and members in their own right. It was noted that the majority of income was generated from the manor and, following a review in 2020, a project on refurbishment and management commenced so that the charity was not as dependant purely on the manor. Funding came in from rent, forestry and investments made.

6. Forestry Commission finances

The current forecasting of further funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) included the awaited £45 million uplift from Defra. It was believed that the Nature for Climate Fund funding would continue at this time. The early general election meant the capital departmental expenditure limit would likely increase but not until the end of the financial year, a number of projects were being prepared so the funding could be used at short notice once announced.

The annual report and accounts (ARAs) were not being laid pre-recess, the intent was to lay the Forestry Commission and Forest Research accounts once recess ended and the Forestry England accounts later when finalised. The ARAs had undergone significant improvements and resulted in a much friendlier product.

The spending review was likely to be a three-year process with a one-year settlement to be agreed first followed by agreeing the three-year settlement which would involve reviewing the new government priorities.

(Paper) Memo 17/24

7. Future forest product import issues

The UK is the third largest importer of timber in the world, with a large reliance on the EU for sawn wood, meaning EU policy changes would significantly impact the timber market in the UK. The Nature Restoration Law in the EU will also affect how they manage their forests going forward, the impact of which is yet to be determined but is needing careful monitoring owing to the likely negative impact it will have on timber supply.

It was noted that the conifer growth heights were restricted in the UK by the request by the mills for smaller timber. All these create serious threats to timber supply in the UK. The timber market will continue to fluctuate in the short term but will increase globally in the longer term, escalating the timber supply issues.

(Paper) Memo 18/24

8. Balancing net zero timber and habitat restoration

The Forestry Act requirement of balancing the management of trees and production of timber against the conservation and enhancement of the natural environment were highlighted as key requirements of the Forestry Commission. A discussion was held on how best to achieve such requirements and potential policy levers that could be put in place. It was agreed a policy statement on what a ‘good’ balance of the duties would look like was needed.

The large amount of unmanaged woodland was raised. It was noted that a paper discussing the issue had been presented previously to the Forest Services board and outcomes largely depended on grant funding. It was agreed that Richard Barker would work on drafting a policy statement on balancing the duties of the Forestry Commission outlined in the Forestry Act.

(Paper) Memo 19/24

Actions

1. Richard Barker to draft a policy statement on balancing duties.

9. Setting conditions for success in the future

The governments five missions and how the Forestry Commission can contribute to each were outlined. It was noted that while Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Defra had a shared special advisor the areas of forestry, access and net zero were under different lead individuals in government. Work was ongoing to reframe the current work being undertaken by the Forestry Commission to align with the priorities when linking with Defra going forward.

(Paper) Memo 20/24

10. Role of the board and terms of reference (ToR)

A discussion was held with members on how successful they felt the board was currently and the meetings held. It was agreed that the board had improved overall with better engagement and objectives with the wider Forestry Commission demonstrated through the Forestry Commission strategy and corporate plan. To continue the positive engagement, it was agreed that commissioners could attend other board meetings on request. The ToR required updating to reflect the changes that had taken place.

It was agreed to update the ToR to confirm there were to be a minimum of three meetings per year and to refer to the board role in the creation and implementation of the Forestry Commission strategy. It was noted that the ToR is to undergo a full review to support the direction of the board and the role of commissioners going forward, which would be led by Richard Stanford.

(Paper) Memo 21/24

Actions

1. Sarah Clancy to update the ToR to note the work on the Forestry Commission strategy and increase the minimum number of meetings to 3 per year.
2. All commissioners are to send any further suggestions for updates to the ToR to Sarah Clancy before the next meeting.

11. Corporate plan

It was confirmed that Julian Evans, John Lockhart and Ross Murray would act as sponsors for the corporate plan with the different areas of the Forestry Commission to assist and advise on the work taking place. A review is also taking place to see if it is possible to combine areas that are currently separated out between the business units such as IT, HR and finance to increase efficiency as one organisation.

(Paper) Memo 22/24

12. Forestry Commission, Natural England and Environment Agency visit

It was confirmed that all three agency boards would form the visit taking place along with the permanent secretary, the ministers were yet to be confirmed. Essential messages to convey will be shared with those attending in advance of the visit. The visit is to promote the good work undertaken both separately and jointly by the three agencies.

13. Establishing a charity

Item redacted.

(Paper) Memo 23/24

14. Any other business

The National Tree Safety Group had completed its work with a soft launch of the ‘Common Sense Management of Trees’ guide to go live in September 2024.