64th Annual Report and Accounts 1983
Forestry Commission ARCHIVE Front cover: A family plan their route at the start of the wayfaring course in Achray Forest, West Scotland. Sixty-Fourth Annual Report and Accounts of the Forestry Commission for the year ended 31 March 1984
together with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Report on the Accounts
Presented to Parliament in pursuance of Section 45 o f the Forestry Act 1967 and Section 5 o f the Exchequer and A udit D epartm ents A ct 1921
Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 28 November 1984
LONDON HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY OFFICE £10.00 net 1 Previous Reports 1982—83 HC 303 (1983—84) 1981—82 HC 363 (1982—83) 1980—81 HC 136 (1981—82) FORESTRY COMMISSION 231 Corstorphine Road Edinburgh EH 12 7AT 8 October 1984
To:
The Rt Hon M ichael Jo pling m p. Minister o f Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The Rt Hon G eorge Y o un g er t d , m p , Secretary o f State for Scotland
The Rt Hon NICHOLAS EDWARDS MP, Secretary o f State for Wales
Gentlemen In pursuance of Section 45 of the Forestry Act 1967, I have the honour to transmit the 64th Annual Report of the Forestry Commissioners which covers the year ended 31 March 1984. I am, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, (Sgd) DAVID MONTGOMERY Chairman
3 The Forestry Commissioners and Senior Staff at 31 March 1984
Forestry Commissioners Sir David Montgomery Bt, JP, DL, Chairman Mr G. D. Holmes CB, Deputy Chairman and Director General Mr J. Forbes FCA Captain W. F. E. Forbes DL Mr G. J Francis Lord Gibson-Watt PC,MC,DL Mr G. O. Hutchison Mr J. N. Kennedy Mr G. S. Murray Mr J. D. Pollock
Senior Staff Secretary: Mr P. J. Clarke Senior Officer for Wales: Mr D. Y. M. Robertson Director, Research and Development: Mr A. J. Grayson Director, Private Forestry and Land Use Planning: Mr A. Morrison Director, Estate Management: Mr J. M. Gwynn Director, Harvesting and Marketing: M r R. T. Bradley Controller of Finance: Mr C. F. Turquand FCA Deputy Establishment Officer: Mr C. W. Simmonds
Territorial Conservators England North West: Mr A. A. Rowan North East: Mr J. A. Spencer East: Mr R. M. Hewitt New Forest and South East: Mr J. R. Skinner South West and Dean Forest: Mr J. R. Fletcher Scotland North: Mr R. G. Cathie East: Mr G. G. M. Taylor South: Mr D. L. Foot West: Mr J. Atterson Wales North: Mr D. Y. M. Robertson South: Mr A. Rix
Note: The addresses of the main Forestry Commission offices appear on the inside back cover. 4 Contents
Page Names of Forestry Commissioners and Senior Staff 4
Report for the Year Ended 31 March 1984: General Review ...... 8 Public Accounts Committee 8 The Commission’s Finances 8 State of the Wood Market ...... 8 Developments in the Wood Processing Industry ...... 9 Disposal of Land and Plantations ...... 9 Management Structure Review ...... 10 Formation of Timber Growers United Kingdom 10 Review of Consultation Procedures ...... 11 Policy for the Uplands ...... 11 Common Land 12 Acid Rain ...... 12 Nature Conservation ...... 13 Broadleaved Woodlands 14 Planting Levels ...... 14 21 Years of Motorway Planting ...... 16 Record Seed Collection ...... 16 ECE Timber Committee Study Tour 16 Royal Visit ...... 17 Commissioners 17 Senior Staff ...... 17 Staff Numbers 18
Forestry Enterprise Forest Management 19 Forest Protection 19 Forest Design ...... 20 The Commission’s Corporate Identity 21 Recreation ...... 21 The British Forest Heritage 22 Estate Management ...... 22 Harvesting and Marketing 23 Engineering ...... 25 Forest Workers’ Pay 26 Health and Safety 27 Finance 27 5 Page Forestry Authority Legislation ...... 29 Private Forestry ...... 29 Forestry in the European Community ...... 30 Forestry Research Coordination Committee ...... 31 Research and Development 32 Plant Health ...... 34 Education and Training 35 Public Relations ...... 36 Finance 37
Appendices I Statutory and other Committees appointed by the Forestry Commission ...... 38 National Committees ...... 38 Regional Advisory Committees ...... 38 Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee ...... 39 Technical Sub-Committee of the Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee ...... 40 Supply and Demand Sub-Committee of the Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee ...... 40 Advisory Committee on Forest Research ...... 40 Forestry Research Coordination Committee 41 Forestry Training Council ...... 41 Forestry Safety Council ...... 42
II Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee: Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 1984 ...... 43
III Forestry Training Council: Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 1984 ...... 45
IV Forestry Safety Council: Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 1984 ...... 47
V Review of the Consultation Procedures for Tree Planting and Felling Proposals: Forestry Commission Press Notice 48
VI Disposal of Property Managed by the Forestry Commissioners: A Statement of Policy and Practice 50
VII New Publications ...... 54
VIII Statistical Tables ...... 55
6 Appendices - continued Page Forestry Authority 1 Dedication and Approved Woodland Schemes for Private Estates 56 2 Forestry Grant Scheme ...... 56 3 Area of Planting by Private Woodland Owners for which Grants were paid ...... 57 4 Progress of Planting by Private Woodland Owners in Last Ten Years ...... 58 5 Volume of Timber Licensed for Felling and Thinning on Private Estates ...... 59 6 Area Licensed for Clear Felling on Private Estates 59
Forestry Enterprise 1 Land Use ...... 60 8 Net Area of Land Acquired/Disposed of 60 9 Planting during the Year ...... 60 10 Progress of Planting in Last Ten Years ...... 61 11 Areas of Plantations and Volumes of Timber Thinned and Felled ...... 62 12 Sales of Timber ...... 62 13 Properties Managed ...... 63 14 Public Recreational Facilities ...... 63 15 Land Use, Planting and Timber Production by Forests and Forest Districts — England ...... 64 16 Land Use, Planting and Timber Production by Forests and Forest Districts — Wales ...... 69 17 Land Use, Planting and Timber Production by Forests and Forest Districts — Scotland ...... 71
IX Map of Forestry Commission Forests and Conservancies at 31 March 1984 ...... 75
X Map of Forestry Commission Forest Districts and Conservancies at 1 April 1984 ...... 79
XI Financial Tables ...... 83 1 Forestry Fund Receipts and Payments ...... 84 2 Expenditure on Forestry Authority Services 86
Foreword, Balance Sheet of the Forestry Commission Forestry Enterprise as at 31 March 1984 and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 1984, together with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon ...... 89
Addresses of the Main Offices of the Forestry Commission Inside back cover
Acknowledgements The cover and other pictures were taken from photographs in the Forestry Commission collection. 7 General Review
Public Accounts Committee 1. The Director General, as Accounting Officer, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on 13 February 1984 following the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General on the accounts of the Forestry Enterprise for the year ended 31 March 1982 and the quinquennial revaluation of assets and review of performance for the period 1977-1982.
2. In addition to pursuing points raised in the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, the Committee devoted a considerable part of their examination to questions relating to the disposal of plantations and other properties, with particular emphasis on the method of setting reserve prices and the confidentiality of sales information.
3. The Committee’s report was still awaited at the end of the year. Our detailed commentary will therefore be held over to our next report.
The Commission’s Finances 4. The Grant-in-Aid voted by Parliament forms the Commission’s agreed cash limit. For 1983-84 the amount voted was £59.5 million, of which £58.5 million was taken into the Forestry Fund leaving an undrawn balance of £1 million of voted monies to be handed back to the Consolidated Fund. The actual net call on Exchequer Funds (excluding surrenderable disposals’receipts and remittances) was about £56.8 million, leaving a working balance of some £1.7 million in the Forestry Fund which will also be handed back to the Consolidated Fund during 1984-85.
5. Payments, excluding amounts paid or due to the Consolidated Fund, totalled £118.2 million. These were about £5.1 million (4 per cent) more than in 1982-83, mainly because of the continuing effect of inflation and pay awards, an increase in the amount of grants paid to private woodland owners and a greater incidence of payments to pensioners. Receipts (excluding Grant-in-Aid and cash from the disposal of land, buildings and plantations) amounted to £61.4 million against £57.3 million in 1982-83, an increase of £4.1 million (7 per cent). This increase was entirely due to improvements in timber receipts compared with the previous year. Cash receipts from the disposal of land, buildings and plantations amounted to some£23.6 million (excluding the non-cash element of £0.1 million arising from exchange transactions and £0.2 million of receipts payable to the Crown Estate Commissioners under the terms of Section 43(1) of the Forestry Act 1967). £16 million had been paid to the Consolidated Fund by 31 March 1984 leaving a balance of about £7.6 million to be surrendered during 1984-85.
6. The statement of Forestry Fund receipts and payments, together with notes and explanations, appears at Table 1 of Appendix XI.
State of the Wood Market 7. After three years of recession, of which 1982 was one of the most difficult experienced for several decades, the world forest products industry picked up in 1983. The improvement was primed by increased business activity in the USA
8 and by her major trading partner, Japan. Within Europe the level of economic activity was more subdued, although the downward trend in paper and board production was halted, and from a very low level in the early part of 1983 output from the European forest products industry increased as the year progressed. Over the year as a whole it showed an increase of 3 per cent compared with increases of 9 per cent in the USA and 4 per cent in Japan.
8. A continuing reduction in the demand for coal, together with pit closures, led to a decrease in the supply of round pitwood to the National Coal Board. Demand by domestic consumers for both hardwood and softwood pulpwood improved considerably, and deliveries to particleboard manufacturers increased as production by UK mills approached full capacity.The market for sawlogs was very buoyant, particularly in the first half of the year, and the volume of sales rose by 6 per cent (Plate 1). It is noteworthy that consumption of sawn softwood from British-grown sawlogs equalled that of imports from Russia (1.2 million cubic metres), confirming the importance of domestic supplies which, in 1983, ranked third out of the five major sources of supply to the UK market. The total volume of timber harvested in Commission forests increased by 3 per cent over the previous year. Further details are given in paragraphs 76 to 83.
Developments in the Wood Processing Industry 9. In November 1983, Highland Forest Products announced plans to build a plant to manufacture structural composition board (SCB) at Dalcross near Inverness. This will be the first plant of its type to be built in Europe, although there are several in North America. SCB is a substitute for plywood and has many potential applications. A number of other companies are studying the possibilities of wood-based panel manufacture and several sawmillers have announced that they intend to expand or build new mills.
10. This latest development by Highland Forest Products follows the investment in newsprint production by United Paper Mills at Shotton, the expansion of capacity by Thames Board at Workington for cartonboard production, and the investments by Caberboard in medium-density fibreboard and particleboard at Cowie and Irvine (Plate 2). These investments in modern wood-processing plants, together with the continuing development by domestic sawmillers, demonstrate the confidence now shown by the British forest products industry and its resilience in recovering from the recession.
Disposal of Land and Plantations 11. A slightly more buoyant market, coupled with a build-up of the programme, enabled us to meet the financial targets set for disposals in the year and to make up some of the shortfall from the previous year. However, sales of woodlands continued to attract comment from the media, trade unions, countryside interests and the general public. Fuller details of the 1983-84 sales programme are given in paragraphs 70 to 73.
12. In the context of its Public Expenditure White Paper, the Government announced in February 1984 that no provision had been made for any increase in the current disposals programme of £82.1 million but that the period over which it was to be achieved had been extended by one year to 31 March 1987. This
9 extension will allow us to select plantations for sale under slightly less pressure to meet annual financial targets. In view of the wide interest that the disposals programme has created, a full explanation of our sales policy and practice is given at Appendix VI.
Management Structure Review 13. Reference was made in our last Report to three main developments in the review of our internal organisation. These were the amalgamation of the Forest and District levels of management into a single tier to be known as the Forest District; the setting up of a group to review the responsibilities and working relationships at Headquarters and Conservancy levels; and the establishment of a working party to consider how unification of the Forest Officer and Forester classes could be implemented.
14. The amalgamation of the Forest and District levels of management has proceeded smoothly. Ten out of the 70 new Forest Districts were fully established during the year and the remainder were ready to be brought into operation on the planned date of 1 April 1984, although nine of these had not yet moved into permanent office accommodation. As a result of these new arrangements, there will be a reduction of 138 supervisory staff, or 14 percent, at the basic level of management. On the clerical side, there will be an overall reduction of 49 staff, or some 15 per cent.
15. The group reviewing the work of the Headquarters and Conservancy levels of management reported to the Director General in January 1984. The Trade Unions and management were subsequently consulted on its recommendations and we hoped to be in a position to reach firm decisions by mid-summer. As well as a major restructuring of some parts of the Headquarters organisation, the group recommended that there should be a reduction in the number of Conservancies.
16. The working party considering the unification of the Forest Officer and Forester classes reported to the Director General in February 1984, recommending a merger by 1 April 1985. Work has proceeded since then, in consultation with Trade Union representatives, on a detailed examination of conditions of service prior to a firm decision on this recommendation being taken.
Formation of Timber Growers United Kingdom 17. In July 1983, Timber Growers England and Wales and Timber Growers Scotland announced that they were to unite on 1 October 1983 to form a new national body to represent private woodland owners in the United Kingdom. The new organisation — which is formally named Timber Growers United Kingdom but is generally called “Timber Growers” — has its Headquarters in Edinburgh while negotiations with Government Departments and liaison with national bodies are co-ordinated from its London office. Its principal functions are, on behalf of its members, to influence and advise Government, to negotiate on grants, incentives and other matters relating to private forestry, and to provide technical and marketing services.
10 18. We warmly welcome the creation of this new organisation to speak with a single voice for private woodland owners in all parts of the country. We are sure that it will prove an effective body to represent the private sector at a time of expansion and growing opportunities for the forest industry. It has already taken two valuable initiatives which illustrate its forward-looking approach. The first has been the setting up of a Shotton Supply Group to organise and co ordinate the supply of timber from private forests to the new pulp and newsprint mill at Shotton in north Wales when it starts production in 1985. The second is the conference that it planned to hold in May 1984 on the theme of Forestry and the City designed to attract further private investment into forestry.
Review of Consultation Procedures 19. On 1 December 1983 we introduced new procedures for consultations between the Commission, the Agriculture Departments, local planning authorities and other statutory authorities on applications for grant-aid and for felling permissions. These new arrangements stemmed from a review of the consultation procedures which we carried out as a follow-up to the study of our grant-aid and felling licence systems undertaken in 1980. The aim of the review was to find ways in which the procedures might be streamlined to reduce administrative costs for the Commission, the public authorities concerned and private woodland owners.
20. The changes we have made were discussed and agreed with the relevant Departments, authorities and representative bodies and endorsed by Forestry Ministers. They will mean fewer consultations with the Agriculture Departments and local authorities in certain types of cases and a reduction in delays in dealing with objections over planting and felling proposals. Details were announced in November 1983 in the form of a Forestry Commission press notice, which is reproduced at Appendix V to this Report. We also planned to issue a free explanatory leaflet* giving comprehensive information on the consultation procedures.
21. One of the changes agreed with the Local Authority Associations in England and Wales and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities was that consultations with local authorities should concentrate on planting and felling proposals relating to the more sensitive areas and issues. At the end of the year under report, discussions were well advanced between our Conservators and individual local authorities to agree arrangements which met this criterion. We believe that the new procedures will achieve their aim of simplifying the consultation process while safeguarding the interests of those concerned with jobs and the environment.
Policy for the Uplands 22. We were consulted by the Countryside Commission during the preparation of their discussion paper What Future for the Uplands? and also took part in the subsequent series of consultation meetings. The final report A Better Future for the Uplands was published towards the end of the year and we noted, with regret, that planning control for afforestation schemes of over 50 hectares in the uplands
* This free leaflet was published in May 1984 under the titleConsultative Procedure for Forestry Grants and Felling Permissions. 11 featured as one of its main recommendations. We consider that our present system for consulting on planting proposals with the appropriate statutory authorities already ensures that the requirements of land use, agriculture, amenity, recreation and nature conservation are taken fully into account, and it has worked well. The basic principle underlying this consultative process is the reconciliation of views aimed at producing, in a spirit of give and take, a solution acceptable to all the interested parties, with as little resort to cumbersome bureaucratic procedures as possible; our recent review of the procedures, to which we have referred above, was conducted with this last point very much in mind. In the few cases where attempts at compromise are unsuccessful, our Regional Advisory Committees try to find an identity of view, failing which the case may be put to Ministers for consideration. Only a small number of cases have had to be referred to Ministers over the past ten years.
Common Land 23. Of the estimated 600,000 hectares of common land in England and Wales, about half is believed to be technically suitable for the productive growth of trees. Because of the difficulties of securing co-operation over schemes of management and of obtaining consent for fencing, little afforestation has in fact been undertaken on common land over the past quarter of a century. Even where woodland occurs naturally on commons, proper management is often hampered by the existence of rights which may be rarely exercised. We are therefore pleased to have the opportunity to participate, as observers, in the deliberations of the Common Land Forum set up under the auspices of the Countryside Commission. The aim of the Forum is to formulate proposals for future legislation, particularly in relation to regulating public access to, and management of, this large and valuable natural resource. We are also closely associated with the parallel study being undertaken by the Department of the Environment to ascertain whether the situation on the ground has changed materially since the Royal Commission reported in 1958.
Acid Rain 24. The concern over forest decline in Central Europe, noted in our last Report, increased and the 1983 survey of forests in West Germany estimated that 34 per cent of the forest area was affected. A disquieting development was that similar damage was reported in southern Sweden in 1983, notable for being an exceptionally hot year. Growing research evidence suggests that ozone and intercepted acid mists, perhaps accentuated by dry summers, may be the principal cause of damage in Central Europe. While in some areas of Britain the amounts of acid deposition are as high as those in Germany, this fact alone is not sufficient to justify the conclusion that forest damage across a wide range of species is as likely to occur here as in the Federal Republic. It is not clear that the same combination of pollutants as appears to be causing damage in Continental Europe occurs in Britain.
25. The Commission has long been familiar with the problems of air pollution on trees in such areas as the flanks of the Southern Pennines and the Central Lowlands of Scotland. In many areas the combined beneficial effects on emissions of smoke and sulphur dioxide of the Clean Air Act, high chimneys and
12 reductions in the amount of fossil fuels burnt have been dramatic. In the South Wales Coalfield a long-standing problem of poor growth of Sitka spruce has been under renewed study for two years. Air pollution appears to be implicated in a complex of factors. Despite knowledge of air pollution effects for many years in a wide variety of sites throughout the country, we have nowhere found symptoms consistent with those described in Germany as being caused by acid rain. Meanwhile observations continue and a formal monitoring system is in process of being established in line with the recommendation of a working group concerned with air pollution damage to forests established under the Food and Agriculture Organisation/European Forestry Commission and working in relation to the UN/ECE Convention on Long Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution.
26. Beyond the forest, concern has grown about the apparent effect of acid deposition on upland streams and lakes. There are many factors which can affect the acidity of rainwater as it passes through the forest trees and soil into watercourses. A range of differing effects on pH have been observed where rain falls through the canopy of the trees, but where rainwater flows down the main stem an increase in its acidity is commonly recorded. There is also evidence to suggest that increases in the acidity of ditches and streams occur where the underlying geology is acidic. A considerable number of experiments have been laid down in recent years in Commission forests in collaboration with interested bodies, further details of which are given in the later part of this Report dealing with Research and Development (paragraph 117). It is in the nature of such large-scale field experiments that results take some time to emerge. We are concerned to see that such results are published as rapidly as possible by the various experimenters, who are employed by several different agencies.
27. We have continued the practice established in 1980 of leaving streamside strips unplanted at the time of new planting or restocking. Where new drains are being dug, these stop short of streams in order to provide a filter for particulate matter and to buffer the drainage water before it enters the streams. It is important to remember, however, that the concern expressed over damage to fish breeding and fish stocks through acidic inputs to streamwaters is confined to a small number of upland areas on acid rocks in Scotland and Wales.
Nature Conservation 28. The principal objective of the Commission is the efficient production of timber for industry to meet the needs of people for wood and wood products, but forests are important wildlife habitats and we follow management practices which seek to achieve a sound balance between timber production on the one hand and nature conservation on the other. We have two main aims for nature conservation: first, to safeguard and improve our forests as wildlife habitats; and secondly, to give particular attention to those special sites where nature conservation has been identified as being of particular importance. An increasing number of private woodland owners are concerned to follow similar aims, and all participants in our Forestry Grant Scheme are required to accept, as one of the Scheme’s objectives, that their woodland should be managed in such a way as to secure environmental benefits. 13 29. There are about 350 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) notified by the Nature Conservancy Council on Commission land, covering some 70,000 hectares. Half of these comprise woodland. Thus, some 6 per cent of our total land holdings and almost 4 per cent of our woodlands have SSSI status. The largest single site comprises the whole of the New Forest totalling 27,000 hectares,of which 12,000 hectares consist of woodland. This composite area of woodland, lowland heath and valley mire is a Grade 1 Site of international importance for nature conservation, but it also fulfils our objective of timber production as well as providing public recreation on a scale unparalleled in any other forest in Great Britain.
30. In woodland SSSIs - including both native pinewoods and broadleaved woods - we aim to combine timber production with the conservation objectives identified by the Nature Conservancy Council. However, in Lady Park Wood in the Forest of Dean, we have set aside 44 hectares of ancient broadleaved woodland so that its natural development can be studied. This is a unique experiment in nature conservation, being the only woodland of such size and intrinsic importance in Britain where management is deliberately encouraging a reversion to “wilderness”. It was established as an ecological reserve by the Commission in 1944, and since that time Oxford University and the Nature Conservancy Council have recorded the changes that have taken place. In addition to SSSIs, we have some 80 small nature reserves, totalling nearly 2,000 hectares, managed by County Naturalists Trusts or similar bodies. We greatly welcome the involvement and advice of informed naturalists in the management of these woods.
31. To date, 25 SSSIs have been included in our disposals programme. Their sale was only considered, however, once we were satisfied that the criteria set out in the guidelines given to us by Forestry Ministers during the passage of the Forestry Act 1981 had been met. In a number of cases special arrangements have been made for private treaty sales to voluntary conservation bodies and agencies under the sponsorship arrangement referred to in last year’s Report.
32. In managing forests with nature conservation as an important aim, our managers need to be aware of the various features of conservation interest within their forests so that they can be safeguarded and improved whenever feasible. To this end, conservation maps have been drawn up, or are being prepared, for each forest and will be amplified from time to time by information from both official and voluntary sources. An important nature conservation benefit of forests, however, is simply that they exist. Their extent, diversity and relative seclusion provide a haven for wildlife which would otherwise have a more limited habitat in a country as heavily populated and developed as Britain.
Broadleaved Woodlands 33. In last year’s Report we announced the appointment of a review group to consider future policy on broadleaved woodlands. The group’s report was submitted in March 1984 to the Director General who decided to publish it as a consultative paper before consideration was given to our advice to Ministers.
Planting Levels 34. The December 1980 forestry policy statement, which we reproduced in our 1980-81 Report, said that the Government saw a greater place for participation 14 by the private sector in new planting. It also stated that the Commission would continue to have a programme of new planting, in particular where it would contribute to the rational management of our existing plantations, and also in the more remote and less fertile areas where afforestation would help maintain rural employment. Our planting programme has been progressively reduced since then and by 1986-87 is planned to reach a level 5,000 hectares per annum. New planting in the private sector, on the other hand, has risen sharply in the past three years in response to the encouragement given by the forestry policy statement and the enhanced rates of grant and simplified procedures introduced under our Forestry Grant Scheme in October 1981; in the year under report, it was running at double the rate recorded in 1980-81. Further details of the private planting achievement during the year are given at paragraphs 101 and 102, and of our planting at paragraph 54. The diagram below shows the levels of annual new planting and restocking by the Forestry Commission and private woodland owners over the last ten years.
New Planting and Restocking — 1 April 1974 to 31 March 1984
Forestry Commission Private Woodlands
Restocking Restocking Q New Planting New Planting thousand ha
24
22
20
1974/75 1975/76 1976/77 1977/78 1978/79 1979/80 1980/81 1981/82 1982/83 1983/84
D ia g r a m : Annual new planting and restocking by the Forestry Commission and private woodland owners over the last ten years. 15 21 Years of Motorway Planting 35. This year marked the 21st anniversary of our association with the Department of Transport’s motorway and trunk roads planting programme in England and Wales (we are not involved in such work in Scotland). During this period the Commission, as agents, has planted 25 million trees and shrubs to accord with the landscape designs of the Department’s architects and horticulturists. These planting schemes have softened the impact of engineering constructions and now contribute visibly to the amenity. In many cases motorway planting has also enhanced the landscape and countered the effects of hedgerow removals, and is increasingly proving to be of nature conservation value. It continues to involve the planting of over one million plants annually.
Record Seed Collection 36. In the autumn of 1983, we mounted the largest seed-collecting operation in the Commission’s history when nearly 6,000 hectolitres (about 12,000 sacks) of Sitka spruce cones were gathered. The cone crops were the heaviest recorded since 1968 and followed several years of very sparse yields during which time our stocks of seed fell to a critical level. These record collections have enabled us to replenish the stocks held in cold stores to meet both our own needs and those of the private nursery trade and will safeguard future supplies against the irregular seeding which is so much a feature of many tree species.
37. Before collections started all potential seed sources were inspected to ensure that they met the requirements of the Forest Reproductive Materials Regulations 1977, which set standards for seed marketed within the countries of the European Community. Harvesting was confined to these genetically superior sources. Almost all the cones collected were taken from felled trees as part of our normal timber felling operations, some of which were rescheduled to ensure that they coincided with the period during which the cones ripened. Because of the size of the cone collection, work on the extraction of the seed had to be divided between the extractory at our Alice Holt Research Station and two German extractories.
38. In addition to Sitka spruce, moderate collections of other species were made including Lodgepole pine, Scots pine and larch. Some of the Sitka spruce seed has already been exported to Denmark and other overseas orders are expected. The Scots pine seed has helped to meet a growing demand from North America where British seed origins are highly favoured by Christmas tree growers. In total, the retail value of the seed collected this year (approximately 6,000 kgs) is estimated at over £3/4 million, and this should help to strengthen the Commission’s position as a major European seed supplier in both the domestic and export markets.
ECE Timber Committee Study Tour 39. The ECE Timber Committee, founded in 1947, is a principal subsidiary body of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, providing a forum for co-operation between member countries on forestry, forest industry and forest product matters. Study tours have been a regular feature of the Timber Committee’s activities, and the September 1983 tour took place in Britain at the invitation of the UK Government. Arrangements were handled by the Forestry Commission with the active participation of the private sector of the industry. 16 40. The tour, with the theme The Opportunity and Challenge o f an Increasing Forest Resource in an Import-Dominated Market, showed participants the background to, and recent developments in, the UK timber industry. Visits were made to private woodlands, an importer’s yard, a chipboard plant, a sawmill and a boardmill as well as to a number of the Commission’s woodlands and to our Northern Research Station near Edinburgh. The party of 40 — which included representatives from Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA and UK — also attended receptions hosted by the Secretary of State for Scotland and by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
Royal Visit 41. During a visit to the Royal Welsh Show on 21 July 1983, Her Majesty The Queen opened the Forestry Commission’s new pavilion (Plate 3). The pavilion, in the form of a log cabin designed and built by the Commission using British round timber donated by the timber trade, is intended to meet a need for a permanent building for exhibitions and as a focal point for the forestry section.
Commissioners 42. Mrs L. J. Whetstone’s term of office as a part-time Commissioner expired on 30 September 1983. The appointment of a successor was still awaited at the end of the .year under report.
43. Mr D. A. Mithen retired as Commissioner, Harvesting and Marketing in November 1983 and was succeeded by Mr G. J. Francis on promotion from Director, Harvesting and Marketing. Mr Mithen was appointed a CB in the 1983 Birthday Honours List.
Senior Staff 44. Mr R. T. Bradley, formerly Senior Officer, Wales and Conservator North Wales, transferred to Headquarters in N ovember 1983 to fill the post of Director, Harvesting and Marketing. He was succeeded by Mr D.Y.M. Robertson, formerly Conservator West Scotland, on promotion to Director. The Conservator West Scotland post has been filled by Mr J. Atterson on temporary promotion from Assistant Conservator.
45. Mr E. J. M. Davies retired as Conservator South Scotland in June 1983. He was succeeded by Mr D. L. Foot, formerly an Assistant Conservator in East Scotland. Mr Davies was awarded the OBE in the 1983 Birthday Honours List.
46. Mr I. A. D. Grant retired as Conservator East Scotland in February 1984. He was succeeded by Mr G. G. M. Taylor, an Assistant Conservator, on temporary promotion.
47. In March 1984 we were saddened by the death, following a brief illness, of Mr C. D. Begley, Conservator South East England. Mr Begley, who was awarded the OBE in the 1984 New Year Honours List, was due to retire in April 1984. He was succeeded by Mr J. R. Skinner, an Assistant Conservator, on temporary promotion. 17 48. The Conservator posts in the West Scotland, East Scotland and South East England Conservancies have all been subject to temporary staffing arrangements pending decisions on the future Headquarters and Conservancy structure (see paragraphs 13 - 16).
49. In September 1983, it was decided to upgrade the senior administrative post in the Harvesting and Marketing Division. This post was filled by Mr S. E. Quigley, on promotion to Senior Principal.
50. Mr A. A. Cowan retired as Budgets Officer and Deputy Controller of Finance in February 1984, following which this post was regraded from Senior Principal to Principal.
Staff Numbers 51. On 31 March 1984, the Commission employed 2,087 non-industrial staff; this represented a net decrease of 44 on the number employed last year (2,070) after allowing for 61 industrial workers employed as Forest Clerks being given non-industrial status following the change to the new three-tier structure (see paragraph 14). The total number of industrial staff fell to 4,749 from 5,179 the previous year. This continuing reduction in industrial staff levels has resulted from a variety of factors. In addition to the Forest Clerk regrading exercise, staff numbers have been affected by improvements in productivity, the sale of plantations and the employment of contractors in certain areas.
18 Forestry Enterprise
Forest Management Nurseries 52. The weather during the year was not conducive to good results in our nurseries. A cold, wet spring delayed sowing and transplanting and was followed by a hot, dry summer. The quality and numbers of plants produced suffered as a result.
53. ‘Lining out’ seedlings in the nursery has long been an expensive but necessary operation in the production of trees for planting. Many attempts have been made to render this unnecessary by sowing seed very thinly and undercutting the roots, but the quality of plants produced has not always been satisfactory. Fresh trials have been started at our Wykeham nursery in North Yorkshire using a new type of precision seed sower, developed in New Zealand, which it is hoped will make subsequent root pruning easier. Other developments include work at our Delamere nursery in Cheshire to evaluate the costs of producing genetically-improved Sitka spruce by means of vegetative propagation.
Planting 54. A total of 8,382 hectares of new planting was achieved, mostly in northern and western Scotland, regions where the contribution that such work makes to employment and income is particularly significant. Restocking amounted to 6,753 hectares. The combined figures were some 10 per cent over the budgeted programme, making good the shortfall in last year’s programme. Survival was generally good; but as happened last year, we experienced some deaths in Corsican pine due to the fungus Brunchorstsia pinea.
55. Intensive studies have demonstrated the beneficial effect of planting Sitka spruce in mixture with Lodgepole pine on moorland sites and with Scots pine and larch on heathland sites. This has led to greater use being made of mixtures on sites which would previously have been planted with pure Lodgepole pine. The effect of these changes has been greatest in North Scotland Conservancy.
Forest Protection 56. In common with all living plants, trees are subject to the risk of damage and disease. Some particular examples with which we had to contend during the year are noted in the following paragraphs.
Fires 57. A total of 86 hectares of woodland was destroyed by fire. This was well below the average. The inclement weather already mentioned gave us one of the quietest springs on record in terms of fire danger, but the dry summer which followed created hazardous conditions in some parts of the country. The potential of helicopters for fire-fighting and the transport of men and equipment was further developed during the year, and training exercises were undertaken in association with the fire service. 19 Fungi 58. The fungus Peridermium pini has been causing the deaths of 40 to 50 year-old Scots pine in certain areas in East England Conservancy for some years, and following monitoring by the Pathology Branch of our Research and Development Division we have decided to accelerate the felling of the areas affected over the next seven to ten years.
Pine Beauty Moth 59. Regular checks on the population of Pine Beauty moth (Panolis flammea) indicated no critical levels in Lodgepole pine plantations and no control measures were considered necessary. A small area was, however, sprayed with the insecticide Fenitrothion in East Scotland Conservancy under a research project directed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under the auspices of the Pesticide Safety Precautions Scheme. One of the purposes of this project, which is being undertaken by the Zoology Department of Aberdeen University, is to evaluate any effects on woodland birds.
Deer 60. Woodland provides an ideal habitat for deer and numbers continue to increase. Sika deer, which were introduced to this country from Japan and Manchuria in the latter part of the last century, continue to spread in various parts of Scotland and are causing particular concern. Close liaison is being maintained with the Red Deer Commission, and trials of electric deer fencing are being undertaken to determine its long-term effectiveness against marauding Red deer. The annual cull of all deer was slightly down on the previous year because of high mortality during the winter of 1982-83.
Grey Squirrels 61. The high population levels reported last year did not give rise to any increased damage to broadleaved trees, perhaps because owners and foresters had been alerted to the situation. Some sporadic damage in the form of bark stripping was reported in South East England Conservancy and there was some damage to Lodgepole pine in other parts of the country. (See also paragraph 118).
Forest Design 62. The important contribution that forests and woodlands make to the visual quality of the landscape is widely recognised. Since 1963, it has been our practice to retain the services of a leading, independent landscape consultant, and we now also have a team of landscape architects and designers in our Design and Recreation Branch to deal with this continuing and important aspect of our work.
63. Landscape design has become an integral part of forest planning. The work of the design team is to provide landscape training for our forest managers and to assist with the design of forests in sensitive areas. The team also undertakes design work in connection with recreation facilities and buildings. Of the 21 projects undertaken in the year, one of the most important was the landscaping and design of some felling areas in Beddgelert Forest in Snowdonia National Park.
20 The plan was discussed with the National Park authority and was well received by them. Other major projects were the design of a new planting scheme at Benmore in Shin Forest, Sutherland, and the design of the forest margins along the A837, a major tourist route, to maintain views of the peaks of Assynt which lie within a National Scenic Area.
64. At Thetford Forest in Norfolk, where clearfelling and restocking programmes are being planned, a project initiated by our local staff in 1982-83 to develop principles for the management of this extensive forest has been completed, based on the requirements of efficient wood production and good landscape design combined with the needs of nature conservation and sporting. These principles were derived from plans prepared by our landscape architects, the Nature Conservancy Council and the Game Conservancy. A fundamental aim has been to increase the diversity and attractiveness of the forest by retaining some crops into old age, encouraging broadleaved trees, mowing selected wide rides to maintain a variety of vegetation, creating some wildlife reserve areas for special purposes, and ensuring that the scale and shape of felling coupes blend into the landscape. These principles are now being implemented by local staff in our major East Anglian forests, and it is intended to publish details of the project.
The Commission’s Corporate Identity 65. Over the years the Commission has been developing a corporate identity, the most obvious features of which have been our olive-green signs, the livery of our road vehicles and Foresters’ uniforms. This identity is now being improved by developing a standard, yet distinctive style of design based on colour, lettering and symbols which will be applied extensively. New staff uniforms and vehicle livery are the main items on which we have concentrated so far, and examples of this work are shown at Plate 4.
Recreation 66. Free access for picnicking and walking in most of our forests is a major element of our recreation policy, and we have created well over 2,000 km of waymarked forest walks and trails and over 600 picnic places in recent years. During the year under report, we provided walking facilities for the Scottish Health Education Group’s “walkaboutabit” campaign to promote walking as a healthy activity and co-operated with the Countryside Commission for Scotland in the establishment of the Southern Upland Way which runs through several of our forests.
67. We attach great importance to achieving the widest possible use of our forests by the public for leisure and recreation, and at our last survey, in 1976, we estimated that well over 20 million day visits were made annually to Commission land. Explaining forestry to the public is an important feature of our recreation policy and we are pleased to record that about 800,000 visitors are currently using our Visitor Centres each year. Improvements have been completed to the car park and picnic area at Westonbirt Arboretum where the Visitor Centre now receives nearly 150,000 visits a year.
21 The British Forest Heritage 68. During the past few years we have reported on the progress of this project to collect, record and display the forest heritage of Britain. Although there is a wide measure of support for the project, the steering group which was appointed to set up an independent charity to undertake this work had a difficult year. A possible site for an heritage centre was identified in Savernake Forest in Wiltshire, but during the course of two public meetings with local people the proposal was clearly unacceptable to those present. Following marketing advice from consultants who were appointed to assess the viability of the project, an alternative site is being sought.
Estate Management Land Acquisition 69. We acquired 2,782 hectares of plantable land during the year, including 17 hectares already under trees. The distribution was:-
Total plantable area acquired (hectares) England 10 Wales 52 Scotland 2,720
The average price of bare plantable land was £499 per hectare, an increase of 16 per cent over the average of £431 per hectare the previous year.
Disposal o f Land and Plantations 70. The programme of disposals which we reported in detail in our 1982-83 Report continued to form the major part of the work of our estate management staff during the year. The slightly more buoyant market and the build-up of the programme, to which we refer in paragraph 11, resulted in the sale of some 270 individual plantations and areas of plantable land totalling over 16,500 hectares. At the end of the year, a further 32,800 hectares were in the process of being sold.
71. Demand for small blocks continued to be strong, particularly in the south and east of England. Buyers are frequently neighbouring landowners, in many cases our lessors, who acquire for land rationalisation purposes, or are private purchasers wishing to own woodland for amenity, conservation, sporting and the like. In these circumstances, prices achieved are often enhanced and bear little relation to commercial forestry values.
72. The market for larger plantations has varied with location, but the prices achieved are more predictable being dependent upon the economic return from forestry as an investment. Plantations in this size range are sometimes too expensive for the local landowner or private investor but not large enough to attract the institutions. We have managed to overcome this on a number of occasions by combining such areas into packages and inviting offers for the whole or for individual blocks.
22 73. In addition to woodland sales, the disposal of over 320 houses, 150 areas of agricultural land and some 110 sales of a miscellaneous nature contributed significantly to the total receipts of £23.6 million.
Management of Property 74. During the year we spent £1.8 million on the construction, improvement and acquisition of buildings. Projects completed included extensions to mechanical engineering workshops at Cairnbaan and Glenbranter in Argyll and at Longman and Torlundy in Inverness-shire. A similar extension was begun at Heathhall in Dumfries. These extensions will enable the larger, more sophisticated harvesting machines to be serviced and repaired with the minimum loss of operational time. The programme of providing office accommodation resulting from the new three-tier structure is well advanced. Three new Forest District offices have been built, eighteen provided by extension or modification of existing offices, one acquired and four leased. Work is progressing on others. We also completed the provision of accommodation for the new in-house computer at our Headquarters office in Edinburgh, and constructed, with our own labour, a forestry pavilion at the Royal Welsh Showground which was opened by Her Majesty The Queen (paragraph 41). Continuing with our care for ancient buildings under our management, we have begun the restoration of a 17th century stone barn at Penybryn, Penmachno, Gwynedd which is unique in the area. It is stone built with a pegged slate roof on what are thought to be the original trusses. One gable was badly bulging and the roof was in a dangerous condition. The barn is both scheduled as a monument of national importance and listed as an historic building. The work is being carried out with the benefit of a 50 per cent grant from the Ancient Monuments Board for Wales.
75. The Commission’s rental income for the year amounted to £1.8 million, the same as the previous year. It included over £325,000 from minerals, the income from which is assuming increasing importance. The number of properties managed by the Commission is given at Table 13 of Appendix VIII.
Harvesting and Marketing Market Demand 76. The demand for small roundwood for pulp and particleboard improved significantly as the year progressed and the total volume of sales increased by 10 per cent. The export market for pulpwood was subdued at the beginning of the year but had improved strongly by the end of the year, with demand for spruce particularly strong. Pitwood demand declined once again. The sawlog market was noticeably buoyant in the first half of the year continuing the improvement apparent at the end of the previous year. The total volume of wood harvested from our forests was 2,927,900 cubic metres, an increase of 3 per cent over the previous year.
Wood Prices 77. The average prices obtained for pulpwood and chipwood declined by about 6 per cent, largely because of the fall in prices towards the end of last year for pulpwood sold for export. By early 1984 it was evident that prices for export were recovering, with particularly dramatic improvement in the prices available 23 for spruce pulpwood. Prices for sawlogs sold during the year continued to improve, ending about 9 per cent higher than those for the previous year. While the improvement was continuing towards the end of the year, it was apparent that forward prices were levelling off.
Forestry Commission Operations 78. The main features of our harvesting and marketing operations in the year, with comparable figures for previous years, are summarised in the table below. The figures on the volume of total removals and the value of gross receipts have been adjusted for all the years shown to take account of work in progress. This facilitates comparison of this table with the Accounts of the Forestry Enterprise (pages 89 to 112).
Unit 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84
Million cubic Total Removals ...... metres 1.99 2.31 2.48 2.73 2.80 2.93 By Sale Standing ...... ” 0.68 0.76 0.82 0.91 0.96 0.98 By Forestry Commission harvesting (adjusted for change in work in progress) ” 1.31 1.55 1.66 1.82 1.84 1.95
Gross receipts ...... £ million 25.86 34.38 36.13 36.32 38.43 44.20 Expenditure (including oncosts but excluding overheads) ” 13.95 18.82 23.29 24.60 23.98 22.84 Net receipts ...... ” 11.91 15.56 12.84 11.72 14.45 21.36
Gross receipts per cubic metre £ 12.99 14.88 14.57 13.30 13.73 15.08 Expenditure per cubic metre ” 7.01 8.15 9.39 9.01 8.56 7.79 Net receipts per cubic metre ” 5.98 6.73 5.18 4.29 5.17 7.29
In the following paragraphs the performance achieved in each of the main sectors is set out in more detail.
Conifer Sawlog Sales 79. The total volume of sawlogs sold from our own harvesting operations amounted to 1,060,000 cubic metres (measured over bark), an increase of 6 per cent over the previous year. The average price strengthened as the year progressed, although the rate of increase slowed in the latter half, giving a price increase for logs sold of 9 per cent. The Log Price Index, which is an indication of prices in forward contracts, increased by 26 per cent from 141.4 at 31 March 1983 to 178.7 at 31 March 1984.
Conifer Small Roundwood Sales 80. Our sales of pulpwood and chipwood rose by 10 per cent over the previous year owing to the improved market demand; these products represent about 30 per cent of our total production. The under utilisation of production capacity which featured prominently in Scandinavia in 1982 inevitably led to a fall in demand 24 and lower prices for export pulpwood, but as the year progressed the market strengthened and prices, particularly for spruce, began to improve towards the end of 1983. Pulpwood exports from Britain in the calendar year 1983 totalled 391,000 tonnes, which represented a fall of25 per cent from the 1982 export level of 487,000 tonnes (corrected data). While our own export sales increased marginally by one per cent and continued to represent a significant contribution to our total sales of pulpwood and chipwood, the proportion of export sales relative to the total sales of small round wood declined by 4 per cent. By contrast, our deliveries of softwood pulpwood to the domestic industry increased by 40 per cent. Although our deliveries of hardwood pulpwood are very modest, it was evident that demand had improved strongly during 1983 and a shortage of domestic supply resulted in some hardwood pulpwood having to be imported.
81. The continued reduction in the demand for coal and continued economies in the use of round mining timber resulted in a further fall in the National Coal Board’s round pitwood requirements, and deliveries dropped by 7 per cent during the year.
Sales o f Standing Trees 82. The total volume of timber removed from Commission forests under standing sales contracts totalled 980,000 cubic metres, an increase of 3 per cent over 1982-83. The average price for all sales of standing timber rose by 27 per cent. Our Index for sales of trees in the smaller size categories rose from 238.7 at 31 March 1983 to 304.2 at the end of the year; this also represented an increase of 27 per cent.
Harvesting 83. We have concentrated our efforts on consolidating the increase in productivity and the reduction in unit cost achieved in earlier years, and our unit cost per cubic metre fell by a further 9 per cent. A very successful seminar was held in Argyll on mountain logging, at which recent developments including contour felling and the use of forwarders on steep terrain were demonstrated both to our staff and to private operators. These developments give potential for significant improvements in productivity, and within the Commission the seminar is to be followed up by a training programme. Work is now underway on a similar programme on developing new felling techniques suitable for less-steep sites. The trials undertaken earlier in the year with a clear-felling harvester were successful in demonstrating potentially very significant cost savings over current methods. In our mechanisation and development programme emphasis continues to be placed on harvesters for thinning, our objective being to find a system which will allow us to thin economically those crops which are left unthinned at present. Long-term operational trials have been started but the equipment available so far is limited to moderate slopes.
Engineering Civil Engineering 84. We constructed 99 km of new roads and upgraded 370 km of existing roads in Commission forests during the year. Extreme winter weather caused substantial damage to Commission roads, and some local highway authorities hired our machines to assist in snow clearing. We have begun a review into the 25 needs of harvesting operations at forest roadsides with the aim of improving road design and the layout of stacking bays. A recent addition to our civil engineering fleet is shown at Plate 5.
85. A change in Government legislation which affected the Commission during the year was the introduction of the Reservoirs Act 1975, which requires all reservoirs with a capacity in excess of 25,000 cubic metres to be registered with local authorities and to be regularly examined by an inspecting engineer. We manage some 30 such reservoirs and efforts are being made to ensure that the financial burden is reduced to a minimum consistent with the standards of safety required by the Act.
Mechanical Engineering 86. The dramatic changes that have occurred in recent years in the mechanisation of forest operations have increased the need for a reliable mechanical service organisation. The continuing advance and sophistication of harvesting and civil engineering machines have involved changes in repair techniques, and the reductions in our machine holdings have meant that the mechanical reliability of machines is of added importance. We are therefore preparing plans to concentrate the repair depots into fewer, larger units with better equipment, and an extensive re-training programme for mechanics has been put in hand. The proposals resulting from the study of light vehicle use in the Commission, noted in our 1982-83 Report, have been successfully implemented and the financial savings of some £650,000 per annum which we predicted are being achieved.
Radio 87. The new Forest District structure (see paragraph 14) has significantly advanced the need for reliable radio communication (Plate 6), and an extensive programme of re-equipping the radio network was started during the year. This will involve re-siting or re-equipping the base stations in some 40 Forest Districts and providing radio communication to outlying blocks.
Forest Workers’Pay 88. Two pay settlements for forest worker grades were negotiated during the year. The first, backdated to 31 January 1983, increased the weekly pay rate of unskilled forest workers to £71.95 and that of forest craftsmen to £81.80. The second settlement, which stemmed from a supplementary award to agricultural workers, further increased the weekly pay rates with effect from 29 August 1983 to £74.10 for unskilled forest workers and £84.25 for forest craftsmen. As in the previous year, both settlements included a provision that in those weeks when piecework earnings were not available guaranteed rates would be paid; the amounts were £76.65 and £79.20 respectively for unskilled forest workers and £86.05 and £90.10 for forest craftsmen. It was agreed that the effective date of the next pay settlement would be 30 July 1984.
89. The average weekly earnings of forest workers in 1983-84, based on a sample of one full week’s work by all grades in each quarter, were £110.49. 26 Health and Safety Fall in Accident Rate 90. The general downward trend in the number of accidents continued - 316 compared with 397 in the previous year. The accident frequency rate (accidents per 100 employees) also improved, dropping from 7.5 to 6.4. These welcome figures were marred by a fatal accident to a chain saw operator who was killed when the top of a large tree, adjacent to the one being felled, became detached and struck him.
91. In the early part of the year an investigation into our safety policy and standards was carried out by the Accident Prevention Advisory Unit of the Health and Safety Executive. The investigation took several months to complete and a report containing a number of recommendations was submitted to the Director General in May 1983. Following detailed consultation with line managers and the Trade Unions, these recommendations have all been accepted and an action plan giving effect to the changes has been published. The methods of implementation have been agreed with the Health and Safety Executive.
Vibration Induced White Finger 92. The increased use of the lightweight chain saw for both felling and debranching in the late 1960s brought with it an increase in the associated problem of vibration induced white finger (VWF). A number of design modifications, and in particular the introduction of anti-vibration (AV) saws in the early 1970s, resulted in a reduction in the number and severity of cases of VWF, and we conducted a number of surveys at Thetford Forest to monitor the changes brought about by AV saws.
93. In 1981 it was decided to extend the survey to a larger number of chain saw operators selected at random throughout the country. A report on the findings was submitted by our Medical Adviser during the year under report. The main conclusions were that 34 per cent of the Commission’s chain saw operators showed symptoms of VWF, but among those operators whose exposure was limited to AV saws, the incidence of symptoms was only 16 per cent. Climatic factors appear to have had little or no influence on the incidence of VWF, but it was discovered that significant numbers of operators were careless over the proper use of protective gloves. It has also been established that operators with a family history of circulatory disorders seem more prone to develop VWF and that the self-reporting of symptoms is not a reliable method of detection.
94. These findings were accepted by the Commission’s Health & Safety Committee and additional preventative measures were under consideration at the end of the year under report. These include regular medical screening of exposed workers and the introduction of more comprehensive health enquiries for new recruits to identify individuals who may have a predisposition to VWF.
Finance 95. The accounts of the Forestry Enterprise, including general notes and explanations together with the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report thereon, appear after page 89. 27 96. After two years of the 1982-87 quinquennium, the indications are that the Commission will exceed the set targets of 3 per cent in real terms on its forest estate valuation and 5 per cent on its commercial recreation and surplus estate investment. Favourable variances on the Plantations account, which indicate the extent to which the 3 per cent target has been exceeded, totalled £14.8 million. Income exceeded the standard by £3.0 million, mainly because of improvements in timber markets. Forest costs were £9.8 million lower than the standard as a consequence of improvements in efficiency and productivity, particularly in harvesting operations. The Trading Account showed a cumulative surplus of £1.8 million above the targets set. This was mainly a result of improved returns on cabins and campsites and the profit achieved on the sale of surplus properties.
28 Forestry Authority
Legislation Controls Against the Spread o f Dendroctonus micans 97. As foreshadowed in our last Report, we have introduced an Order prohibiting the landing in Britain of conifer wood with bark from France, from where there is a risk of consignments of mixed conifers being imported from an area devastated by gales and infested with Dendroctonus micans. The new Order*, which came into operation on 8 June 1983, also introduced new controls on imports of conifer trees from Europe (the bulk of which are used as Christmas trees).
98. A further strengthening of our import controls, in the form of a requirement that all conifer wood imports from Europe should be free of bark, has been agreed by the European Community’s Plant Heath Working Group. Imports of conifer bark will also be banned. It is hoped to introduce an Order giving effect to these changes during 1984.
Amendments to Dutch Elm Disease Orders 99. The proposed amendments to our Dutch Elm Disease Orders altering the boundaries of the areas within which control measures apply, to which we referred in our last Report, had still not been introduced at the end of the year because of drafting problems. The Orders were, however, in an advanced state of preparation and were expected to be made in May 1984.
Increases in Fines 100. Work was also well advanced on the preparation of an Order to increase maximum fines for offences under our various Plant Health Orders from their current level of £100 for a first offence and £200 for a second or subsequent offence to £ 1,000 for any offence, as authorised by the Criminal Justice Act 1982.
Private Forestry Further Rise in Planting 101. We are pleased to report that planting in the private sector rose sharply during the year. A total of 19,740 hectares was grant-aided under the Commission’s schemes (compared with 15,629 hectares in the previous year) of which 16,673 hectares comprised new planting (Table 3 of Appendix VIII). It is of interest that 15,306 hectares (78 per cent) were planted under the Forestry Grant Scheme, which we introduced in October 1981. The scheme continued to prove attractive, with some 2,000 applications covering 80,400 hectares being received during the year.
Broadleaves and Small Woods 102. We are also glad to be able to record that broadleaved planting has continued to rise, with 1,711 hectares being grant-aided under all our schemes in 1983-84 compared with 1,511 hectares the year before. Reports from our Conservancies
* The Import and Export of Trees, Wood and Bark (Health) (Great Britain) (Amendment) Order 1983 (SI 1983/807). 29 indicate that many small woods are being brought into management for the first time under the new Forestry Grant Scheme. This is a pleasing development which has undoubtedly been encouraged by the structure of the scheme, which offers enhanced rates for small areas and for broadleaved planting.
Illegal Felling 103. Our leaflet on the control of tree felling, which we first issued in January 1983, has proved a useful guide to woodland owners on the statutory regulations relating to the felling of trees. We are disappointed, however, that cases are still being reported to us where felling has been carried out without the necessary felling licence. We take a serious view of these offences because of the irrevocable effects that such fellings can have on valued landscapes in the absence of replanting, and we have undertaken a number of successful prosecutions against the parties involved. During 1983-84, for instance, there were 13 cases where either owners, merchants, contractors or tree fellers were found guilty of offences against the felling licensing provisions and fines of up to £4,000 were imposed.
Conversion of Woodland to Agriculture 104. We continue to receive an appreciable number of applications to fell trees so that woodland can be converted to agricultural use. Our present policy is based on a presumption against such conversion, except where the wood is a small one, is not visited by the public and is not a feature in the landscape. However, if the Agriculture Department can confirm that the proposed conversion would make a significant contribution to the viability and economy of the remainder of the agricultural holding and there are no objections to the proposed felling from any of the other authorities consulted on the application, then we may be prepared to issue a licence without replanting conditions.
Forestry in the European Community 105. During the year, the Commission of the European Communities put forward several proposals involving forestry for consideration by the Council of Ministers. These were:-
i. A proposal to establish a Community scheme to provide forests in the Community with increased protection against fire and acid rain. This aimed to provide financial aid and co-ordination to help Member States fight forest fires and to set up a monitoring network to study any damage caused to forests by atmospheric pollution.
ii. A Communication from the EC Commission which described the important role of forestry and forest-based industries in the Community, analysed trends in the various sectors of the wood-using industry and proposed that Member States adopt, in the form of a Resolution, a series of objectives and lines of action with a view to developing the Community’s capacity to produce wood products under conditions of international competition. To assist in implementing this strategy the EC Commission has appointed a 27-man Advisory Committee, on which the United Kingdom has four members including Mr G. J. Francis, Commissioner for Harvesting and Marketing. 30 iii. A set of proposals associated with the review of the Agricultural Structures Policy. Some 25 per cent of the expenditure under these proposals related to forestry measures on farms, including afforestation, woodland improvement, fire protection and provision of roads. The object of the proposals was to improve agricultural income and reduce the production of those agricultural products in surplus. As an additional measure, the EC Commission also proposed the extension of Council Regulation 355/77 which deals with the marketing and processing of agricultural products to include the primary processing of wood products.
iv. A series of proposals for Integrated Mediterranean Programmes which offered assistance to France, Italy and Greece in various spheres of agricultural activity. Finance would be available for a range of measures including afforestation, commercial forestry, forest fire-fighting, provision of nature parks and forest roads.
106. At the end of the period covered by this Report, all of these proposals were at the stage of discussion and clarification, and careful scrutiny was being given to their cost, content and implications. Forestry Commission officials have been playing a prominent part in discussions within the United Kingdom and in Brussels. The Director General and other Commission officials have also continued to attend European Community meetings dealing with forestry policy, plant health, forestry research and forest fires.
Forestry Research Coordination Committee 107. We reported last year on the formation of the Forestry Research Coordination Committee under Commission chairmanship to act as a forum to identify research requirements and opportunities and to encourage the co ordination of research programmes. All the organisations and departments concerned with forestry research are represented on the Committee, the views of which are taken into account by the constituent bodies in the formulation and implementation of their own research programmes. The Committee reviewed two areas in the course of the year. In the first, that of wood science and processing, the Committee considered that extra research expenditure was justified. It subsequently proved possible to reallocate some existing forestry research funds and to obtain further funds for work on fundamental aspects of wood structure from the Director of the Building Research Establishment, thus enabling a useful addition to be made to research on British-grown timber. The second area reviewed by the Committee concerned the integration of farming and forestry in lowland Britain. The report of this review was still under consideration at the end of the year. Review groups were also established in two other fields during the year. These were concerned with forestry and the environment and with tree physiology in relation to tree improvement and propagation. In addition to considering specific fields of research, the Committee began the process of establishing criteria for the selection of research areas which appear to deserve greater emphasis. 31 Research and Development 108. The Commission’s Report on Forest Research, published each autumn, gives a full account of the work carried out or grant-aided by our Research and Development Division. The paragraphs below represent a small selection of items of general interest.
Census o f Trees and Woodland 109. The data processing of the information from our census was completed (Plate 7) and results produced for all Counties in England and Wales and all Regions in Scotland, with summarised totals by Conservancies and countries. By the end of the year, reports on the results had been published for England and Wales and for the bulk of individual Conservancies and Counties in England. The remaining results were expected to be published in the summer of 1984.
110. The area of woodland in blocks of 0.25 hectares and over in Great Britain stood at 2.11 million hectares in 1980, a rise of over 40 per cent since 1947. Most of the increase was associated with afforestation. The area under conifers rose from just under 400,000 hectares in 1947 to 1.32 million hectares in 1980. The area of broadleaved woodland in England and Wales increased between these two dates by 40,000 hectares, although a fall in Scotland of 26,000 hectares implied an increase in the Great Britain total of only 14,000 to 752,000 hectares. The average age of the broadleaved tree cover was found to have fallen and there were some changes in the proportions of species; in particular, there was a reduction in the number of oaks. The survey of trees outside woodlands revealed that the total volume of timber in Great Britain represented by such trees had fallen only slightly from that found at the time of the last full assessment in 1951; this was despite the losses caused by Dutch elm disease and hedgerow clearance. The distribution of tree numbers by size indicated that, overall, the prospects for the future maintenance of the stock of non-woodland trees are more encouraging than in 1951.
Knopper Gall 111. Acorns malformed by knopper galls, caused by the gall wasp Andricus quercuscalicis, were commonly found during the year. Contrary to popular belief, it is not expected that this pest will have any long-term effect on oaks; in 1983 the wasp appears to have attacked the few available acorns in a poor fruiting year.
Dutch Elm Disease 112. An important discovery has been made by one of our pathologists, Dr C.M. Brasier, of a virus-like agent (the ‘disease’ or ‘d-factor’) in the natural populations of the fungus causing Dutch elm disease. This is of special interest because a similar virus-like agent has been responsible for the decline in a very damaging epidemic of Chestnut blight in southern Europe. Whether this will happen with Dutch elm disease remains to be seen.
Silviculture 113. Research has been intensified into methods of regenerating plantations after felling, especially into new methods of cultivation designed to improve survival after replanting and to increase long-term stability against windthrow in 32 the second rotation. Following successful experiments in growing Sitka spruce in intimate mixture with pine or larch on infertile northern peatlands, we have been able to recommend the use of these mixtures as general practice on such peatlands. In order to obtain a better understanding of how one species affects another in mixed woodlands, we have also commissioned investigations by the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research and others into the biological and nutrient cycling processes involved.
114. The successful growth of Macedonian pine (Pinuspeuce) in experiments on very infertile acid peats has led us to examine potential sources of seed from the natural range of this pine in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, with the assistance of the authorities there who have supplied seed from selected origins for further trials in Britain.
Tree Breeding 115. We completed the first extensive artificial pollination of superior Sitka spruce clones to provide seeds for sowing and subsequent vegetative propagation by the Commission and by the private sector. First assessments of Scots pine progenies derived from controlled pollination of superior trees show a gain of 15 per cent in height growth at 6 years of age; this is substantially greater than expected.
Tree Physiology 116. We have started investigations on the physiological causes of sub-normal growth of some Sitka spruce plantations in the South Wales Coalfield with the aim of improvingsilvicultural practice there and to enable prompt identification of unfavourable environmental factors causing sub-normal growth elsewhere in Britain.
A cid Rain 117. In an earlier part of this Report (paragraphs 26 and 27) we refer to the increasing concern being voiced about the possible effects of coniferous forests on the acidity of streams and lakes. A number of experiments in Commission forests have been set up by the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, by the Welsh Water Authority and by the River Solway Purification Board to test the influence of tree clearance and of catchment and lake liming. A new experiment, with which we shall be closely associated, is being established by the electricity supply industry at Loch Fleet in south west Scotland. In addition, we have continued work, much of it in collaboration with the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, on changes in soil and soil solutions associated with clearfelling at sites in northern England and in north Wales. Though not designed explicitly to monitor the routes by which acid depositions may influence streamwater, the experiments are already providing some indications of the processes involved. A similar development in soil research has resulted from Professor Miller’s work at the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research, partly funded by the Commission, which has been providing valuable evidence since the late 1970s on certain of the pathways taken by acid depositions in tree crops. Our research staff maintain close contact with developments overseas and attend and contribute to meetings on the subject of acid rain, both in this country and in the international context. 33 Grey Squirrels 118. Grey squirrel damage was surveyed in the late spring of 1983 with the aim of relating observations on damage to the control applied. It was found that in many instances inappropriate control techniques were used, especially where game was an important consideration.
Contracts 119. A steady flow of contract research work continues to be carried out by the Research and Development Division. The Department of the Environment renewed, though at a slightly lower level, its contract for arboricultural work for a further three years. The Field Surveys Branch has accepted a sub-contract from the main contractor, Hunting Technical Services Ltd, which is undertaking a two-year project for the Department on landscape monitoring in England and Wales. Further work is planned for the Department of Energy on the production of biomass for energy. The total value of the contract work of this nature currently being done by the Research and Development Division is of the order of £250,000 per annum.
120. At the request of the Overseas Development Administration, the Head of Silviculture (North) Branch, Dr A.J. Low, visited the Falkland Islands in September 1983 in order to assess the prospects and resources for tree planting in the Islands to create shelter, produce timber and enhance amenity.
Plant Health Dendroctonus micans 121. In our last Report, we gave a full account of the discovery of Dendroctonus micans (the Great Spruce Bark Beetle) in woodlands in a number of Counties in Wales and adjoining Counties in England and of the measures we were taking to deal with it. The campaign against this pest continued throughout the year on the basis of the strategy developed by the Dendroctonus Micans Working Group, which comprises Commission officials and representatives of private growers and the timber trade. Commission teams undertook further surveys both in our own plantations and in private woodlands with the full and ready co-operation of the owners concerned. This work is the mainspring of our overall “search and destroy” control strategy. The results of the 1983-84 surveys showed a significant increase over the previous year in the number of sites in which infestations were found; this increase was due to the discovery of some older as well as new infestations. By contrast, there was a slight reduction in the total number of infested trees recorded, and the spread from previous centres of infestation, where fellings had been completed, was markedly reduced in most cases to scattered single trees or small groups of trees. The spread of the beetle beyond the periphery of last year’s attacks was limited to 4 or 5 km and we are glad to report that no new infestations were discovered outside the Scheduled Area, that is the area in which the movement of spruce is controlled under the Restriction on Movement of Spruce Wood Order 1982. An assessment of the implications of the data for the development of future strategy was being undertaken at the end of the year. 34 122. One of the essential features of the present control measures is to ensure that infested material is treated before it leaves the forest. Treatment involves either the complete removal of bark or its partial removal — spot peeling — from the infested areas on the trunk of the tree, followed by the spraying of the exposed beetles and the bark litter with insecticide. Spot-peeled material may be licensed to move to “approved mills” equipped with peelers within the Scheduled Area. Under a voluntary code of conduct such material is being segregated at the mill, then completely peeled and the bark either burned or pulverised and composted. The transport of spruce wood from infested stands to mills located outside the Scheduled Area is prohibited unless the bark is removed completely; movement to such mills from stands in the Area believed to be free of Dendroctonus is severely curtailed.
123. In our 1982-83 Report, we indicated that there was evidence that Rhizophagus grandis, a specific predator of Dendroctonus micans, might help to provide a biological control of the pest in this country and that we were making arrangements for scientific trials to be carried out. We have been sufficiently encouraged by the potential of this method of control to start a programme for the breeding of Rhizophagus grandis beetles, which we plan to release under Department of the Environment licence at selected sites in private woodlands and Commission forests on the basis of priorities assessed by our entomologists. Although the use of this predator as a biological control is an interesting development, it can only at this stage be considered as an additional, and as yet unproved, measure rather than an alternative to sanitation felling and treatment.
124. We are clearly at a critical stage in the campaign against Dendroctonus m icans and a major review of strategy will have to be undertaken by the Working Group in the autumn of 1984 when a further season’s survey results are known. In the meantime, our assessment is that the beetle population has been reduced and its rate of outward spread has been slowed.
125. Once again, we should like to record our appreciation of the efforts made by and the help and co-operation received from the private sector — growers and timber merchants alike — in the campaign to control this unwelcome pest.
European Community Legislation 126. Further discussions continued in Brussels throughout the year on proposed amendments to the EC Plant Health Directive. These include a “forestry package” of amendments which seek to extend our import controls, adding to the list of pests against which controls are required and, for certain wood genera not hitherto controlled, prescribing new landing conditions. A relaxation is also being sought to dispense with plant health certificates for kiln-dried wood provided that it is so identified by relevant marks on the wood or its packaging.
Education and Training Internal Training 127. Training courses were held over the whole range of the Commission’s activities, with particular attention being focussed in the field on organised felling systems and the adoption of mechanised techniques over a range of 35 operations. The introduction of the new Forest Districts (see paragraph 14) was assisted by a series of seminars attended by all the Forest District Managers; pilot courses for Forest District clerical staff were also held. Our Education and Training Branch began the task of revising other courses to meet the needs of the new organisation, and was actively involved in assessing training needs and developing appropriate training packages in connection with our planned introduction of in-house computer facilities.
Forestry Education
128. The year saw considerable changes in the field of forestry education at the Certificate and Diploma levels. In England, the Cumbria College of Agriculture and Forestry at Newton Rigg began the revision of the City & Guilds syllabus which forms the part-time route to a Forester qualification, and we are evaluating this work. A start was made by the Scottish Education Department on the implementation of its action plan for over 16s education. The Department has decided that its new scheme of modular education should replace existing courses and qualifications up to Ordinary Diploma level. This means that the SCOTEC Diploma in Forestry will be phased out, and we are collaborating with the Department and representatives of the private sector in trying to devise a programme of modules which can take its place. It is too early to say what the outcome will be.
129. Liaison was maintained with a large number of further education colleges, and in particular the Cumbria College of Agriculture and Forestry and the Inverness Technical College. Pre-college and sandwich period employment was provided for about half the forestry students from these two colleges, despite the Commission’s reduced worker complement. Towards the end of the year, we also co-operated with the colleges, in their role as managing agents in the application of the Youth Training Scheme to the forestry industry, by providing “on-the-job” experience.
Public Relations
Media Interest in Forestry
130. The media’s interest in forestry continued at a high level throughout the year. Our disposals programme was again the dominant topic, but as the year advanced attention was increasingly focussed on issues related to conservation and land use. Ty pical of this was the coverage given to our proposals to plant an area of Dunnerdale in the Lake District and to proposals made by a forestry company to plant part of the Creag Meagaidh SSSI in the Highlands, but these were merely the more obvious manifestations of a substantial increase of media interest in almost every aspect of the rural environment. Several press conferences and forest visits were arranged for events such as the record seed harvest (paragraphs 36 to 38), the publication of the census of woodland reports (paragraphs 109 and 110) and the planned introduction to Britain’s forests of Rhizophagus grandis, the predator specific to Dendroctonus micans (paragraph 123). 36 Television Programmes 131. We also co-operated with the BBC on two important television series — eight programmes featuring Dr David Bellamy in a popular science review of trees and forests, and a sequence of schools’ programmes using forests as the basis for environmental education in conjuction with which a number of seminars were arranged for teachers to meet Commission staff. Both programmes were due to be screened in the early summer of 1984.
Schools Competition 132. For the second year in succession, the work of the Forestry Commission inspired the winning entry in the National Schools’ Project Competition run by the British Trades Alphabet Company. Forestry has become one of the most popular topics among the thousands of entrants in this annual competition, for which we contributed to the provision of material circulated to 30,000 schools in England, Scotland and Wales.
Liverpool International Garden Festival 133. Our decision to take space at the Liverpool International Garden Festival to be opened by Her Majesty The Queen in May 1984 has led to the creation of what is probably the biggest single exhibition enterprise ever undertaken by the Commission. It has involved the construction of a scale model of an upland forest on a 70 square metre site, using 250,000 young trees and featuring a wide selection of modern forestry practice (Plate 8). Associated with the model, we have a display illustrating the multiplicity of uses to which man puts the timber the forest produces.
Finance 134. The statement of expenditure on Forestry Authority services, together with notes and explanations, appears at Table 2 of Appendix XI.
DAVID MONTGOMERY, Chairman G. D. HOLMES, Deputy Chairman and Director General J. FORBES W. F. E. FORBES G. J. FRANCIS GIBSON-WATT G. O. HUTCHISON J. N. KENNEDY G. S. MURRAY J. D. POLLOCK
P. J. CLARKE, Secretary FORESTRY COMMISSION 231 Corstorphine Road Edinburgh EH 12 7AT
37 Appendix I Statutory and other Committees appointed by the Forestry Commission: membership March 1984
National Committees
England Mr J.N. Kennedy(Chairman), Major D.J.C. Davenport, Mr G.O. Hutchison, Mr W.E. Lane, Mr H. W. M ackworth-Praed. Secretary to the Committee: Mr A. Lyon. The Committee met in October 1983 and March 1984.
Scotland Captain W.F.E. Forbes (Chairman), Lt-Col A.E. Cameron, MrG. J. Francis, Mr J.D. Pollock, Mr William Wolfe, Captain J.M.A. Yerburgh. Secretary to the Committee: Mr B.R. Sidaway. The Committee met in April 1983.
Wales Lord Gibson-Watt (Chairman), Mr B. Davies, Mr D. Davies, Mr A. Rix, Mr D.Y.M. Robertson, Mr W.R. Williams. Secretary to the Committee: Mr E.G. Owen. The Committee met in June and November 1983.
Regional Advisory Committees
ENGLAND
North West Conservancy Lord Forester (Chairman), Mr J.E. Croasdale, Mr C.A. Eade, Mr P.M. Entwislle, Dr H.M.T. Frankland, Mr F.G. Humphreys, Mr R.E. Shapland, Mr M. Taylor, Mr W.B. Walker.Secretary to the Committee: Mr M. Mitchell. The Committee met in May and November 1983.
North East Conservancy Mr P.O.R. Bridgeman(Chairman), Mr M.J.M. Bliss, ProfessorB. Hackett, MrT.N. Hammond, Mr W.W. Metcalfe, Mr G.F. Stevenson, Mr P. Townson, Major P.B. Walker, Sir Marcus Worsley. Secretary to the Committee: Mr J.G. Armstrong. The Committee met in October 1983 and March 1984.
East Conservancy Mr W.E. Lane (Chairman), Major G.K. Agnew, Councillor R.W.R. Browning, Mr W.H. Darling, Mr W.R. Emms, Major A.G.N. Hadden-Paton, MrT. Mabbult, Mr P.H. Peck, Mr J.K. Royston. Secretary to the Committee: Mr W.O. Wittering. The Committee met in April and October 1983.
South East Conservancy Mr H.W. Mackworth-Praed (Chairman), Mr D.J. Edwards, Mr J.P.M.H. Evelyn, Mr D. Gibson, Mr E.J.F. Green, Mr A.C.S. Jennings, Mr W.R. Start, Major E.H. Stenhouse, Mr P.W. Venn. Secretary to the Committee: Mr B. Tipping. The Committee met in May and November 1983. 38 South West Conservancy Major D.J.C. Davenport(Chairman), Mr M. Bray, Mr I. Mercer, Mr R.M. Moody, Councillor A.G. Phillips, Mr M. Roper, Mr P.D. Tucketl, Mr R.F. Worgan, Mr J.W.B. Workman. Secretary to the C om m ittee: Mr D.C. Fisher. The Committee met in May and October 1983.
SCOTLAND North Conservancy Ll-Col A.E. Cameron {Chairman), Mr E.J. Brodie, Mr R. Cameron, Mr J. Evans, Mr J. Grant, Mr W.W. McAskill, Major A. McCall, Mr H.D. Skinner, Captain R.W.K. Stirling. Secretary to the Com m ittee: Mr K. Roscoe. The Committee met in May and November 1983.
East Conservancy Dr Jean Balfour (Chairman), Mr B.S. Brookes, Mr G.W. Christie, Mr G. Cruikshank, Mr A.D.M. Farquharson, Mr N. Gordon-Smith, MrT. Bruce Jones, Mr R.F. Neish, Mr O.H. Russell. Secretary to the Committee: Mr W.D. Fraser. The Committee met in May and November 1983.
South Conservancy Captain J.M.A. Yerburgh (Chairman), Dr R. Aitken, Mr W.S. Brack, Major D. Bridges, Mr D.F. Hewitt, Councillor J.G. Hope, Mr D.W.N. Landale, Mr R.A. McClymont, Captain J.G. Milne- Home. Secretary to the Committee: MrW.G. Williamson. The Committee met in May and October 1983.
West Conservancy Mr William Wolfe (Chairman), Captain J.N.B. Baillie-Hamilton, Mr F. Bracewell, Mr D. Brierton, Mr W.J. Christie, Mr A. Fleming, CouncillorT. Rae, MrT. Smith, Mr R. Thomson. Secretary to the Com m ittee: Mr W.J. Anderson. The Committee met in May and October 1983.
WALES North Conservancy Mr T.H. Owen (Chairman), Mr F.C. Best, Mr J.M. Harrop, Mr R. ap Simon Jones, Mr D.R.L. Keogh, Captain D.Y.F. Myddelton, Major P.C. Ormrod, Councillor D.W.L. Rowlands, Mr J.W. Sutton. Secretary to the Committee: Mr J. McGough. The Committee met in May and October 1983.
South Conservancy Mr M.A. McLaggan (Chairman), Mr E. Bartlett, Mr C.J.S. Burd, Mr S.K. Neale, Councillor R.G. Thomas, Mr H. Thompson, Mrs D. Walmsley, Mr P.A. Wilde, Mr C.R. Woosnam.Secretary to the C om m ittee: Mr R.R. Davies. The Committee met in April and October 1983.
Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee
Mr J.D.W. Janes (Chairman) Mr R.M. Harley Mr F. Baugh Mr J.H. Hose * Mr A.F. Bloomfield Mr H. J. Keys Mr R.E. Boote * Mr R.J. Lennox* Mr HJ. Brewis Professor A. MacLeary * The Hon James Bruce Mr A.W. Mills * Mr N.F. Cairncross * Mr P.S. Murray Mr D.J. Cooper Mr R. Parker-Jervis Mr J.W. Dodds * Mr H. Richardson Mr G. W. Donaldson Mr R. Whitaker The Hon James Galbraith Mr J. F. Williams Mr J. Glegg Mr C.R. Woosnam Mr R.D. Gordon Secretary: Mr J.R. Wallace * Independent members 39 With the exception of the independent members the membership was drawn from nominations received from the following bodies: Timber Growers UK Ltd, British Timber Merchants’ Association (England and Wales), Home Timber Merchants’Association of Scotland, National Coal Board, Timber Trade Federation, UK Particleboard Association, Association of United Kingdom Wood Pulp Producers, Timber Research and Development Association Ltd. The Committee met in September and December 1983 and March 1984. The Annual Report of the Com mittee is at Appendix II, page 43.
Technical Sub-Committee of the Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee
Mr H. Richardson ( Chairm an) Major P.C. Ormrod Mr M.T. Rogers Timber Growers United Kingdom Ltd Mr D.B. Crawford Mr J R. Maeer British Timber Merchants’Association (England and Mr M.D. Oxnard Wales) Mr J.A. Kissock Home Timber Merchants’ Association of Scotland Mr T.S. Smith Dr G.K. Elliott Institute of Chartered Foresters Mr A.R. Powell Association of Professional Foresters Col D.A. Campbell Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Mr P.R. Willan Association of United Kingdom Wood Pulp Producers Mr V.J.J. Cridge National Coal Board Mr S.K. Neale Transport and General Workers’ Union
Secretary: Mr J.R. Aaron
The Sub-Committee met in April, July and October 1983 and January 1984.
Supply and Demand Sub-Committee of the Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee
Mr N.F. Cairncross ( Chairman) Mr P. J. Warburton-Lee Timber Growers United Kingdom Ltd Mr D.B. Crawford } Mr D.J. Cooper British Timber Merchants’ Association (England and Wales) Mr J. Glegg Home Timber Merchants’Association of Scotland Mr A.F. Bloomfield UK Particleboard Association Mr K.F. Deane Association of United Kingdom Wood Pulp Producers Mr R. W. MacKenzie National Coal Board
Secretary: Mr R.M. Smith
The Sub-Committee met in May and December 1983
Advisory Committee on Forest Research
Professor P.F. Wareing (Chairman) Dr J.P. Dempster Professor J.R. Ashton Professor J.M. Hirst Dr J.D. Brazier Dr W.E.S. Mutch Professor J.P.M. Brenan Professor L. Roche Professor P.R. Day Professor T.S. West
Secretary: Mr J.R. Price
The Committee met in October 1983. 40 Forestry Research Coordination Committee
Mr G.J. Francis (Chairman) Forestry Commission Mr A.J. Grayson Forestry Commission Dr T. Hegarty Agriculture Departments Mr J.M . Baker Department of the Environment Dr J.C. Bowman Natural Environment Research Council Mr J.N .R . Jeffers Dr J. M oorby Agricultural and Food Research Council Mr R.C. Steele Nature Conservancy Council Dr W.E.S. Mutch Forestry Universities Professor P.F. Wareing Forestry Commission Research Advisory Committee
Secretary: Mr D.A. Burdekin
The Com mittee met in October 1983 and March 1984.
Forestry Training Council
Mr D .A. Mithen ( Chairman)
Employer Members Mr H.J. Brewis Commander A.G. Claridge Timber Growers United Kingdom Ltd Mr P.J.D. Donnelly Major General T.A. Richardson
Mr C.W. Simmonds Forestry Commission Mr A.R. Sutton
Mr A.G. Phillips Association of Professional Foresters
Employee Members Mr J.H. Hose Mr D.R.L. Keogh Transport and General Workers’ Union Mr A. Mills Mr S.K. Neale
Mr T.E. Radford Civil Service Union
Education and Training Members Mr W.J. Hedley Forestry Education (Scotland) Mr J. M cMillan } Mr R.M. Boothroyd Forestry Education (England and Wales) Mr D. Danbury } Forestry Society etc Members Mr B. Roebuck Institute of Chartered Foresters Mr J. Brown Royal Scottish Forestry Society Mr W.R. Start Royal Forestry Society of England, Wales and Northern Ireland Dr P.G. Biddle Standing Committee for Arboricultural Education
Secretary: Mr J. McRitchie
The Council met in June and October 1983 and March 1984. 41 Forestry Safety Council Col D.A. Campbell ( Chairman) Viscount Campden ^ Timber Growers United Kingdom Ltd Mr K.J. Ramsay Mr D.J. Cooper British Timber Merchants’Association (England and Wales) Mr R. Callander Home Timber Merchants’ Association of Scotland Mr J.H. Hose ^ Transport and General Workers’ Union Mr A. Mills Mr P.B. Munn General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trades Union Mr D.G. Whieldon Forestry Training Council Mr C.W. Simmonds Forestry Commission Mr D.A. Bardy Forestry Commission Safety Officer
Secretary: Mr R.J. Bell
The Council met in April and October 1983.
42 Appendix II Home Grown Timber Advisory Committee Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 1984
The Committee was pleased to learn of the decision by United Paper Mills to build a pulp and newsprint mill at Shotton in North Wales. The Committee observed that this, coupled with other developments, such as the expansion by Thames Board at Workington and the construction of a structural composition board plant at Dalcross near Inverness, meant that, in terms of volume, the forestry industry would soon recover the small roundwood market in Britain which had been lost as a result of the pulpmill closures of 1980.
Future developments in the forestry industry were very much to the fore when the Committee, in March, discussed the Government’s White Paper on Regional Industrial Development. Concern was expressed by the Committee over the change in emphasis away from capital-intensive industries, such as pulpmills. The Committee felt that, with their emphasis on job creation, the selective grants proposed ought to take into account secondary job creation, such as that provided by timber harvesting. The Committee also urged that machinery used in the harvesting and haulage of timber should be eligible for grant-aid. The Committee decided to convey these views to the Chairman of the Forestry Commission to be forwarded to the Department of Trade and Industry.
In September, the Committee’s attention was focussed on two developments which had taken place in the European Community, namely a draft Council Resolution on a Forestry Action Programme and a draft Council Regulation on Fires and Acid Rain. Discussion on these matters reinforced the Committee’s previously held views that forestry policies required to be tailored to the individual requirements of Member States. The Committee urged that the Forestry Commission should try from within the European Community to ensure that any forestry developments within the Community were least harmful to the UK.
Also in September, the Committee were consulted and commented on the review of the strategy for controlling Dutch elm disease. On the subject of Dendroctonus micans, the Committee was concerned to learn that an outbreak had occurred in Lancashire, some distance outside the known infested area. However, the Committee was assured by the Commission that this had proved to be an isolated outbreak and that no alteration to the scheduled area was required. At the December meeting the Committee was encouraged to learn that a thorough survey had revealed that, while the number of infested sites had increased, the number of infested trees had dropped by half compared with 1982. The Committee congratulated the Commission on the vigour and thoroughness of the surveys.
The subject of road haulage in the British forestry industry was considered at the September meeting. Apart from the question of the increase in the maximum overall weight of lorries to 38 tonnes, which the Committee concluded would have little practical effect on the industry, the Committee also considered the subject of improvements to sub-standard public highways to accommodate timber haulage traffic. It was learnt that some local authorities were seekingto recover the cost of such road improvements from the forestry industry. The Committee agreed with the Commission that representations of this kind from local authorities should be considered on an individual basis, in the light of the underlying principle that the provision and maintenance of an adequate highway system was the responsibility of the local authority.
Of the wider issues which came before the Committee, the question of the draft UK response to the World Conservation Strategy was considered at the March meeting.
43 While noting the upsurge of interest in conservation matters generally, the Committee opposed the suggestion of yet another reappraisal of forestry policy, the most recent of which had culminated in the Government’s forestry policy statement in December 1980 and had taken full account of the conservation interest. The Commission was also pursuing its conservation responsibilities in a number of areas, such as its review of broadleaves policy.
The Committee also reviewed in March the work of the Commission’s Research and Development Division, and was kept in touch throughout the year with the progress of the review groups set up by the Forestry Research Coordination Committee. The Committee also received periodic reports on the Commission’s disposals programme.
The Technical Sub-Committee and the Supply and Demand Sub-Committee made regular reports throughout the year. The Technical Sub-Committee paid particular attention to the use of British softwoods for studs in timber-frame housing in the light of ill-informed criticism in the media of this method of construction. The Sub-Committee also reported on its consideration of the possibility of the treatment of spruce by the Boron diffusion process to meet the requirements of the National House Building Council. The Sub-Committee was congratulated on the successful outcome of the joint project with the Electricity Council, where intensive development had produced a satisfactory level of preservative treatment in spruce power-transmission poles resulting in an acceptance of British-grown poles by an industry which had hitherto used almost none. The Sub-Committee also considered the role of radio in forest operations, shake in hardwoods, the current use of timber by British Rail and ECE Standards for Stress Grading and Finger Jointing, as well as various Commission Work Study Reports on types of forest machinery and equipment. The Supply and Demand Sub-Committee continued to keep the Committee informed on wood supply and demand in Great Britain and on prospects for the coming year on the basis of information supplied by consumers’ and growers’ associations.
The Committee wishes to record that it is indebted to the Sub-Committees for their hard work and the consistently high quality of their advice.
44 Appendix III Forestry Training Council Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 1984
Meetings of both the main Council and its Management Committee took place in Edinburgh on 2 June and 6 October 1983 and 1 March 1984. In addition, the Management Committee met on 26 January 1984. The Grant Award Committee and specialised Working Groups of Council members also met at various times during the year.
Professor J.D. Matthews who had been the Council’s Chairman since its inception in 1971 retired during the year and Mr D.A. Mithen, formerly Commissioner for Harvesting and Marketing with the Forestry Commission, was appointed to fill the vacancy. Mr H. Crawford of the TGWU also retired as d id Professor C. J. Taylor whose place as representative of the 1 nstitute of Chartered Foresters was taken by Mr B. Roebuck. Mr H.J. Brewis replaced Mr A.F.F. Williamson as a representative of Timber Growers UK Ltd and Mr J. McMillan replaced Mr A.I. McNab as a representative for Forestry Education (Scotland).
Statistics on the quantity of training undertaken were again compiled and are provided in Tables 1 and 2.
T able 1 Attendance on Courses for Recognised Craft, Supervisory and Managerial Qualifications
1982/83 1983/84 Courses Grade and Type Number of Number of Courses/Students Courses/Students
City and Guilds 012 Craft (Young Workers) Stage 1 Day and Block Release 2 28 —— City and Guilds 012 Craft (Young Workers) Phase 1 Day and Block Release 3 52 2 24 City and Guilds 012 Craft (Adult Workers) Stage 2 Block Release ...... 1 23 2 40 City and Guilds 012 Craft (Adult Workers) Phase 2 Block Release ...... —— 1 24 SCOTEC Certificate Craft (Young Workers) Part 1 Block Release ...... 6 65 7 62 SCOTEC Certificate Craft (Adult Workers) Part 2 Block Release ...... 3 43 4 39
Totals for Craft Courses ...... 15 211 16 189
Ordinary National Supervisory Diploma 3-Year Sandwich 1 96 1 90 SCOTEC Diploma Supervisory 2-Year Sandwich 1 45 1 43 City and Guilds 012 Supervisory Stage 3 Block Release 1 13 2 27 SCOTEC Certificate Supervisory Part 3 Block Release 2 20 2 19 National Diploma in Forestry Managerial Residential 2 12 2 29
Totals for Supervisory and Managerial Courses 7 186 8 208
45 The Council through its Training Groups arranged short courses in a wide variety of subjects for the private sector, and the Forestry Com m ission conducted short courses for their own workforce. In the latter case, craft training was on a reduced scale compared to the previous year due largely to a reduction in recruitment. Some adjustment to the previous year’s figures has been made for direct comparison purposes. T able 2 Attendance on Short Courses for Forest Workers, Supervisors and Managers during 1982-83 and 1983-84
1982/83 1983/84 Level Source of Participants Trainee Course Days Trainee Course Days
Crafi Private Forestry ...... 4,110 4,553 Forestry Commission 6,250 4,857 Totals ...... 10,360 9,410
Supervisory Private Forestry ...... 2,089 1,559 and Forestry Commission 2,079 2,335 Managerial Totals ...... 4,168 3,894
The Council acted as co-ordinator of arrangements for the introduction to the forestry industry of the Government’s new Youth Training Scheme which took the place of the Youth Opportunities Programme. Under the new arrangements which are based on the Preferred National Scheme for Agriculture, eligible young trainees attend for a minimum of 13 weeks at an appropriate College providing education and training in forestry subjects and undertake the balance of their year’s training with a forestry employer. The question of whether the young trainees should be permitted to use the potentially dangerous chain saw was being debated in various quarters at the end of the year and a ruling was expected from the Health and Safety Executive.
The Council assisted the National Proficiency Tests Council during the year with compilation of additional proficiency tests for forest craftsmen in England and Wales. Investigations were proceeding at the end of the year as to ways and means of having a proficiency testing scheme for forest craftsmen in Scotland instituted under an appropriate Authority.
The Manpower Services Commission provided a small final contribution towards the Council’s Group Training running costs in England and Wales. The Highlands and Islands Development Board grant-aided a scheme operated by the Council to encourage limber harvesting operators in the Highlands area to undertake training in modern harvesting techniques including safe and efficient working. Under the scheme, harvesting contractors and others were offered 50 per cent of their training costs but the response was lukewarm until the end of the year when additional publicity measures met with some success.
The advent of a number of new industrial developments in various parts of the country requiring large supplies of timber in the near future has highlighted the urgent need for a further scheme of training in modern harvesting techniques to cater for both existing and additional harvesting contractors. A submission was made to the Manpower Services Commission seeking grant-aid to assist contractors with their training costs and discussions were continuing at the year’s end. The Forestry Commission agreed to assist the Council in providing the additional training resources required for this purpose.
The Forestry Training Council made 15 awards during the year to trainees who wished to complete certain City and Guilds or SCOTEC courses but were unable to obtain financial support from their employers or local education authorities. The Forestry Training Council continued to have a close association with the Forestry Safety Council. Once again, the Council is pleased to record the willing co-operation given to it by many people and organisations, not least the Manpower Services Commission, the Colleges providing courses in forestry, the Forestry Commission, the private sector of forestry and the assessors.
Signed for the Forestry Training Council
D.A. MITHEN Chairman
J. McRITCHIE Secretary to the Council
46 Appendix IV Forestry Safety Council Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 1984
During the year meetings of the Council were held in Edinburgh on 19 April and 25 October 1983.
One new guide dealing with Hand Held Power Posthole Borers was published during the year together with revised versions of six existing guides, including three in the chain saw series.
The Council considered the implications of an EEC directive concerned with the protection of workers from noise. The directive stresses the need to reduce noise levels at source in preference to the use of ear protectors. There is, however, little prospect of significant reductions being achieved quickly for chain saws. Where workers are necessarily exposed to harmful noise levels the directive, as presently drafted, requires that employers use routine audiometry as a means of monitoring hearing loss.
A Health and Safety Commission Consultative Document entitled Proposals for Revised Arrangements for Reporting Accidents, III Health and Dangerous Occurrences at Work was considered by the Council who favoured the retention, both for reporting and recording purposes, of the present system based on accidents causing incapacity from work for more than three days. The Council laid stress on the need for the self-employed person to be subject to the same reporting requirements irrespective of the location of the worksite.
Information provided by the Health and Safety Executive about accidents involving the use of chain saws in forestry and agriculture revealed a clear similarity between the types of injury sustained in the two industries. Kickback was highlighted as being the major cause ofinjury. The Council stressed the need for adequate training, knowledge of the content of the relevant safety guides and the provision of suitable clothing and equipment.
The Council noted that a substance known commercially as Phostoxin was being introduced as an alternative to Cymagfor the control of rabbits. The Council decided that it would maintain a close interest in this development, particularly in research being undertaken by the Forestry Commission.
47 Appendix V Review of the Consultation Procedures for Tree Planting and Felling Proposals
Press notice issued by the Forestry Commission on 14 November 1983
New arrangements come into force on 1 December 1983 to speed up and simplify the procedures for consultation between the Forestry Commission, Government Departments and other authorities on applications for Commission grant-aid and for felling licences.
They will mean fewerconsultations with the Agriculture Departments and local authorities in certain types of cases; fewer delays in dealing with objections over planting and felling proposals; and fewer disputes having to be referred to Ministers.
The changes are a consequence of a review of the consultation procedures recently carried out by the Commission as a follow up to a study of its grant-aid and felling licence systems undertaken in 1980 under the auspices of Lord Rayner. The aim of the review was to find ways in which the consultation procedures might be speeded up and simplified to reduce administrative costs for the public authorities concerned and for private woodland owners. A number of changes have now been agreed with the Departments, authorities and representative bodies concerned and have been endorsed by Forestry Ministers.
Fewer cases:
The extent of consultation with the Agriculture Departments will be reduced by dispensing with consultation on proposals to afforest farm land in the following circumstances:-
in England and Wales — for any area under 10 hectares
— for areas of rough grazing land under 20 hectares
in Scotland — for any area of arable, former arable or reseeded land under 5 hectares
— in other cases, for any area under 20 hectares except for certain soil types where the threshold will be 5 hectares
Consultations will still take place below these levels, however, where the land has been grant-aided by an Agriculture Department within the previous two years or where it is the subject of a current agricultural development plan.
It has also been agreed with the Local Authority Associations in England and Wales and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities that early discussions will be held between the Forestry Commission’s Conservators and individual local authorities aimed at concentrating consultation over planting and felling proposals on the more sensitive areas and issues. It is intended that such consultation should be with one tier of local government which would be responsible for any necessary liaison with other local authorites; this aspect will also be covered in the forthcoming discussions.
No changes are envisaged in the extent of the consultation at present undertaken with other countryside authorities, except that in the case of the Red Deer Commission consultations will not normally take place over afforestation proposals affecting areas of less than 50 hectares. 48 P late 1 Britain’s own forests are providing an increasing proportion of the sawn softwood used in this country. Top: part of the despatch departm ent at the sawmill of Riddoch of Rothiemay, near Fort William. Bottom: a load of sawlogs entering the yard at W estern Softwoods, Newbridge o n W y e. i ii P l a te 2 Investments in modern wood-processing plants demonstrate the strength of the British forest-products industry. iii iv (i) Pulpwood from forests in northern England and southern Scotland at the W orkington Mill of Thames Board, and . . . V (ii) . . . reels of the finished board await cutting into sheets. (iii) The woodyard and woodchip storage silos of Caberboard at Irvine, a n d . . . (iv) . . . the finished particleboard ready for despatch from the w a re h o u s e . (v) Construction under way at Shotton of the integrated pulp and newsprint mill of the Shotton Paper Company. ______
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P la te 7 The survey of private woodlands for the recently-completed Census involved a process combining aerial and ground surveys with computer ii data analysis. (i) Sample woodlands were first selected and marked onto OS maps iii iv (ii) and the internal stand divisions recorded on an aerial photograph (iii) survey teams on the ground checked the boundaries and recorded such information as top height, species and age on a hand-held te rm in a l (iv) for transmission by telephone to the R & D computer for validation, storage and analysis. P l a t e 8 The model forest at the Liverpool International Garden Festival is probably the biggest single exhibition enterprise ever undertaken by the Commission. Using about 250,000 seedlings and transplants, it recreates at 1:100 scale a 70 square kilometre area of upland forest illustrating a wide range of the activities of the forestry industry. Fewer delays:
In order to reduce the time taken up by the consultation process, it has been decided that a system of consultation by notification will be introduced. All the Departments and authorities approached by the Commission over planting and felling proposals will be asked to respond initially within 28 days, either by way of comments or an indication of intention to comment or not to comment. The aim will then be to resolve any objections raised within an overall lime limit of two months from the start of the consultation process.
Fewer steps:
It has also been decided that the Forestry Commissioners may reach decisions on disputed applications without reference to Ministers, in circumstances where the Commission and all the other Departments and authorities consulted agree, after any necessary consultation with the Commission’s Regional Advisory Committee, that there is a need to refuse the application, in whole or in part, on agricultural, conservation or amenity grounds. This will not, however, remove the opportunity open to any aggrieved applicant to make representations to the appropriate Forestry Minister. If the M inister decides that the applicant’s appeal should be considered, he will obtain a full report on the case from the Commission so that he may decide whether to ask the Commissioners to review their decision.
Further details:
Fuller details of the new arrangements will be given in an explanatory leaflet* to be published shortly by the Commission.
* This free leaflet was published in May 1984 under the titleConsultative Procedures for Forestry Grants and Felling Permissions 49 Appendix VI Disposal of Property Managed by the Forestry Commissioners
A Statement of Policy and Practice
Legal Position
1. Land acquired under the Forestry Act 1967 is vested in the Forestry Ministers and normally placed by them at the disposal of the Forestry Commissioners,
2. The powers of the Forestry Ministers to dispose of land are contained in Section 39 of the Forestry Act 1967, as amended by the Forestry Act 1981. These powers enable them to dispose of land acquired under the Act for any purpose. More restricted powers apply to the Forest of Dean and there is separate legislation applicable to the New Forest.
3. Certain nominated officials of the Forestry Commission are authorised to act on behalf of Forestry Ministers in the acquisition and disposal of land.
Policy
4. Property is sold by the Commission in the following circumstances:
(a) in pursuance of its policy to limit its estate to that required for the fulfilment of the present and clearly foreseeable future needs of its Forestry Enterprise functions — property not so required is termed “surplus property”;
(b) to meet the Government’s objective of reducing the Commission’s call on Exchequer funds for the management of the Forestry Enterprise by the sale of land — property sold to meet this objective is termed “non-surplus property”.
There are other circumstances, of less overall significance, where land may be sold: eg for housing or mineral development; to meet the requirements of other public bodies having powers of compulsory purchase (albeit not exercisable against the Commission because of Crown exemption); to effect boundary adjustments; in exchange for other land; or where necessitated under the terms of the title under which the Forestry Minister holds the land.
5. In meeting the objective set out in paragraph 4(b), the Commission is responsible for selecting areas for disposal and for deciding the method of disposal.
6. The main considerations which the Commission is required to take into account in selecting areas for sale have been set out in the form of guidelines by Forestry Ministers. These are contained in a letter from the Secretary of State for Scotland dated 28 May 1981 which was reproduced at Appendix V to the Commission’s 1981-82 Annual Report.
7. In common with other Government Departments, the Commission ensures that disposals are carried out in a publicly acceptable manner and in accordance with public accountability.
Financial Targets
8. The Commission has been set a current disposals target of £82.1 million for the six-year period to 31 March 1987. 50 P ractice
The Selection of Properties for Sale
9. The selection of properties for sale is carried out as follows:
(a) Surplus Property
The Commission’s holding of buildings and land is kept under continuing review, and assets not required for the Forestry Enterprise are identified as surplus estate to be sold. Generally, smaller woods which are considered to be economically unsuitable for retention by the Commission are assessed against the Ministerial guidelines referred to in paragraph 6 and are made available for sale if these are met.
(b) Non-Surplus Property
These are selected in accordance with the considerations set out in the Ministerial guidelines. In order to appraise each case properly, these broad considerations have been expanded by the Commission in internal instructions to ensure that no aspect goes by default. In some cases, some of the guidelines may point to retention, while others may point to disposal. In these circumstances, the Commission exercises its judgement having regard to the overall position. Boundary adjustments and exchanges of land are identified as part and parcel of efforts to rationalise the estate and in the interests of acquiring suitable land for planting with trees. Disposals can also arise as a result of “compulsory purchase” by other authorities; the exercise of resumption powers in the Commission’s title in favour of other parties; or where development opportunities are presented.
Offer-Back Procedure
10. The Commission operates the offer-back procedure applicable to disposals by Government Departments. This applies to land acquired by or under the threat of compulsion, including sales made voluntarily if compulsory purchase powers (albeit not used) were held by the acquiring department, un|ess in each case the land was publicly or privately offered for sale immediately before negotiations commenced.
11. In essence, this procedure gives former owners and their successors in title other than by purchase the first opportunity to repurchase land previously in their ownership, provided that it has not materially changed in character since acquisition (in a Forestry Commission context, the planting of bare land with trees is such a material change). The procedure applies to agricultural land acquired after 1 January 1935 and other property acquired 25 years or less before the disposal. There are certain exemptions requiring Ministerial authority, ade m inimus provision for small areas and certain caveats concerning fragmentation of development land. Tenants of house property, however, are given a prior opportunity to buy.
12. The procedure described above applies only to freehold land (or land owned outright in Scotland). However, the Commission holds a significant proportion of its estate on lease and, because lessors often have much closer links with the property than former freeholders, the procedure has been extended to leasehold land in accordance with the wishes of Forestry Ministers, as expressed in the letter referred to in paragraph 6. The provisions mentioned in paragraph 11 have been varied in three respects to reflect the continuing interest of lessors - by extending the qualifying period, by disregarding any material change in character and by giving the lessor a prior opportunity over house tenants.
Estates Gazette Notification and Sponsorship
13. It was recognised at an early stage in the disposals programme that many public and private bodies have a genuine interest in acquiring particular areas of Commission woodland. In order to draw attention, at theearliest stage, to suchareas being considered fordisposal, notices are placed in the Estates Gazette in respect of all woods larger than five hectares and others having a known conservation interest.
51 14. In the event of a body expressing firm interest in acquiring such a wood, the Commission will consider giving it preference of opportunity to purchase if it can obtain sponsorship from the Government Department or agency responsible for the specific interest concerned. Sponsorship amounts to an unequivocal statement from the Department or agency that the acquisition of a named wood by the body concerned to the exclusion of the public at large would be particularly in the public interest. Where the Commission accepts such sponsorship, it negotiates the terms of sale with the body involved, while the purchase price is negotiated by the District Valuer on an open market value basis; this must, however, at least equal the Commission’s reserve price (see paragraph 22) in the case of non-surplus plantations. A handout detailing these arrangements is available from the Commission’s Chief Land Agent in Edinburgh.
15. For sales of assets other than plantations the Commission follows the practice of other Government Departments in not affording other public bodies a preferential opportunity to purchase.
Methods of Disposal
16. (a) Open-Market Sales
It is the C om m ission’s aim to ensure that all potential purchasers are given a proper opportunity to express an interest and that the maximum price is obtained. To accomplish this the most appropriate method of sale is adopted, whether this be formal tender, informal tender, private treaty or auction. Properties are advertised appropriately and agents are instructed in suitable cases. Other than in exceptional circumstances, the highest offer above the reserve price is accepted.
(b) Negotiated Disposals
Subject to obtaining the best price, sales are carried out by negotiation to sitting tenants of residential property (a discount scheme analogous to that under the Housing Act 1980 and its Scottish equivalent is available to tenants of surplus houses); to sitting agricultural tenants; under offer-back and sponsorship schemes; on rational land use grounds; to effect exchanges or boundary adjustments; where the title requires it or inhibits an open-market sale; in “compulsory purchase”cases; under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 or the Crofting Acts; or in other exceptional circumstances where a negotiated sale is considered justified having full regard to public accountability.
Conditions of Sale
17. It is the Commission’s practice not to impose conditions relating to the future use of the property, other than those which are already in the title or which are necessary for the proper management of land to be retained. It is considered that to do otherwise would be to reduce the price received for the public purse. There are a number of other reasons for not adopting this practice. In the first place, the Commission has been advised that such clauses are usually incapable of legal enforcement particularly on re-sale and where the Commission retains no adjoining interest. Secondly, the imposition of conditions of this kind would be contrary to the clear wishes of Parliament which rejected the amendments introduced during the passage of the Forestry Act 1981 aimed at requiring restrictions to be placed on the land on sale. Thirdly, there are laws and regulations governing such matters as the change of use of land, the felling of timber and the provision of public access which the Commissioners do not feel it is their function to pre-empt by constraining the freedom of purchasers to use land which the Commission no longer manages.
Planning Considerations
18. The Commission ensures that the potential for a more valuable land use is investigated before sale. At present this can only be done by consultation with the planning authority because the Town and Country Planning Acts do not apply to Crown land. This is unsatisfactory in that the benefit of planning permission cannot be passed on with the properly. The Town and Country Planning Bill* will enable the Commission and authorised outside interests to apply for and obtain statutory planning consent in respect of properties being disposed of.
* This Bill received the Royal Assent on 12 April 1984 and was due to come into operation on 12 August 1984.
52 Professional Advice and Implementation
19. Disposals are undertaken by Forestry Commission Chartered Surveyors, who draw on the professional services of their forestry, engineering and other colleagues, the District Valuer, the Mineral Valuer and private firms of agents, mining engineers etc as appropriate.
20. The services of the District Valuer are used when selling to other Government Departments under “compulsory purchase”; in sponsorship and offer-back cases; and in negotiated sales to serving or retired Commission staff. His advice may be sought in other instances.
Internal Responsibilities
21. The Board of Commissioners approve in principle the sale of non-surplus plantations; other disposals are the responsibility of territorial Conservators. Major plantation sales aimed at the institutional market are handled by the Commission’s Chief Land Agent.
Reserve Prices
22. The reserve price is normally the assessment of open-market value. The major exceptions are as follows:
(a) surplus tenanted houses, where the sale price is vacant possession value reduced by a percentage dependent upon the length of qualifying occupation and subject to clawback in the event of early re-sale;
(b) in sales to sittingagricullural tenants, a price near to vacant possession value is sought with a minimum of the open-market value subject to the tenancy;
(c) where statutory provisions have to be followed as, for example, under the Crofting Acts, the Leasehold Reform Acts or the Land Compensation Acts;
(d) where the title prescribes the method - for example, resumptions;
(e) for non-surplus plantations the net discounted revenue from existing immature crops is assessed by forecasting future timber revenues less estimated future expenditure, both discounted to the tim eof sale. To this is added the value of land and roads, mature timber, sportings, buildings and any development value etc. One percent is added to the resulting figure in respect of the cost of taking the transaction from offer to completion.
Legal Processing
23. In England and Wales the legal work on disposals is undertaken by the Treasury Solicitor. In Scotland, the transaction is handled internally until missives are concluded, at which stage it is passed for legal completion to the private firm of law agents who act for the Commission.
Land Acquired under the Forestry (Transfer of Woods) Act 1923
24. Land in this category was transferred to the Commission by the Crown Estate Commissioners. No purchase price was paid, but the Commission is obliged by statute to pay to the Crown Estate the net purchase price (sale price, less the cost of capital expenditure by the Commission and five per cent in respect of sales expenses) on the sale of any property acquired under this Act exceeding two hectares. The Commission’s contingent liability for the original value of the properly transferred is reduced by the amounts paid.
53 Appendix VII New Publications
Reports 63rd Annual Report and Accounts of the Forestry Commission 1982-83 (£9.00). Report on Forest Research 1983 (£6.20).
Bulletin No. 60 Research on Dutch Elm Disease in Europe, edited by D. A. Burdekin (£6.00).
Booklets No. 49 Timber Measurement — a Field Guide, by P. N. Edwards (£2.20). No. 50 A Key to Eucalypls in Britain and Ireland, by M. 1. H. Brooker, with notes on growing eucalypts in Britain, by J. Evans (£2.00). No. 51 The use of Herbicides in the Forest — 1983, by J. S. P. Sale, P. M. Tabbush and P. B. Lane (£1.50). No. 52 The Use of Chemicals (other than herbicides) in Forest and Nursery — 1983, edited by O. N. Blatchford (£1.50). No. 53 A Catalogue of Phytophagous Insects and Mites on Trees in Great Britain, by T. G. Winter (£2.00).
Forest Record No. 125 Rabbits, by A. M. Tittensor and H. G. Lloyd (£1.75).
Leaflets No. 12 Taxation of Woodlands, 6th edition (£1.00). No. 82 Assessment of Wildlife Damage in Forests, by R. C. Melville, L. A. Tee and K. Rennolls (£1.15).
Arboricultural Leaflet No. 2 Honey Fungus, 2nd edition, by B. J. W. Greig and R. G. Slrouts (£1.80).
Research and Development Papers No. 131 Acid Rain and Forest Decline in W. Germany, by W. O. Binns and D. B. Redfern ( £ 1.00). No. 132 Reclamation of Mineral Workings to Forestry (£1.50). No. 133 The Westonbirt Arboretum Catalogue in the 1980s, by J. E. J. White (25p)
Miscellaneous Autumn Colour at Westonbirt (Westonbirt Leaflet 1, revised) (35p). A Guide to Bedgebury National Pinelum (40p).
Census Reports Twenty-three out of a proposed 65 National, Conservancy and County reports on the Census of Woodlands and Trees 1979-82 have been issued, the remainder being in preparation (£3.00 each).
In addition, the following free publications were produced:
Forestry Facts and Figures 1982-83. Forestry Commission Catalogue of Publications 1984. 54 Appendix VIII Statistical Tables
55 Forestry Authority
DEDICATION AND APPROVED WOODLAND SCHEMES POSITION AT 31 MARCH 1984 Table 1 Area in hectares
England Wales Scotland Great Britain
Num N um Num Num ber Area ber Area ber Area ber Area
Basis I and II Dedication Schemes 2,273 197,880 494 30,080 1,085 231,339 3,852 459,299
Basis III Dedication Schemes 367 19,116 94 6,204 490 79,936 951 105,256
Appoved Woodland Schem es ...... 24 3,556 1 134 2 662 27 4,352
FORESTRY GRANT SCHEME POSITION AT 31 MARCH 1984 Table 2 Area in hectares
England Wales Scotland Great Britain
N um N um Num Num ber Area ber Area ber Area ber Area
Schem es in existence at end of previous year ...... 1,530 14,178 194 2,723 654 44,739 2,378 61,640 Schemes approved during year ...... 1,146 16,290 115 2,175 379 34,096 1,640 52,561
Total ...... 2,676 30,468 309 4,898 1,033 78,835 4,018 114,201
Note: The Forestry Grant Scheme was introduced on 1 October 1981 in place of the Basis III Dedication Scheme which was closed to new applications from 1 July 1981.
56 AREA OF PLANTING BY PRIVATE WOODLAND OWNERS FOR WHICH GRANTS WERE PAID IN THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 cn H z JU C4 £ c ^ o co o I E — £ o faon 2 2 o u oj
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.c O I 1 9 N ( OO P a a c Oo 91 W o - o c Cd op n (Nl n (A > , O 57 AREA OF PLANTING BY PRIVATE WOODLAND OWNERS FOR WHICH GRANTS WERE PAID IN THE 10-YEAR PERIOD I APRIL 1974 TO 31 MARCH 1984 O ’ C CO England Wales Scotland u 1) ed Year ended New Re New Re New Re New Re CL cn 1 1 March- Plantin 00 stocking Total lanting stocking Total Planting stocking Total Planting stocking Total
1975 2,033 1,633 3,666 1,234 123 1,357 15,037 1,287 16,324 18,304 3,043 21,347 1978 831 1,008 1,839 591 36 627 4,900 933 5,833 6,322 1,977 8,299 1979 702 1,439 2,141 591 06 681 6,656 1,321 7,977 7,949 2,850 10,799 1981 905 1,930 2,835 561 142 703 6,934 927 7,861 8,400 2,999 11,399 1982 795 1,888 2,683 ,004 223 1,227 10,663 1,339 12,002 12,462 3,450 15,912 O l t S l I 1983 1,514 1,994 3,508 n 156 1,067 10,086 968 11,054 3,118 15,629 r-j 1984 1,480 1,935 3,415 1,064 1,177 14,129 1,019 15,148 16,673 3,067 19,740 Note: This table does not include planting done without Forestry Commission grants. VOLUME OF TIMBER LICENSED FOR FELLING AND THINNING ON PRIVATE ESTATES IN THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Table 5 Volume in thousands of cubic metres Great England Wales Scotland Britain Conifer ...... 114 38 79 231 Broadleaved ...... 148 16 25 189 Total volume ...... 262 54 104 420 Number of licences issued ...... 1,141 150 256 1,547 Note: Excludes felling and thinning covered by an approved plan of operations under the Dedication and Forestry Grant Schemes, for which no licence is required. AREA LICENSED FOR CLEAR FELLING ON PRIVATE ESTATES IN THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Table 6 Hectares Great England Wales Scotland Britain Conditional licences ...... 673 75 196 944 Unconditional licences ...... 413 140 220 773 Total ...... 1,086 215 416 1,717 Note: Conditional licences require the restocking of the land concerned. 59 Forestry Enterprise L A N D USE Table 7 AT 31 MARCH 1984 Hectares Great England Wales Scotland Britain Forest Land Under plantations ...... 246,845 135,998 518,839 901,682 Retained scrub ...... 1,820 1,609 4,848 8,277 To be planted ...... 4,853 1,616 32,831 39,300 Total ...... 253,518 139,223 556,518 949,259 Other Land Agricultural and grazing ...... 10,872 8,374 93,564 112,810 Forest workers’ holdings ...... 427 304 2,702 3,433 Unplantable and miscellaneous (includes nursery land) ...... 30,187 6,509 106,974 143,670 Total ...... 41,486 15,187 203,240 259,913 Total area ...... 295,004 154,410 759,758 1,209,172 NET AREA OF LAND ACQUIRED/DISPOSED OF DURING Table 8 THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Hectares Great England Wales Scotland Britain Plantations acquired ...... 17 17 Plantations disposed of ...... 3,972 1,128 10,263 15,363 Planting land acquired ...... 10 52 2,703 2,765 Planting land disposed o f ...... 53 9 1,082 1,144 Other land acquired ...... 6 82 88 Other land disposed of ...... 655 2,210 25,198 28,063 Net area of land acquired/disposed of (4,670) (3,289) (33,741) (41,700) Table 9 PLANTING IN THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Hectares New Re Planting stocking Total England 386 2,356 2,742 Broadleaved ...... 11 211 222 397 2,567 2,964 Wales 271 1,524 1,795 Broadleaved ...... 4 15 19 275 1,539 1,814 Scotland 7,674 2,632 10,306 36 15 51 7,710 2,647 10,357 Great Britain 8,331 6,512 14,843 Broadleaved ...... 51 241 292 8,382 6,753 15,135 60 AREA PLANTED ANNUALLY BY THE COM MISSION IN THE 10-YEAR PERIOD I APRIL 1974 T 0 3 I MARCH 1984 England Wales Scotland Greal Britain Year ended New Re New Re New Re New Re 31 March Planting stocking Total Planting stocking Total Planting stocking Total Planting stocking Total 1975 ...... 1,239 1,384 2,623 1,412 649 2,061 l 010‘i 1,461 18,471 19,661 3,494 23,155 1976 ...... 1,487 1,043 2,530 1,131 476 1,607 14,651 1,723 16,374 17,269 3,242 20,511 1977 ...... 1,302 1,170 2,472 1,096 793 1,889 13,148 1,194 14,342 15,546 3,157 18,703 OO 1978 ...... 1,164 2,312 769 937 1,706 12,206 968 13,174 14,123 3,069 17,192 OO* r\i oo OO r*-> 00 Tf TT 1979 ...... 686 1,424 2,110 572 1,456 10,584 1,259 3,567 15,409 1980 ...... 898 2,168 3,066 797 1,241 2,038 14,135 2,260 16,395 15,830 5,669 21,499 1981 ...... 470 1,902 2,372 683 1,116 1,799 10,481 1,996 12,477 11,634 5,014 16,648 kn kn OO OO kT)© 1982 ...... 1,949 2,507 326 1,524 10,094 2,037 12,131 10,978 5,510 16,488 1983 ...... 429 2,027 2,456 436 1,482 1,918 8,021 2,289 10,310 8,886 5,798 14,684 1984 ...... 397 2,567 2,964 275 1,539 1,814 7,710 2,647 10,357 8,382 6,753 15,135 AREAS OF PLANTATIONS AND VOLUMES OF TIMBER THINNED AND FELLED IN THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Area in hectares Table 11 Volume in thousands of cubic metres Felled Thinned Total Volume Felled and Area Volume Area Volume Thinned England Conservancy: North West 612 155 1,643 69 224 North East 791 219 1,136 46 265 East ...... 767 169 3,536 126 295 New Forest and South East 188 45 2,584 101 146 South West and Dean ...... 430 116 2,026 99 215 Total ...... 2,788 704 10,925 441 1,145 Wales Conservancy: North ...... 651 176 2,306 135 311 South ...... 812 215 2,084 118 333 T otal ...... 1,463 391 4,390 253 644 Scotland Conservancy: North ...... 542 199 901 56 255 East ...... 704 180 1,943 101 281 South ...... 1,184 293 1,376 75 368 West ...... 814 230 652 27 257 Total ...... 3,244 902 4,872 259 1,161 Great Britain 7,495 1,997 20,187 953 2,950 SALES OF TIMBER IN THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Table 12 Thousand cubic metres Great Description England Wales Scotland Britain Trees sold standing ...... 349 286 346 981 Converted* Round limber and saw logs ...... 401 219 434 1,054 Telegraph and other selected poles ...... 5 2 14 21 Mining timber ...... 33 15 — 48 Posts and stakes ...... 13 14 3 30 Pulpwood and boardmill material ...... 185 54 290 529 Firewood ...... 28 5 11 44 Miscellaneous ...... 29 I — 30 Poles sold in length (other than selected) 5 3 — 8 Total ...... 699 313 752 1,764 * In addition 10,000 cubic metres were converted and used internally for forest and estate purposes. (England 5,000; Wales 1,000; Scotland 4,000.) 62 PROPERTIES MANAGED BY THE COMMISSION AT 31 M ARCH 1984 Table 13 Number Great Type of Property England Wales Scotland Britain Forest properties Foresters’ houses ...... 154 76 228 458 Forest workers’ houses ...... 457 67 485 1,009 Forest workers’ holdings ...... 32 23 75 130 Miscellaneous* ...... 1,157 399 876 2,432 Total ...... 1,800 565 1,664 4,029 Other properties! Farms and other agricultural subjects 485 379 501 1,365 Residential and other lettings ...... 1,111 671 1,113 2,895 Total ...... 1,596 1,050 1,614 4,260 * M iscellaneous covers hostels, bothies, offices, repair workshops and other buildings not normally let. t In addition there are 2,102 sporting lettings. PUBLIC RECREATIONAL FACILITIES AT 31 MARCH 1984 Table 14 Number Great England Wales Scotland Britain Camping and caravan sites * ...... 22 1 9 32 Picnic places ...... 359 103 134 596 Forest walks and forest nature trails 284 97 235 616 Visitor centres ...... 10 5 6 21 Arboreta ...... 10 7 5 22 Forest drives ...... 4 1 2 7 Forest cabins and holiday houses ...... 108 3 83 194 * In addition to these campsites, the Commission provides the following: - (i) five sites leased to the Caravan Club and two sites to the Camping Club of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; (ii) 33 sites set aside for youth camping; (iii) facilities for caravan rallies. 63 LAND USE, PLANTING AND TIMBER PRODUCTION BY FORESTS AND FOREST DISTRICTS — E N G L A N D Table 15 Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 N o r t h W e s t Planting E n g l a n d Total (hectares) Pro C o n s e r v a n c y Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Arden, Hereford and Worcester, West Midlands, Warwick and Leics ...... 920 897 5 18 19 3 Blengdale, Cumbria 2,342 1,911 36 106 289 66 5 II Bowland, Lancs 1,774 1,656 —— 118 — 28 11 Cannock, Staffs 3,607 3,488 — 52 67 6 76 18 Dalton, Cumbria and Lancs ...... 1,643 1,397 196 50 2 Ennerdale, Cumbria ...... 3,603 1,589 25 57 1,932 9 7 Greystoke, Cumbria 505 499 3 — 3 — 15 4 Grizedale, Cumbria 3,527 3,070 —— 457 — 30 22 Kershope, Cumbria 5,672 5,334 — 28 310 28 137 48 Launde, Derby, Notts and Leics ...... 741 720 20 I Matlock, Derby and Cheshire ...... 2,894 1,895 24 472 503 20 Mortimer, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester ...... 4,792 4,592 23 21 156 137 39 Sherwood, Notts 6,279 5,894 — 53 332 1 51 33 Shropshire Hills, Shropshire ...... 2,138 1,924 106 108 5 7 6 Spadeadam, Cumbria and Northumberland 7,578 6,115 22 468 973 204 Thornthwaite, Cumbria 2,649 2,137 18 5 489 10 45 14 Forest District Cheshire ...... 958 916 1 — 41 — 4 6 T o t a t...... 51,622 44,034 348 1,393 5,847 340 563 224 Note: Cheshire Forest District comprises the former Delamere Forest. 64 Table 15 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 N o r t h E a s t Planting E n g l a n d Total (hectares) Pro C o n s e r v a n c y Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Chopwell, Durham, Tyne and Wear 832 759 2 2 69 2 1 Cleveland, North Yorks and Cleveland 3,271 3,061 73 23 114 2 6 3 Croplon, North Yorks 4,630 3,875 70 118 567 — 34 18 Dalby, North Yorks 3,064 2,767 — 11 286 — 116 28 Dales, North and West Yorks and Durham 2,020 1,872 5 105 38 1 Don, South West and North Yorks 2,805 1,868 36 691 210 13 7 8 Falslone, Northumberland 15,018 13,266 47 1,705 154 48 Hambleton, North Yorks ...... 4,294 3,730 22 107 435 15 13 Hamsterley, Durham 4,357 3,391 — 727 239 3 21 18 Harwood, Northumberland 4,525 4,103 38 384 43 10 Kidland, Northumberland 3,545 2,758 74 713 13 I Kidder, Northumberland 16,291 10,211 6 6,074 55 33 Redesdale, Northumberland 5,615 5,009 606 38 17 Slaley, Northumber land and Durham 1,185 1,090 6 49 40 18 7 Thrunlon, Northumberland 3,695 3,369 34 20 272 65 8 Wark, Northumberland 13,755 11,690 464 1,601 86 27 Wykeham, North Yorks 7,723 6,224 61 114 1,324 45 17 Wynyard, Cleveland 575 563 — 11 I ——— York, North Yorks and Humberside 2,246 2,120 II 36 79 — 15 7 T o t At...... 99,446 81,726 320 2,643 14,757 18 733 265 65 Table 15 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 E a st Planting E n g l a n d Total (hectares) Pro C o n s e r v a n c y Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Aldewood, Suffolk 4,859 4,656 28 31 144 6 103 40 Amplhill, Beds 1,356 1,187 82 45 42 — II — Bardney, Lines 2,622 2,509 17 4 92 — 18 4 Chilterns, Bucks, Oxon, Beds and Herts ...... 2,755 2,646 14 58 37 2 3 5 Hazelborough, Nor- thants and Bucks 2,654 2,622 1 2 29 38 6 Kesteven, Lines 1,918 1,833 — 12 73 — 16 5 North Lindsey, Lines 2,048 1,979 — 1 68 1 46 12 Rockingham, Nor- thants, Cambs 2,685 2,563 14 3 105 2 22 6 Thetford, Norfolk and Suffolk ...... 20,620 19,642 43 75 860 6 402 206 Wensum, Norfolk 2,012 1,956 1 — 55 — 16 12 T o t a i ...... 43,529 41,593 200 231 1,505 17 675 296 Note: Lavenham and Walden have been added to Aldewood. Wymersley has been added to Hazelborough. 66 Table 15 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 N ew F o r e s t a n d S o u t h E a s t Planting E n g l a n d Total (hectares) Pro C o n s e r v a n c y Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Alice Holt, Hamp shire, West Sussex and Surrey ...... 3,103 2,988 33 3 79 11 9 Bedgebury, Kent and East Sussex 5,648 5,138 8 502 12 14 Bramshill, Hampshire and Berks ...... 2,343 2,195 22 12 114 14 12 Challock, Kent 3,325 3,267 21 — 37 — 7 10 Micheldever, Berks and Hampshire 2,298 2,205 35 2 56 13 7 New Forest, Hamp shire ...... 26,952 11,731 135 15,086 35 41 Queen Elizabeth Forest, West Sussex and Hampshire ...... 7,569 7,106 159 28 276 1 27 Ringwood, Dorset 4,734 4,297 52 — 385 — 70 26 T o t a i ...... 55,972 38,927 465 45 16,535 — 163 146 Note: St Leonards has been added to Bedgebury. Wight has been added to Ringwood. 67 Table 15 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 S o u t h W est Planting E n g l a n d Total (hectares) Pro C o n s e r v a n c y Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Dartmoor, Devon 2,383 2,123 260 20 17 Dean Forest, Glouces ter, Hereford and Worcester and Gwent ...... 10,675 9,574 147 954 88 54 Eggesford, Devon 1,156 1,135 1 1 19 — 18 5 Exeter, Devon 2,686 2,439 33 140 74 7 30 14 Hereford, Gloucester and Hereford and W orcester ...... 1,763 1,679 77 7 5 6 Kernow, Cornwall 3,411 3,220 41 48 102 — 50 17 Mendip, Avon, Somer set and Wilts 1,409 1,357 12 1 39 9 7 Neroche, Somerset and Devon ...... 2,056 1,818 29 209 3 2 Powerstock, Dorset 696 613 2 9 72 —— 1 Savernake, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Berks ...... 5,006 4,777 84 24 121 46 14 Torridge, Devon 3,654 3,462 — 25 167 15 74 31 Wareham, Dorset 4,744 4,094 100 24 526 — 40 21 West Somerset, Somerset and Devon 2,721 2,488 15 16 202 45 15 Westonbirt, Gloucester ...... 242 199 43 Wyre, Salop, Here ford and Worcester 1,833 1,786 —— 47 — 5 11 T or Al...... 44,435 40,565 487 541 2,842 22 433 215 68 LAND USE, PLANTING AND TIMBER PRODUCTION BY FORESTS AND FOREST DISTRICTS —WALES Table 16 Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 N o r t h W a l e s Planting C o n s e r v a n c y Total (hectares) Pro Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Aeron, Dyfed 2,198 2,153 9 36 12 6 Beddgelert, Gwynedd 5,499 4,603 41 18 837 1 17 20 Ceiriog, Clwyd 1,773 1,717 1 7 48 —— 4 Ceri, Powys ...... 1,680 1,667 3 — 10 — 59 14 Clocaenog, Clwyd 8,112 7,621 5 21 465 — 87 49 Coed Sarnau, Powys 3,011 2,923 29 39 20 — 10 6 Coed-y-Brenin, Gwynedd ...... 8,732 6,567 94 107 1,964 48 137 40 Cynwyd, Gwynedd and Clwyd ...... 785 723 14 48 16 6 Dyfi, Gwynedd and Powys ...... 7,338 6,612 24 80 622 40 66 32 Dyfnanl, Powys 3,191 2,633 —— 558 — 29 14 Gwydyr, Gwynedd and Clwyd ...... 7,894 5,990 53 7 1,844 24 95 46 Hafren, Powys 4,438 4,345 — 1 92 — 39 19 Malhrafal, Powys and Clwyd ...... 1,562 1,477 5 4 76 3 5 Penllyn, Gwynedd 4,212 3,884 — 88 240 7 II 5 Radnor, Powys 2,459 2,406 — 5 48 2 28 14 Rheidol, Dyfed 5,263 4,285 34 127 817 71 26 9 Ystwyth, Dyfed and Powys ...... 7,059 5,814 20 221 1,004 — 59 22 T o t a l ...... 75,206 65,420 318 739 8,729 193 694 311 69 Table 16 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 S o u t h W a l e s Planting C o n s e r v a n c y Total (hectares) Pro Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Caeo, Dyfed ...... 3,016 2,878 72 2 64 — 35 — Coed Abertawe, West Glam ...... 841 781 32 — 28 — 17 — Coed-y-Rhaiadr, Powys ...... 2,454 1,935 194 2 323 — 13 — Crychan, Powys and Dyfed ...... 3,654 3,537 54 — 63 90 50 Crynant, West Glam 3,123 2,444 53 214 412 10 38 — Cymer, West and Mid Glam ...... 5,122 4,660 30 134 298 — 74 — Ebbw, Gwent 5,150 4,582 34 179 355 — 71 21 Irfon, Powys and Dyfed ...... 2,399 2,282 8 62 47 — 7 — Margam, West and Mid Glam ...... 4,637 4,176 173 4 284 —■ 92 40 Rheola, West and Mid Glam ...... 5,160 4,295 87 — 778 — 44 46 Tintern, Gwent 3,627 3,543 21 2 61 — 44 24 Tywi, Powys and Dyfed ...... 8,423 7,452 10 I 960 — — 3 Wentwood, Gwent 1,045 978 54 — 13 —— 8 Forest Districts Brechfa ...... 12,210 11,167 359 53 631 26 117 71 Brecon ...... 8,679 7,900 37 3 739 — 102 55 Llanwynno ...... 9,664 7,968 73 221 1,402 46 101 15 T o t a l ...... 79,204 70,578 1,291 877 6,458 82 845 333 Note: Brechfa Forest District comprises the former Brechfa, Coed Deufor and Coed Preseli Forests. Brecon Forest District comprises the former Brycheiniog, Coed Taf, Glasfynydd, Mynydd Du and Talybont Forests. Llanwynno Forest District comprises the former Rhondda, St Gwynno and Tair Onen Forests. 70 LAND USE, PLANTING AND TIMBER PRODUCTION BY FORESTS AND FOREST DISTRICTS — SC O TL A N D Table 17 Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 N o r t h S c o t l a n d Planting C o n s e r v a n c y Total (hectares) Pro Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Achnashellach, Highland ...... 7,691 5,098 29 134 2,430 66 16 15 Affric, Highland 26,881 7,525 — 118 19,238 132 — 5 Ardross, Highland 10,089 7,496 88 1,556 949 243 24 10 Black Isle, Highland 5,600 5,141 29 — 430 — 2 28 Clunes, Highland 6,819 4,445 34 187 2,153 — 57 24 Culloden, Highland 8,331 6,162 2 752 1,415 34 — 20 Dornoch, Highland 3,917 1,659 3 1,724 531 79 3 1 Farigaig, Highland 4,364 3,319 100 30 915 — II 5 Fiunary, Highland 6,683 5,082 46 30 1,525 60 44 5 Glengarry, Highland 17,244 6,560 10 336 10,338 75 22 16 Glenurquhart, Highland ...... 10,333 5,133 107 400 4,693 30 13 19 lnchnacardoch, Highland ...... 10,115 6,018 81 790 3,226 66 13 28 Leanachan, Highland 12,930 8,978 190 21 3,741 — 71 11 Mull, Strathclyde 15,683 10,387 249 1,056 3,991 417 24 9 Naver, Highland 13,934 8,099 53 1,534 4,248 371 13 — Queen’s Forest, Highland ...... 7,710 6,031 10 1,669 _ 4 Ratagan, Highland 4,934 2,705 — 30 2,199 — 54 21 Rumster, Highland 9,579 5,063 — 3,547 969 358 — Shin, Highland 34,342 17,497 35 4,823 11,987 559 41 5 Skye, Highland and Western Isles 20,382 9,336 90 794 10,162 318 6 4 Sunart, Highland 13,017 6,992 226 242 5,557 121 21 18 Torrachilty, Highland 16,526 8,734 6 56 7,730 35 II 7 T o t a l ...... 267,104 147,460 1,388 18,160 100,096 2,964 446 255 71 Table 17 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 E a s t S c o t l a n d Planting C o n s e r v a n c y Total (hectares) Pro Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Drummond Hill, Tayside ...... 4,061 2,833 37 630 561 48 — 6 Dunkeld, Tayside 3,874 3,457 54 131 232 86 — 15 Eden, Fife and Central ...... 3,529 3,330 47 16 136 — 90 26 Ochil, Fife, Tayside and Central ...... 4,451 4,082 27 — 342 — 32 8 Rannoch, Tayside 13,813 7,949 57 789 5,018 10 47 1 Tummel, Tayside 8,215 5,693 109 182 2,231 88 — 2 Forest Districts Angus ...... 10,188 8,450 13 466 1,259 3 34 20 Buchan ...... 24,512 21,177 23 419 2,893 155 94 69 Kincardine ...... 15,887 14,674 21 5 1,187 36 62 55 Moray ...... 7,694 7,125 38 — 531 — 36 43 Speyside ...... 20,957 18,312 23 1,569 1,053 169 40 35 T o t a l ...... 117,181 97,082 449 4,207 15,443 595 435 280 Note: Angus Forest District comprises the former Angus Forest. Buchan Forest District comprises the former Bennachie, Forest of Deer, Huntly and (part) Tornashean Forests. Kincardine Forest District comprises the former Alltcaileach, Banchory, Kirkhill, Mearns and (part) Tornashean Forests. Moray Forest District comprises the former (part) Laigh of Moray and (part) Speymouth Forests. Speyside Forest District comprises the former Craigellachie and (part) Speymouth Forests. 72 Table 17 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 Son i h S c o t l a n d Planting CONSKRVANCY Total (hectares) Pro Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Ae, Dumfries and Galloway ...... 6,996 6,621 248 127 90 86 30 Arecleoch, Strathclyde ...... 4,953 3,671 1,099 183 123 219 Bareagle, Dumfries and Galloway 4,919 4,637 170 17 95 25 1 Bennan, Dumfries and Galloway ...... 6,756 6,259 497 52 25 Carrick, Dumfries and Galloway and Strathclyde ...... 17,752 8,802 3 1,526 7,421 96 78 22 Castle O’er, Dumfries and Galloway and Borders ...... 5,505 5,273 6 226 168 38 Clatleringshaws, Dum fries and Galloway 12,673 8,945 81 3,647 85 10 9 Clydesdale, Strath clyde and Lothian 4,402 4,075 4 77 246 35 4 Craik, Borders 5,534 5,062 — 36 436 — 6 3 Dalmacallan, Dum fries and Galloway 4,238 3,500 145 593 53 6 Dundeugh, Dumfries and Galloway 3,671 3,225 5 441 7 30 20 Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway ...... 8,152 6,844 626 682 130 16 15 Glentress, Borders and Lothians ...... 9,672 8,870 802 130 156 38 Glentrool, Dumfries and Galloway 25,298 14,698 2 1,101 9,587 268 34 20 Kirroughtree, Dum fries and Galloway 6,851 4,352 173 2,326 55 48 28 Kyle, Strathclyde 6,023 5,394 — 353 276 125 — — Lammermuir, Borders 2,405 2,290 — 8 107 — 13 6 Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway and Borders ...... 12,188 10,538 1,650 134 38 6 Newcaslleton, Dum fries and Galloway and Borders 3,845 3,759 13 73 128 22 Penninghame, Dum fries and Galloway 7,061 6,726 143 192 83 17 4 Solway, Dumfries and Galloway ...... 7,909 6,785 3 476 645 35 37 42 Upper Nithsdale, Dumfries and Galloway ...... 2,274 2,074 130 70 21 Wauchope, Borders 8,373 7,322 8 — 1,043 — 14 29 T o t a l ...... 177,450 139,722 190 6,173 31,365 1,495 1,150 368 73 Table 17 — continued Land use at 31 March 1984 (hectares) During Year 1983-84 W e s t S c o t l a n d Planting C o n s e r v a n c y Total (hectares) Pro Area Under duction of Planta Retained To be Other New Re (000 Forest tions Scrub planted land Planting stocking cu m) Forests Achray, Central 5,414 3,867 106 — 1,441 40 17 10 Ardgartan, Strathclyde ...... 12,703 5,271 212 — 7,220 21 93 24 Arran, Strathclyde 11,197 7,416 — 307 3,474 280 — — Barcaldine, Strathclyde ...... 6,942 3,982 208 236 2,516 25 50 12 Benmore, Strathclyde 9,809 5,460 129 21 4,199 67 63 22 Buchanan, Strathclyde and Central ...... 4,224 3,474 186 — 564 — — 3 Carron Valley, Strath clyde and Central 4,540 4,315 —— 225 75 32 10 Eredine, Strathclyde 6,941 5,110 32 237 1,562 12 — 5 Fearnoch, Strathclyde 3,706 2,867 296 245 298 100 5 3 Garelochhead Strathclyde ...... 2,184 1,465 40 — 679 10 —— Glenaray, Strathclyde 7,449 4,949 150 465 1,885 274 —— Glenbranter, Strathclyde ...... 6,421 4,587 85 212 1,537 47 63 21 Glencoe, Strathclyde and Highland 7,697 4,675 51 — 2,971 13 22 12 Glendaruel, Strathclyde ...... 9,399 6,480 321 317 2,281 298 II 5 Glenorchy, Strathclyde and Central ...... 14,067 7,625 63 42 6,337 13 —— Inverliever, Strathclyde 13,142 9,002 40 63 4,037 128 77 12 Kilmichael, Strathclyde ...... 10,331 8,451 111 16 1,753 34 76 25 Loch Ard, Central 10,734 7,830 193 165 2,546 63 46 30 Strathyre, Central 9,297 6,042 — 499 2,756 83 40 21 Whitelee ...... 7,345 6,155 — 274 916 179 —— Chapelhall, Depot Strathclyde ...... 2 — —— 2 — —— Forest District Kintyre ...... 34,479 25,552 598 1,192 7,137 894 21 41 T o t a l ...... 198,023 134,575 2,821 4,291 56,336 2,656 616 257 Note: Kintyre Forest District comprises the former Achaglachgach, Carradale, Knapdale and South Kinlyre Forests. 74 Appendix IX Map showing the situation of the Commission Forests and the boundaries of the Conservancies at 31 March 1984 75 North West England 3 0> CO * Appendix X Map showing thp situation of the Commission’s new Forest Districts and the boundaries of the Conservancies at 1 April 1984 79 FORESTRY COMMISSION FOREST DISTRICTS North West England. Appendix XI Financial Tables 1. Forestry Fund Receipts and Payments 2. Expenditure on Forestry Authority Services 83 Table 1 STATEMENT OF FORESTRY FUND RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS in the year ended 31 March 1984 Previous Year Receipts £ thousand £ thousand Grant-in-Aid ...... 58,482 56,900 Sales of timber ...... 48,668 44,058 Disposal of land, buildings and plantations — by exchanges ...... 133 356 — cash received payable to the Consolidated Fund 23,571 13,826 Miscellaneous ...... 12,622 12,904 143,476 128,044 Balance brought forward at 1 April 1983 5,029 2,816 148,505 130,860 Paym ents Salaries, wages and related expenses ...... 55,792 55,715 Pensions and gratuities to retired staff ...... 11,381 9,801 Materials, contract services and general expenses ...... 33,346 31,986 Acquisition of land, buildings and plantations and construction of buildings ...... 3,239 3,142 Plant, machinery and equipment ...... 5,919 5,581 Grants to private woodland owners (£5,624,157), universities, institutions, 5,800 4,700 Remittances of VAT to Customs and Excise ...... 2,686 2,090 Payments to the Consolidated Fund — cash received from sales of land, buildings and plantations, including £3,826,241 balance brought forward from 1982-83 19,826 12,474 — working balance brought forward from 1982-83 1,203 342 139,192 125,831 Balance carried forward at 31 March 1984 to be surrendered to the Consolidated Fund during 1984-85 ...... 9,313 5,029 148,505 130,860 NOTES ON TABLE 1 G eneral 1. Expenditure incurred by the Forestry Commissioners in the exercise of their powers in the performance of their duties is financed from the Forestry Fund which was constituted under Section 8 of the Forestry Act 1919. All sums received by the Commissioners in 1983-84 were paid into this Fund. 2. Receipts and payments are shown inclusive of VAT where applicable. Grant-in-Aid 3. The Grant-in-Aid, which also forms the agreed cash limit, is determined for each year on the basis of Supply Estimates prepared in advance setting out the expected receipts and payments calculated at estimated outturn prices. Pursuant to Section 42(4) of the Forestry Act 1967 capital sums received from sales of land, etc shall be paid into the Forestry Fund although they do not affect the calculation of the Grant-in-Aid. However, such receipts are surrendered from the Forestry Fund to the Consolidated Fund as directed by Ministers under Section 41 (4a) together with the remaining working balance held at the end of each financial year. 84 Receipts 4. The Grant-in-Aid of the Forestry Fund voted by Parliament for 1983-84 was £59,521,000 of which £58,482,000 was drawn into the Forestry Fund. The uncalled balance of £1,039,000, due to an excess of receipts overestimate and underspends against estimated payments, will be surrendered to the Consolidated Fund from the Vote account. 5. Receipts from the sale of timber exceeded the 1982-83 level by £4,610,000 due to larger programmes and improvements in prices for sawlogs and timber sold standing. The volume of sawlog sales being higher than expected, total timber receipts were £530,000 more than originally estimated. 6. Miscellaneous receipts dropped by £282,000 due to reduced receipts from sales of venison and plants (£83,000) mainly due to the collapse of a major venison contractor, from fire damage claims, joint management schemes, interest and sales of scrap (£313,000) and pension contributions from fewer staff (£120,000), offset by an increase (£234,000) relating to rents from estate properties, wayleaves, etc, charges for campsites, forest cabins and other recreational facilities, agency work for outside parties and sales of plant and machinery. Paym ents 7. Payments of salaries, wages and related expenses fell by 0.1%. Increased rates of pay and allowances were more than offset by a reduction in staff numbers and a reduced liability for Employer’s National Insurance Contributions following reductions in the National Insurance Surcharge. 8. Payments of pension and gratuities to retired staff increased by £1,580,000 due to the award of higher superannuation benefits and a significant increase in the number of pensioners, mainly resulting from planned reductions in staff consequent on the management structure review. 9. Payments for materials, contract services and general expenses increased by £1,360,000 mainly due to continuing price inflation but also to increased usage of contractors on harvesting operations and a modest increase in maintenance and refurbishment of some recreational facilities to maintain customer appeal. Continuing reductions in the number of estate properties resulted in reduced maintenance costs. 10. Expenditure on land acquisition and building construction increased by £97,000 which was attributable to increased building construction activity (£389,000), the amalgamation of forests arising from the management structure review producing a need for larger office buildings in some areas. There was an offsetting reduction (£292,000) because of fewer acquisitions. The total area of land acquired was 2,782 hectares of which 2,765 hectares was bare plantable land and 17 hectares was land under plantations. The average cost per hectare was £499. In 1982-83 the total land acquired was 3,668 hectares (3,422 hectares bare plantable land) at an average cost of £431 per hectare. 11. Expenditure on plant, machinery and equipment increased by £338,000 due mainly to the purchase of computer equipment for in-house automatic data processing. 12. Payments of grants to private woodland owners were some £1,100,000 higher as a result of increased participation in the Forestry Grant Scheme. 13. Remittances of VAT to Customs & Excise increased by £596,000 mainly due to a higher level of output tax from higher timber receipts. Balance carried forward at 31 March 1984 14. The balance, amounting to £9,312,630 carried forward at 31 March 1984, will be paid into the Consolidated Fund in 1984-85 in accordance with the Ministerial direction given under Section 41 (4a). It comprises £7,570,737 relating to the unremitted balanceof disposal proceeds received in 1983-84 and £1,741,893 in respect of the working balance remaining at 3 1 March 1984. 85 Table 2 EXPENDITURE ON FORESTRY AUTHORITY SERVICES in the year ended 31 March 1984 Previous Year £ thousand £ thousand Services to private woodland owners for grants and advisory services Forestry Grant Scheme ...... 3,354 1,875 Basis I ...... 25 26 Basis II: Planting Grants ...... 194 232 Management Grants 1,185 1,212 Basis III: Basic Grants ...... 343 682 Broadleaved Supplement ...... 52 76 Management Grants ...... 330 315 Native Pinewood Planting and Management Grants 7 14 Small Woods Planting Grants ...... 63 79 Other Grants ...... 1 4 Miscellaneous (including Labour oncost) ...... 147 148 Administrative expenses ...... 1,750* 1,771 7,451 6,434 Less: Miscellaneous income 25 14 7,426 6,420 Special Services Licensing of Felling ...... 409* 372 Information, Shows and Publications net cost (including £974,000* administrative expenses) ...... 947 740 General administration (EEC, fiscal and regulatory duties and including £1,375,000* administrative expenses) ...... 1,500 1,386 2,856 2,498 Research and Development Silviculture 2,233 2,054 Arboreta 298 310 Genetics 607 530 Physiology 196 192 Seed Research 113 87 Site Studies 361 313 Wildlife 234 224 Pathology 381 356 Entom ology 374 364 Work Study 737 711 Field Survey 1,595 1,595 Wood Utilisation 158 197 Statistics 19 12 Com munications 79 75 Total (includes £334,000* administrative expenses) ...... 7,385 7,020 Less: Allocation to Forestry Enterprise (Plantations account) 4,078 3,859 3,307 3,161 Net total expenditure 13,589 12,079 86 Previous Year £ thousand £ thousand£ thousand Change in assets Decrease — Current 41 (157) Decrease — Fixed 5 (18) Net decrease 46 (175) Amount of Grant-in-Aid appropriated for the Forestry Authority 13,543 12,254 ♦Note 19 of Forestry Enterprise Accounts page 110, £4.9 million. NOTES ON TABLE 2 1. The Forestry Authority share of the Grant-in-Aid amounted to £13,543,000 compared to £12,254,000 last year. Services to Private Woodland Owners 2. Net expenditure rose in the year by £1,006,000 due mainly to increased planting under the Forestry Grant Scheme, which was up 88 percent on 1982-83 levels. The fall in Basis 111 Basic Grants reflects the decline in land available for planting under this scheme following its closure in July 1981. Special Services 3. Net expenditure rose by £358,000 (14 per cent) due to rises in staff costs and the Commission’s contribution towards the Liverpool Garden Festival. Research and Development 4. The total cost of Research and Development activities, which includes technical services to management, was £7,385,000, being £365,000 (5 per cent) higher than the previous year. 5. During the quinquennium 1982-83/1986-87 55 per cent of the net cost of Research and Development will becharged to the Forestry Enterprise and shown in the Plantations account under Forest costs. This allocation amounts to £4,078,000 in 1983-84, reducing the cost chargeable to the Forestry Authority to £3,307,000. 87 FORESTRY ENTERPRISE ACCOUNTS 1983-84 FOREWORD, BALANCE SHEET of the Forestry Commission Forestry Enterprise as at 31 March 1984, and ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31 March 1984, together with the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General thereon. 89 CONTENTS Page Foreword ...... 92 Balance Sheet as at 31 March 1984 ...... 96 Plantations Account ...... 97 Trading Account ...... 98 Statement of Source and Application of Funds 99 Notes to the Accounts ...... 100 91 FOREWORD CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS (a) The Forestry Commission was established in 1919. Under legislation now consolidated mainly in the Forestry Act 1967 it is charged with the general duties of promoting the interests of forestry, the establishment and maintenance of adequate reserves of growing trees, the production and supply of timber and the development of the recreational potential of the forests it manages. (h) The Commission has the legal status of and functions as a Government Department. It reports directly to Forestry Ministers, namely the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Wales, to whom it is responsible for advice on forestry policy and for the implementation of that policy. It is, however, different from the usual Departments of State in that there is a statutorily-appointed Chairman and Board of Commissioners with prescribed duties and powers. FUNCTIONS AND OBJECTIVES The Commission fulfils two distinct roles: (a) As the Forestry Authority it acts as adviser on Government forestry policy and undertakes functions such as research, technical advice, plant health and administration of grant-in-aid for the private sector. (b) As the Forestry Enterprise it acts as a trading body primarily responsible for the management of its own forests but with other functions such as the protection and enhancement of the environment and the provision of recreational facilities. ACCOUNTS Each year the Commission prepares two sets of accounts derived from a common data base:- (a) The Appropriation Account, which, in accordance with the Appropriation Acts and Exchequer and Audit Department Acts, sets out the cash receipts and payments relating to the funds voted by Parliament for the Forestry Commission as a whole. (b) The Balance Sheet and Accounts for the Forestry Enterprise alone in a format approved by the Treasury and published in the Forestry Commission Annual Report. THE BALANCE SHEET AND ACCOUNTS OF THE FORESTRY ENTERPRISE General (a) The key factor in accounting for forestry is the problem of determining satisfactory performance indicators for a crop whose typical rotation cycle can span 50 years for conifers and more than 100 years for broadleaves. Traditional measures of profitability can be established only when the Forestry Enterprise has a cycle of production which is self- perpetuating (ie “sustained yield”). At that stage revenue would be sufficient to re-establish the area harvested, maintain the remainder of the woodland and provide a return on funds invested. The Enterprise is not likely to achieve sustained yield until the turn of the century because of the relative immaturity of its plantations. (b) Since 1972 a form of account has been in use based on five-yearly periods (quinquennia) with the principal aims of: (i) establishing, at the start of each new quinquennium, an asset valuation capable of earning a rate of return equivalent to the maximum that could be earned in Northern Europe on sites close to markets; (ii) measuring management performance against that target rate of return; (iii) introducingsubsidies to cover new investment and otherexpenditures not able to achieve the target rate of return; (iv) measuring the difference between the target rate of return and that set for public sector trading bodies. This format is likely, to be continued until the plantations have attained greater maturity and become self-supporting. 9 2 Methodology The following measures have been adopted in the Accounts. (a) Target rate of return The Commission was set a target rate of return of 3 per cent in real terms on its forest estate assets and any new investment thereon, and the required rate of return for public sector trading bodies, currently 5 per cent, on its commercial recreation assets and its surplus assets (ie those assets not required for forest estate purposes which are intended for disposal as and when practicable). (b) Investment evaluation Assets employed in the Forestry Enterprise are revalued in their entirety at the start of each quinquennium. Plantations, the main asset, are valued on the basis of estimated future costs and incomes at current prices (referred to hereafter as “standards”) discounted at the target rate of return. At the same time the liability for future superannuation benefits is revalued by the Government Actuary. From this information the capital, which represents the Exchequer’s investment in the Forestry Enterprise, is reconstructed and provides a revised Balance Sheet to open the quinquennium. The assets and liabilities are updated in subsequent accounts by either a general price index or professionally determined ‘in house’ indices. (c) Subsidies Subsidies are established to record: (i) Planting and restocking subsidy — the extent to which new investment in both planting and restocking is estimated to be incapable of earning the target rate of return. (ii) Forest recreation and amenity subsidy — the net cost of the provision of recreational facilities for which commercial objectives cannot be set. These subsidies are allocated out of the Granl-in-Aid in order to maintain the valuation of assets and liabilities at such level as will service the target rate of return. The difference between the target rate of return and that set for public sector trading bodies is identified as the “Forestry subsidy” and is a measure of the opportunity cost of new investment in forestry. It is recorded by way of a note to the accounts. (d) Measurement of performance Forest Estate Each quinquennium stands alone and performance both within the quinquennium and for the remainder of the rotation can only be measured against the standard costs and incomes built into the opening valuations. That measurement is achieved in two stages, namely (i) By evaluation within the quinquennium of the variances between actual expenditure and income in the plantations account with the standard cash (lows (suitably adjusted where appropriate for programme alterations and for inflation) built into the plantations valuation at the start of the quinquennium. (ii) By assessment at the end of the quinquennium of the future variances that will arise during the remainder of the rotation from management decisions taken during the quinquennium about future work and outputs. These future variances are evaluated by comparison of the Balance Sheet standard valuation with the revised plantations valuation for the next quinquennium excluding the changes to future costs and price assumptions included therein. The amalgamation of both sets of variances (within and beyond the quinquennium) provides the basis for determination of the rates of return actually achievable on the investment valuation set at the beginning of the quinquennium. Format of Accounts A formal for the Forestry Enterprise accounts has been adopted to comply with the foregoing concepts and, as far as is practicable, with the accounting and disclosure requirements of the Companies Acts 1948-1981. These accounts comprise: (a) Balance Sheet. (b) Plantations account which shows both the cumulative and in-yearvariances between the actual costs and incomes and the standard cash flows built into the plantations valuation thus indicating performance against the assessments made at the start of the quinquennium. 93 (c) Trading account which shows both the cumulative and in-year surpluses or deficits achieved against the target rale of return for other commercial activities. (d) Statement of Source and Application of Funds. (e) Notes to the accounts which provide further analyses of amounts in the Balance Sheet, Plantations and Trading accounts and detailed explanations for the operating results disclosed in the accounts. (f) For the final year of the quinquennium only, special notes which provide details of: (i) the revaluation of assets and liabilities which provide the starting point for the next quinquennium; (ii) the reassessment of planting and restockingsubsidies for the next quinquennium resulting from the changed assumptions about work, outputs, costs and prices; (iii) the measurement of performance on the forest estate by summating the cumulative variances in the quinquennium and the future plantation variances arising from altered work and output perceptions and using this information to assess an achievable rate of return over the whole quinquennium for comparison with the target of 3 per cent; (iv) measurement of performance on the Trading account over the whole quinquennium. REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES The activities of the Forestry Enterprise are reviewed in the Annual Report. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT A full account of the activities carried out in the field of research and development is given annually each autumn in the Forestry Commission Report on Forest Research and a selection of items therefrom of general interest is also provided on page 32 of the Annual Report. FINANCIAL RESULTS Commentary on the performance of the Forestry Enterprise in the year and in the quinquennium to date is provided at page 27 of the Annual Report. FIXED ASSETS The changes in the plantations valuation and in other tangible fixed assets in the year are detailed in the Plantations account and in Note 2 to the Accounts respectively. MARKET VALUE OF LAND AND BUILDINGS The Forestry Commission considers that there is no significant difference between the book value and the market value of land and buildings. FORESTRY COMMISSIONERS The names of the Forestry Commissioners are listed on page 4 of the Annual Report. EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION Arrangements exist to keep all employees informed on matters of concern to them. Information is disseminated widely at both local and departmental levels. The usual system of Government Whitley Councils at departmental and regional levels is supplemented by ad hoc meetings with trade unions as the occasion demands and briefing meetings to ensure that staff are given every opportunity to comment and be involved in the decision-making process. A broadly similar arrangement for manual employees is provided through the Forestry Commission Industrial and Trade Council at departmental level and a network of Joint Consultative Committees at Conservancy and Forest District levels. 94 DISABLED PERSONS Although the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944 is not binding on the Crown, the Commission, as with other Government Departments, has undertaken to accept the same responsibility as other employers. The basic policy followed is that disablement of itself is no bar to recruitment to, or advancement within, the Commission. The test applied is the ability to do the job and the Commission is concerned to ensure that every opportunity to employ disabled people is taken. The physically demanding nature of much of the work available in the Commission restricts the scope for employment of disabled persons in the forests but within this limitation the Commission’s policy is to provide for equal opportunities for the disabled. AUDITORS The accounts of the Forestry Enterprise are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. G.D. Holmes Accounting Officer 23 August 1984 95 FORESTRY COMMISSION FORESTRY ENTERPRISE BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 1984 Previous Year Notes £ million £ million £ m illion FIXED ASSETS Plantations 1,220.0 1,091.6 Other Tangible Assets 2 99.2 101.8 1,319.2 1,193.4 CURRENT ASSETS Stocks ...... 3 9.5 8.1 Debtors ...... 4 11.7 9.9 Cash at banks and in hand 5 10.7 6.3 31.9 24.3 CREDITORS — amounts falling due within one year 6 14.8 9.8 NET C U R R E N T A SSETS 17.1 14.5 TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 1,336.3 1,207.9 Financed by:- PROVISION FOR SUPERANNUATION 7 187.6 171.8 CAPITAL AND RESERVES Capital ...... 8 1,017.8 977.9 Revaluation Reserve 10 114.3 53.5 Plantations Account Variance 14.8 4.4 Trading Account ...... 1.8 0.3 1,148.7 1,036.1 1,336.3 1,207.9 The notes on pages 100 to 112 form part of these Accounts. G. D. Holmes Accounting Officer 23 August 1984 I certify that 1 have examined the foregoing Balance Sheet, the Plantations Account, Trading Account and the supporting information set out in the Statement of Source and Application of Funds and the Notes. In my opinion the above-mentioned Balance Sheet, Plantations Account, Trading Account, Statement of Source and Application of Funds and Notes give a true and fair view, under the principles embodied in the accounting policies described in Note I, of the state of affairs of the Forestry Enterprise at 31 March 1984 and of its results for the year ended on that date, and comply with the provisions of the Forestry Act 1967 and the directions made thereunder. 30 October 1984 Gordon Downey National Audit Office Comptroller & Auditor General 96 FORESTRY COMMISSION FORESTRY ENTERPRISE PLANTATIONS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Notes £ million £ million £ million £ m illion At 1 April 1983: 916,573 hectares 1(c) 1,091.6 Revaluation surplus 10 66.3 Balance brought forward revalued ...... 1,157.9 E stablish H arvest Forest m ent and ing and Recreation Maintenance Marketing and Amenity Income ...... (0.7) (44.2) (0.7) Profit on sale of properties and plantations ...... 13 (0.6) (1.3) (44.2) (0.7) (46.2) Expenditure: Forest costs ...... 23.4 22.8 3.3 Administrative expenses 12.1 10.4 1.6 15 35.5 33.2 4.9 73.6 Notional interest charge 12 35.6 0.9 0.1 36.6 Forest recreation and amenity subsidy ...... 9 (4.3) (4.3) Planting and restocking subsidy 9 (8 0) 1,209.6 At 31 March 1984: 909,959 hectares 1(c) 1,220.0 Favourable variance from standard ...... 10.4 Favourable variance from previous year 4.4 Favourable variance to date carried forward 14.8 The notes on pages 100 to 112 form part of these Accounts. 97 FORESTRY COMMISSION FORESTRY ENTERPRISE TRADING ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Previous Year N otes £ million £ million £ m illion Income ...... 5.7 5.3 Profit on sale of properties 13 2.5 1.4 8.2 6.7 Expenditure: Operating costs 4.0 3.6 Administrative expenses 1.5 1.5 15 5.5 5.1 2.7 1.6 Notional interest charge for use of ancillary assets 12 0.1 0.1 Operating surplus 2.6 1.5 Notional interest charge 12 1.1 1.2 Surplus for year 14 1.5 0.3 Surplus from previous year 0.3 — Surplus to date carried forward 1.8 0.3 The notes on pages 100 to 112 form part o f these Accounts. 98 FORESTRY COMMISSION FORESTRY ENTERPRISE STATEMENT OF SOURCE AND APPLICATION OF FUNDS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1984 Previous Year £ million £ million £ million SOURCE OF FUNDS Proceeds from disposals of properties and plantations 23.9 14.6 Proceeds from disposals of plant and machinery 0.8 0.8 Employees’ superannuation contributions 1.0 1.1 Grant-in-aid ...... 44.9 44.6 70.6 61.1 Less: Superannuation payments 11.4 9.7 59.2 51.4 APPLICATION OF FUNDS Trading account surplus before notional interest (2.7) (1.6) Net expenditure on plantations ...... 37.4 43.4 34.7 41.8 Less: adjustments for items not involving the movement o f funds: Depreciation ...... 6.9 6.8 Excess proceeds over book value on disposal of properties and plantations ...... (5.4) (4.1) Notional employer’s contributions to superannuation 10.3 10.3 11.8 13.0 Absorbed by activities ...... 22.9 28.8 Purchases of other tangible fixed assets 8.4 8.4 Surrenderable to Consolidated Fund 25.3 15.0 56.6 52.2 WORKING CAPITAL DECREASE/(INCREASE) (2.6) 0.8 Components of decrease/(increase) in working capital Stocks ...... (1.4) 1.3 Debtors ...... (1.8) 0.1 Creditors ...... 5.0 1.2 1.8 2.6 Movement in net liquid funds: Increase in cash at bank and in hand (4.4) (1.8) (2.6) 0.8 The notes on pages 100 to 112 form part of these Accounts. 99 FORESTRY COMMISSION FORESTRY ENTERPRISE NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS AS AT 31 M A R C H 1984 1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES (a) Accounting convention The accounts are prepared under the current cost convention modified as described in Notes 1(c) and (d). Without limiting the information given, the accounts meet the requirements of the Companies Acts 1948 to 1981 and of the Statements of Standard Accounting Practice issued by member bodies of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies so far as these requirements are appropriate. Departures from the Standard on Current Cost Accounting (No 16) are explained in Notes 1(c) and (d). (b) Period of account The Forestry Enterprise reviews the performance of its activities based on a five-year period of account (a “quinquennium”). Annual accounts are prepared to monitor progress in that period with the estimated enhancement of those assets being reflected in various categories of reserves. At the commencement of each quinquennium a full professional revaluation of the assets is performed and the capital and accumulated reserves are amalgamated to form the new capital base for that five-year period. This year is the second year of the current quinquennium. (c) Valuation of plantations and other tangible fixed assets The accounts at the beginning of the quinquennium are prepared in accordance with the provisions of Statement of Standard Accounting Practice No 16. Plantations are valued on an expectation basis by discounting estimated future incomes and expenditures in terms of current prices (“Standard” incomes and expenditures) and using the target rate of return of 3 per cent. Land and buildings are valued where possible on an open market basis by professionally qualified staff employed by the Forestry Commission. During the quinquennium the valuations of plantations and associated other tangible fixed assets are updated annually using a general price index, since no industry index is available. The commercial recreation and surplus estate tangible fixed assets are updated by professionally determined ‘in house’indices. The accounting records of the Forestry Enterprise are maintained on a current cost basis. In the opinion of the Commissioners it would be an unnecessarily costly exercise to recover historical cost information and therefore, contrary to the Standard and the Companies Act 1981, no such supplementary statement has been provided. (d) Other current cost adjustments A gearing adjustment indicates the benefit or cost arising from the financing of part of net operating assets by external borrowings. Since the Forestry Enterprise has no such borrowings, no gearing adjustment is required. In addition, no adjustment has been made to reflect the impact of price changes on the financing of monetary working capital since it is considered to be immaterial. (e) Depreciation Depreciation is provided on all other tangible fixed assets other than freehold and leasehold land and surplus estate buildings, at rates calculated to write off the valuation less estimated residual values, of each asset evenly over its expected useful life as follows: Freehold buildings — over 20 to 80 years Leasehold buildings — over the lease term Plant and machinery — over 3 to 16 years Office equipment — over 4 to 20 years 100 Notes to the Accounts (continued) (f) Government funding Grant-in-Aid attributable to the Forestry Enterprise is accounted for as received and allocated as follows: Plantations account — planting and restocking subsidy being the extent to which new investment in planting and restocking is estimated to fall short of the target rate of return. — forest recreation and amenity subsidy being the net cost of the provision of recreational facilities for which commercial objectives cannot be set. Capital — the balance of the Grant-in-Aid being the funding of all the other activities of the Forestry Enterprise. (g) Stocks Timber, plants and livestock are stated at net realisable value, which is based on estimated selling price less further costs expected to be incurred to completion or disposal. Consumable materials, supplies and seed are stated at current replacement cost. (h) Research and development Research and development expenditure of the Forestry Commission as a whole is allocated 45 per cent to the Forestry Authority and 55 percent to the Forestry Enterprise. The Forestry Enterprise charges its share of the expenditure to the Plantations account as incurred. (i) Notional interest charges Notional interest is charged to the Plantations account and the Trading account based on the average net assets employed during the year. Forestry assets bear interest at 3 percent and other assets 5 per cent. As part of the forestry assets are deemed to represent the investments of the superannuation scheme, the provision is credited with part of the notional interest charge. The amount so allocated is calculated as 3 per cent of the average liability of the scheme for the year. (j) Superannuation scheme Following usual publicservice practice, superannuation benefits are met out of Grant-in-Aid on a Pay As You Go basis. However, to give a fair presentation of the liabilities of the Forestry Enterprise at 31 March, a provision for future benefits is made based upon an actuarial valuation. The valuation is carried out by the Government Actuary at the beginning of each quinquennium. During the quinquennium the provision is increased by (i) notional employer’s contributions based on funding rates set by the Government Actuary; (ii) notional interest charges as noted above; (iii) a revaluation adjustment based on the general price index used to update the underlying assets, and (iv) contributions received from employees. Benefits paid in the year are charged against the provision. 2. O T H E R T A N G IB L E F IX E D A SS E T S (a) M achinery L and and P lan t and Buildings Equipment Total £ m illion £ million £ million Valuation: At 1 April 1983 81.0 53.5 134.5 Additions 3.1 5.3 8.4 Disposals and transfers (8.4) (8.2) (16.6) Surplus on revaluation 2.8 2.7 5.5 At 31 March 1984 78.5 53.3 131.8 101 Notes to the Accounts ( continued) M achinery Land and Plant and Buildings Equipment T otal £ million £ million £ m illion Depreciation: At 1 April 1983 32.7 32.7 Provided during year 1.2 5.7 6.9 Disposals and transfers — (7.4) (7.4) Surplus on revaluation (1.2) 1.6 0.4 At 31 March 1984 — 32.6 32.6 Net book value: At 31 March 1984 78.5 20.7 99.2 At 31 March 1983 81.0 20.8 101.8 (b) Analysis of Land and Buildings Previous year £ m illion £ m illion Forest estate 57.2 57.7 Surplus estate 17.0 18.9 Commercial recreation 4.3 4.4 78.5 81.0 (c) Land under plantations is treated as part of the Plantations valuation. (d) Land afforested in the year is transferred to the Plantations account. (e) Freehold and leasehold land, and surplus estate buildings which are not depreciated, amount to £38.2 million (at 31 March 1983 — £41.4 million). (f) The bases of valuation of other tangible fixed assets are given in Note1(c). 3. STOCKS Previous Year £ m illion £ m illion Timber ...... 6.5 5.1 Plants and seed ...... 1.1 1.1 Consumable materials and supplies 1.9 1.9 9.5 8.1 4. DEBTO RS Trade debtors 10.5 8.4 Other debtors 1.2 1.5 11.7 9.9 Other debtors include amounts falling due after more than one year of £0.9 million (£0.8 million at 31 March 1983). 102 Notes to the Accounts (continued) 5. CASH AT BANKS AND IN HAND Previous Year £ m illion £ m illion Balance of proceeds from disposal of properties and plantations in 1983-84 ...... 7.6 3.8 Excess cash balance ...... 1.7 1.2 To be surrendered to the Consolidated Fund 9.3 5.0 Retained funds ...... 0.7 0.6 Balance of Forestry Fund with Paymaster General 10.0 5.6 Cash at commercial banks and in hand ...... 0.7 0.7 10.7 6.3 6. CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year Payments received on account ...... 0.5 0.4 Trade creditors ...... 2.2 1.8 Other creditors including taxation and social security costs 2.8 2.6 Consolidated Fund surrender ...... 9.3 5.0 14.8 9.8 7. PROVISION FOR SUPERANNUATION £ m illion £ m illion Balances at 1 April 1983: Current liabilities 11.4 Long-term liabilities 160.4 171.8 Revaluation adjustment (Note 10) 10.6 182.4 Contributions received from staff 1.0 Notional employer’s contributions 10.3 Notional interest charge (Note 12) 5.3 199.0 Payments made during the year 11.4 Balances at 31 March 1984: Current liabilities 12.8 Long-term liabilities 174.8 187.6 Legislation relating to the superannuation of the Forestry Commissioners and Commission staff is to be found in Schedule 1 Part 11 of the Forestry Act 1967 as amended by the Superannuation Act 1972. The superannuation benefits and contributions payable are identical to those of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme except that such benefits are paid out of the Forestry Fund and not the Civil Service Superannuation Vole. 103 Notes to the Accounts (continued) 8. CAPITAL £ million £ million Balance at 1 April 1983 977.9 Amounts payable to the Consolidated Fund: Proceeds from disposals of properties and plantations 23.6 Excess cash balance 1.7 (2S.3) Addition of Grant-in-Aid to Capital (Note 9) 32.6 Notional interest charge (Note 12) 32.6 Balance at 31 March 1984 1,017.8 9. GRANT-IN-AID Previous Year £ million £ million £million Grant-in-Aid transferred into the Forestry Fund 58.5 56.9 Less: Appropriated for the Forestry Authority 13.6 12.3 Grant-in-Aid for the Forestry Enterprise 44.9 44.6 Planting and restocking 8.0 7.4 Forest recreation and amenity 4.3 3.8 12.3 II.2 Addition of Grant-in-Aid to Capital 32.6 33.4 See Note 20 for detailed analysis of Planting and Restocking and Forest Recreation and Amenity subsidies by Conservancy. 10. REVALUATION RESERVE £ million £ million Balance at 1 April 1983 53.5 Revaluation surplus in year: Plantations ...... 66.3 Other tangible assets 5.1 71.4 124.9 Less: allocated to Provision for Superannuation 10.6 Balance at 31 March 1984 ...... 114.3 11. PLANTATIONS ACCOUNT VARIANCE Establish Harvest ment and ing and Maintenance Marketing Total £ million £ million £ million Income ...... 0.2 1.9 2.1 Profit on sale of properties and plantations 0.6 0.6 0.8 1.9 2.7 Expenditure: Forest costs 0.7 6.5 7.2 Administrative expenses 0.5 0.5 1.2 6.5 7.7 Net variances — favourable 2.0 8.4 10.4 104 Notes to the Accounts (continued) Analysis and explanation of variance Variance (adverse Standard Actual bracketed) N otes £ million £ million £ million stablishment and maintenance: Sundry income ...... (a) 0.5 0.7 0.2 Profit on sale of properties and plantations (b) — 0.6 0.6 0.5 1.3 0.8 Plantations acquired ...... 0.1 (0.1) Land planted ...... (c) 3.4 3.0 0.4 New plantations ...... (d) 4.3 4.1 0.2 Restocked plantations ...... 3.2 3.2 — Maintenance ...... (e) 4.9 4.4 0.5 Lease rents, supplies and miscellaneous 0.8 0.8 — Road construction ...... 3.6 3.6 — Road maintenance ...... (f) 2.4 2.6 (0.2) Labour oncost ...... 10.5 10.7 (0-2) Research and development 4.2 4.1 0.1 37.3 36.6 0.7 Less: Book value of disposals and reclassifications ...... 13.2 13.2 — Forest costs 24.1 23.4 0.7 Administrative expenses (g) 12.6 12.1 0.5 36.7 35.5 1.2 (a) Increased venison income from higher deer culls. (b) This profit represents the excess over book value and costs on the disposal o ff 16.8 million forest estate properties and plantations. (c) Represents the differences between the lower value of land in the planlable reserve and the standard allowed for in the plantations valuation, mainly in N(Scot) and W(Scot). (d) Expenditure reductions due to timing changes in fertilisation programmes and the switch of resources from weeding and cleaning to carrying out Dendroctonus micans surveys and treatment offset by increased costs in planting and beating up resulting from higher stocking standards. (e) Reduction of costs in pest control resulting from improvements in operating practices and in fire protection due to favourable weather conditions, offset to some extent by expenditure not envisaged when the standards were compiled on the survey and treatment of Dendroctonus micans. (f) Higher expenditure incurred in keeping roads usable during the severe winter weather. (g) Staff costs have been contained well within the general rate of inflation allowed for in the standard. 105 Noles to the Accounts ( continued) F avourable Standard Actual V ariance £ million £ million £ million Harvesting and Marketing Income ...... (a) 42.3 44.2 1.9 Direct costs 21.3 16.3 5.0 Labour oncost 8.0 6.5 1.5 Forest costs (b) 29.3 22.8 6.5 Administrative expenses 10.4 10.4 — 39.7 33.2 6.5 Interest 0.9 0.9 - Net 1.7 10.1 8.4 (a) Income per cubic metre increased by 10 per cent over the previous year which represents a rise of approximately 4'/2 per cent in real terms. This was due to a general improvement in world timber markets. (b) Unit costs per cubic metre for expenditure on Commission harvesting have decreased significantly. Of the total favourable variance of £6.5 million, £1.4 million is attributable to stock changes. Of the balance of £5.1 million, about £2.5 million is the result of an increase in the average tree size harvested with a consequent reduction in unit costs. This change in tree size was a response to market developments in the year, particularly the difficult market for small roundwood. The remaining £2.6 million represents savings from improvements in efficiency above those which were anticipated when the standards were set. 12. NOTIONAL INTEREST CHARGES Notional interest charges have been allocated as follows: Previous Year £ m illion £ m illion Plantations account 36.6 32.5 Trading account 1.2 1.3 Sale o f properties (N ote 13) 0.1 0.1 37.9 33.9 Attributable to: Capital (Note 8) ...... 32.6 29.2 Provision for Superannuation (Notes 1(7), 1(7) and 7) 5.3 4.7 37.9 33.9 106 Notes to the Accounts ( continued) 13. PROFIT ON SALE OF PROPERTIES Plantations Account Trading Previous Account Properties Plantations Total Year £ million £ million £ million £ million £ m illion Proceeds 7.1 1.9 14.9 23.9 14.6 Less: Book value 3.8 1.3 13.4 18.5 10.5 3.3 0.6 1.5 5.4 4.1 Less: Expenses (including notional interest 0.1) ...... 0.3 — 0.5 0.8 0.5 3.0 0.6 1.0 4.6 3.6 Less: Related attributable adminis trative expenses ...... 0.5 0.1 0.9 1.5 1.4 2.5 0.5 0.1 3.1 2.2 Total proceeds from sales and exchanges of land, buildings and plantations amount to £23.9 million, an increase of £9.3 million (64 per cent) over the previous year. Most of this increase stems from the sale of plantations under the powers provided in the Forestry Act 1981. The net profit on all sales amounts to £3.1 million and this is apportioned between land and buildings, which are surplus to requirements, and forest estate properties and plantations. The profit on the surplus estate is taken to the Trading account whilst the profit on the forest estate is credited to the Plantations account and regarded therein as a favourable variance. 14. TRADING ACCOUNT SURPLUS FOR YEAR Previous Year Surplus Surplus (Deficit) (D eficit) Income for year Income f o r year N otes £ million £ million £ m illion £ million Cabin and campsites (a) 1.9 0.2 1.9 0.3 Shooting and fishing 0.5 0.1 0.5 0.1 Surplus estate (b) 0.9 1.1 0.9 (0.2) Agency ...... 2.3 — 1.9 Miscellaneous (c) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 5.7 1.5 5.3 0.3 The surplus or deficit entries above represent the trading results after inclusion, where appropriate, of a notional interest charge of 5 per cent, being the real return expected from public sector trading bodies. (a) The real rate of return achieved on capital invested in cabins and campsites was 8.8 per cent. Although there was an increase in the return from the letting of cabins, the overall rate fell compared with the previous year due to refurbishment programmes and lower occupancy levels at campsites. (b) Surplus estate comprises those properties which are not required for the Forestry Enterprise and are intended to be sold at the earliest opportunity. Most of the properties are relatively expensive to maintain because of their age, type and remoteness, and income is likewise restricted. As a result there is an operational deficit of £1.4 million (compared to £1.6 million in 1982-83) after charging interest. This deficit is, however, turned into a surplus of £1.1 million after adding back a profit of £2.5 million (1982-83 £ 1.4 million) on sales concluded in the year. (c) The miscellaneous entry represents the income received from the Severn Trent Water Authority in respect of the Commision’s equal share in the surplus on the joint management scheme at Lake Vyrnwy in North Wales. 107 Notes to the Accounts (continued) 15. EX PEN D ITU R E Previous Year £ million £ m illion (a) Total expenditure before notional interest charges comprises: Plantations account 73.6 81.3 Trading account ...... 5.5 5.1 Sale of properties (Note 13) 2.2 1.8 81.3 88.2 (b) The above expenditure includes: Labour oncost (Note 18) 19.2 19.7 Administrative expenses (Note 19) 27.1 26.1 Research and development 4.1 3.9 50.4 49.7 (c) Total staff costs for the Forestry Enterprise and Forestry Authority comprise: Salaries ...... 18.4 17.8 Wages ...... 28.9 29.4 Social security costs 4.0 4.1 Superannuation costs 10.3 10.3 61.6 61.6 Travel and subsistence 3.4 3.2 65.0 64.8 Approximately 87 per cent (previous year 80 per cent) relates to Forestry Enterprise operations. The increased percentage is due to a revised formula for 1983-84. (d) The average number of employees during the year was made up as follows: Number N um ber Industrial 4,900 5,222 Non-industrial 2,056 2,078 6,956 7,300 (e) Included in staff costs at (c) above is the remuneration of the Commissioners which comprises (excluding pension contributions): Previous Year £ thousand £ thousand Chairman ... 15 14 Highest paid Commissioner ... 32 29 Other Commissioners ...... 97 86 Total emoluments of Commissioners ... 144 129 Travel and subsistence of Commissioners ... 24 25 108 Notes to the Accounts ( continued) The emoluments of the other Commissioners fell within the following ranges: Number Num ber £nil to £5,000 6 6 £5,001 to £10,000 — — £10,001 to £15,000 — — £15,001 to £20,000 — — £20,001 to £25,000 — 3 £25,001 to £30,000 3 — The Commissioners’ remuneration is in accordance with Civil Service pay rates. 16. CAPITAL COMMITMENTS Future capital expenditure on Other Tangible Fixed Assets in 1984-85 authorised by the Commission amounts to £10.1 million (£10.7 million for 1983-84). 17. CONTINGENT LIABILITIES Contingent liabilities exist at 31 March 1984 for damages caused by the Commission to other persons’ property and for compensation for personal injury to Commission employees amounting to an estimated sum of £0.6 million (£0.4 million at 31 March 1983). 18. LABOUR ONCOST Labour oncost covers those costs incurred in the employment of industrial labour which cannot be allocated directly to activities, eg employer’s national insurance and provision for superannuation. The costs incurred for the year ended 31 March 1984 were: Previous Year £ m illion £ m illion National insurance, holiday and sick pay ...... 5.4 5.8 Wet time ...... 1.3 1.4 Transport of workers and travelling and subsistence 5.3 5.7 Provision for superannuation ...... 5.5 5.6 Other net costs ...... 1.7 1.2 19.2 19.7 Allocated to:- Plantations account: Establishment and maintenance 10.7 11.1 Harvesting and marketing 6.5 6.8 Forest recreation and amenity 1.1 1.0 Trading account ...... 0.9 0.8 19.2 19.7 109 Notes to the Accounts ( continued) 19. ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES Previous Year £ m illion £ m illion Salaries and national insurance ...... 17.0 16.5 Travelling, subsistence and staff transfer expenses 3.6 3.5 Provision for superannuation ...... 4.1 3.9 Accommodation and estate expenses 2.9 2.3 Office expenses ...... 2.2 2.3 Auditors’ remuneration 0.1 0.1 Other net expenses 2.1 2.0 32.0 30.6 Less: charged to Forestry Authority 4.9 4.5 27.1 26.1 Allocated to:- Plantations account: Establishment and maintenance 12.1 11.9 Harvesting and marketing 10.4 9.8 Forest recreation and amenity 1.6 1.5 Trading account ...... 1.5 1.5 Sale of properties (Note 13) 1.5 1.4 27.1 26.1 110 20. 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Q . ’H - O d 2 . «d i y 6rt _ _ CL - <__, . 3 K C 3 111 ts> ^ Noles to the Accounts ( continued) 21. FORESTRY SUBSIDY From 1 April 1982 the Forestry Subsidy, which represents the opportunity cost of investment in forestry, is presented as the capitalised sum on new investment, similar to the planting and restocking subsidies, and is assessed as the difference between the net present values of income and expenditure discounted on the one hand at the target rate of 3 per cent and on the other at the public sector trading rate, which is currently 5 per cent. Details of the calculations are set out below. £ million Planting and restocking subsidies to achieve the public sector trading rate of 5 per cent ...... 19.5 Planting and restocking subsidies to achieve the target rate of return of 3 per cent ...... 8.0 Forestry subsidy on new investment in 1983-84 11.5 Printed in Scotland for HMSO by (13129) Dd. 762060 11/84 112