Transparency data

Minutes: 31 July 2025

Published 21 May 2026

Forestry Commission board of commissioners 940th meeting minutes, Thursday 31 July 2025, 09:00–11:30 in person at Sheffield and via MS Teams.

1. Introductions and apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, introducing Bianca Ambrose-Oji as the new Chief Scientist for Forest Research.

2. Declarations of interest

Kate Cheetham had become a National Trust member, Neil Sachdev would share additions to his declarations outside of the meeting. The declarations of interest were confirmed as accurate with these amendments.

(Paper) Memo 10/25

Action

Neil Sachdev to send Sarah Clancy the amendments to his declarations of interest.

3. Minutes of the board of commissioners, 18 March 2025 and matters arising

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

(Paper) Memo 11/25

Action

Ian Tubby is to share the statement developed from the previous balancing duties discussion.

4. Chair’s update

The Chair summarised the meetings and events he had attended since March including Minister Creagh visiting Kielder, the launch of the Women’s Tour of Britain and the 130th celebration of the National Trust. His Majesty the King had also attended the Bedgebury centenary celebration, his strong knowledge and support of forestry came across to all staff and attendees.

The Forestry England are tracking the planning and infrastructure bill which is currently going through Parliament.

Forest Services had hosted a joint English/Scottish forestry strategy event which had been well attended and received.

Additionally, a new red squirrel colony had been found for the first time in a Sitka spruce plantation in the Western Yorkshire Dales.

5. Corry/Hancock review

Following the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Corry/Hancock reviews, a meeting was held with Defra leaders which had a strong message to move forward with the recommendations. While the Forestry Commission wishes to change as well, further freedoms and resources are required to fully resolve the issues raised in those reviews. The recommendations and Forestry Commission current standing on each theme were summarised, noting there needing to be good communication with Defra to avoid any duplication of work as well as collaborative working with other bodies.

The issue of commissioners communications pertaining to Defra changes from such reviews being received at short notice was raised as the commissioners only received a monthly update. It was confirmed that as soon as high level reviews were published they were to be shared with the commissioners. It should be noted however that reviews and updates were not published in an established and systematic way so could only be distributed once the Forestry Commission had been made aware of them themselves.

(Paper) Memo 12/25

6. Gravetye governance

A decision had been made with Nation Audit Office approval, following an accounting determination, that the Gravetye Charity would not be consolidated into the Forestry Commission accounts. It was confirmed that the charity was happy with the approach as the Gravetye accounts consistently referred to the link and position with the Forestry Commission, meaning the treasurer and trustees felt assured on the transparency of the relationship.

A review of the relationship between the Forestry Commission and Gravetye charity had taken place and 3 options for the approach to the relationship presented. It was agreed that initially the first option, to strengthen ties without structural change, given the turnover to commissioners that would take place within the next few months. It was agreed that ex-commissioners could stay on as Forestry Commission Gravetye trustees for one year after their terms as a commissioner came to an end.

3 new commissioners were to join the Forestry Commission in April 2026 and the board agreed to await their appointments before deciding who would be best to replace Julia Grant as Chair of the Gravetye trustees given the time commitment needed.

(Paper) Memo 13/25

7. Gravetye annual update

The latest annual report and accounts were shared with the board, there had been a good increase in both general and regular visitors to the estate. It was noted that the reserve of £10 million largely reflected the value of the manor house itself, which was on a long-term lease to a hotel group. A large amount of forestry management was needed to manage ash dieback and Ips felling, and the potential costs of repairs/replacements to the existing dams were recognised and being planned for by the charity.

(Paper) Memo 14/25

8. Spending review update

A summary of the Defra spending review was provided confirming there would be a 2.1% reduction to total budget by 2028/29. The required efficiencies were a concern as it was uncertain at this point where they would come from in the Forestry Commission; some could be started internally with work on Synergy and reviewing the operating model however. The use of AI was discussed but it was noted that more people may be required in the short term before it was fully established. It was agreed that the Forestry Commission needed to take a forward approach to efficiencies but further detail from Defra was required before any significant decision could be made.

(Paper) Memo 15/25

9. Corporate plan

The corporate plan had progressed well and had largely delivered the required objectives set with a lot of learning to be taken forward. The changes to the Organisational Development team were ongoing, and there was a need to bring the team and 2 HR bodies together for functional alignment alongside the system changes which were required to meet the system changes through the shared services transformation (Synergy). The corporate plan is to be reviewed against the latest Chair’s letter and requirements of the minister.

(Paper) Memo 16/25

10. Strategic opportunities

Green finance

Whilst green finance markets were in development, they currently remain small, with a lot of desired outcomes but too much effort required to realise them at this point in time. Clear guidance for grants are required for Forest Services, however Forestry England were well established in green finance and are recruiting new specialists into the team. There was a need for clarity and further communications in the sector to be able to encourage stakeholder involvement. It was noted that large companies were currently looking to invest outside of the UK in green finance as it was not currently selling well in the UK and the product was not large enough to garner their attention.

Ecological resilience

12 areas of action to aid the resilience of trees against known threats have been identified, all services were working well together to unify and take the project forward. It was confirmed that the large number of actions were manageable as many were already underway. The final paper on the project had been drafted and is to be published before being presented to key stakeholders such as Natural England. As the project aided resilience to various types of infrastructure it was of interest to a vast array of people including the public and was recognised as a large public communication opportunity.

11. Forestry Commission People Awards

Following the success of the Forestry England People Awards launch in 2023, it was recognised a whole Forestry Commission approach was required in line with the ‘better together’ principle. The Forestry Commission People Awards therefore now incorporated all areas of the Forestry Commission with awards at both individual, team, business area and Forestry Commission levels. There had been a good response to the launch with a lot of nominations put forward by staff, with the first event planned to take place at Bedgebury in October 2025.

(Paper) Memo 17/25

12. Forestry England Non-Executive Director appointment

With Chris Simpson due to step down as a Forestry England Non-Executive Director at the end of October, interviews had taken place and the nominated individuals CV shared for information and approval by the board. The board unanimously agreed the appointment of the recommended individual.

The Chair confirmed that the interviews for a new timber trade commissioner to replace Peter Latham had concluded and the formal process was now being followed to finalise the appointment. There were an additional 3 further commissioner appointments to be made, two requiring knowledge of forestry and one for an Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Chair. The Forestry Commission Chair appointment advert was live with forestry and land management as desired skills.

(Paper) Memo 18/25

13. Verderer appointment

A proposal to reappoint the current Forestry Commission appointed Verderer of the New Forest was put forward to the board for approval. This was unanimously agreed by the board.

(Paper) Memo 19/25

14. Terms of reference (ToR)

The updates to the ToR reflected the appointments of Kate Cheetham and Neil Sachdev to the board. It was noted that a full review of the ToR was to take place with the external board effectiveness review currently being planned for which the requests for quotes had been sent out to several external bodies. The amended ToR was approved.

(Paper) Memo 20/25

15. Any other business

Thanks were expressed to Peter Latham and John Lockhart for their great contributions to the Forestry Commission as this was the last commissioners board meeting for them in their respective roles as Commissioner and Non-Executive Director.

While the next commissioners board meeting was scheduled for 19 January 2026, an additional discussion meeting is to be set up for October 2025 and would tie in with the date for the Forestry England visit and board meeting.

Action

Sarah Clancy to confirm date of the additional board discussion.