Minutes of the 888Th Meeting Of
Minutes of the 893rd meeting of
the Forestry Commissioners
mint hotel, westminster, london
9 June 2011
Present:
Pam Warhurst (Chair)
Tim Rollinson
Simon Hodgson
Simon Hodge
Trefor Owen
Harry Studholme
Judith Webb
Jon Owen Jones
Hamish Macleod
Wilma Harper, Secretary
Also Attending:
Jean Lindsay, Director HR (Agenda Item 4)
Linda McGinley (Minutes)
1. Apologies
Apologies had been received from Bob McIntosh and Tayo Adebowale. Simon Hodge was attending in Bob’s absence.
2. Minutes of Previous Meeting
The Minutes of 17 March 2011 were accepted.
3. Matters Arising
Non-Executive Commissioner (Scotland) recruitment
This is still on hold.
UK Forestry Standard
This is now almost complete, and a submission is due to go to the Minister soon. The next step is to agree the format for the launch.
Business Sustainability
FC Scotland has now achieved ISO14000 certification.
GB Corporate Plan
This is now in the final stages of completion.
4. Human Resources
Jean Lindsay, Director HR, attended to present her two papers:
People Strategy
Jean Lindsay explained that the People Strategy has recently been reviewed and refreshed, and the latest version, ‘Fit for our Future’, continues to build on the development of management and leadership capability within the organisation. The Strategy also acknowledges the current economic climate, and the fact that change is now a major driver. The HR Management Board are now finalising the Action Plan in order to ensure successful implementation.
Strategic Issues Update
Jean then went on to provide a high level overview of some of the strategic issues currently being faced, including matters such as the recruitment freeze, pay, equality and diversity, the introduction of the Employee Assistance Package, and the leadership development programme.
Jean also described the change programme activities underway to facilitate the implementation of SR10 in England. These include delivery of change management courses for managers and staff, the development of high level job profiles, devising processes for ‘selecting in’ and ‘selecting out’, and training for managers on the completion of the redundancy matrix.
The Chair thanked Jean, and her team, for the excellent work they have done in putting in place such a comprehensive change programme to help the FC deal with the major challenges ahead. This gave her, and the Board, confidence that the FC will be in a strong position to be able to deliver what is required of them.
5. SR10 Implementation
Simon Hodgson summarised the position in FC England, and confirmed that the staff consultation has been concluded and implementation plans drawn up. He added that there were a number of areas of the business where review is ongoing, for instance wildlife management, retail and education; reviews of these areas should be concluded by end of Sept 2011. It is expected that a Voluntary Exit scheme will be launched in due course.
Tim Rollinson summarised the GB position, explaining that proposals for future staffing levels in other areas affected by Westminster funding, such as Forest Research, Corporate and Forestry Support and Shared Services were still with Ministers, awaiting approval. Consultation will begin once the proposals are approved, although he anticipates that the impact should be fairly manageable.
There was concern from the Non-Executive Commissioners that they had not been advised in advance about the staff proposals announcement in FC England, and therefore felt at a disadvantage when the media picked up on it, especially when asked about it by others external to the organisation. The Chair agreed that it would be useful to have advance knowledge of any key announcements to staff, in order that they are fully aware of any developments or likely media coverage.
It was agreed that the scope of the weekly organisational update that is circulated to Commissioners should be broadened to cover issues such as this.
Action – Mrs Harper
6. Corporate Governance
Not published as per Freedom of Information Act, Part II (Exempt Information) Section 35, Formulation of Government Policy
7. Forest Research Update
Mrs Harper presented her paper, which had been prepared in part as a follow-up on some of the work done at the workshop the Commissioners attended in March. She also gave an update on various strands of work that were underway, including the Defra Science Agency Review, which had been looking at research options, and plant and tree health policy. She also reported that progress had been made with the Tree Health and Bio-security Action Plan. She advisedthat The House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology had written to Mr Paice and Mr Rollinson with a series of questions on the capacity of the Forestry Commission, and other agencies across government, to respond to the increasing number of pest and disease threats posed to our forests, woodlands and trees and the FC and Defra were working on a response to these questions. Mrs Harper agreed to ascertain what the timings for the Committee were.
Action – Mrs Harper
Sir Harry Studholme asked how the Research Programme allocations were decided, as he was concerned that some programmes could potentially be cut by 100%. Mrs Harper commented that they recognised the need to retain scientific expertise and capability, even in areas where this may occur.
Mrs Harper’s report also included an item on the governance of Forest Research, and she acknowledged that there is a need for a non-executive presence on their Board. Sir Harry Studholme said he was concerned about this, and that there was no representation for Forest Research at this Board – no ‘champion’. Mr Rollinson agreed, adding that there should stronger linkages back to this Board, and that this would be included within the governance review.
The Chair thanked Mrs Harper and her staff for their work on this.
8. Reports
a) DG's Report
Mr Rollinson had nothing further to add to his Report, only to say that the Report illustrated just how much the FC is still doing despite the current challenges.
b) Director England Report
Mr Hodgson highlighted a number of items from this report. He wished to add an item that had been omitted, and that was the successful launch of the Forestry and Flooding Woodland Creation Scheme in the Yorkshire and Humber Region, which had been attended by the Secretary of State.
Mr Rollinson wished to add that he had attended a productive meeting with Natural England following the launch of the Natural Environment White Paper, where they had discussions around landscape scale issues and highlighted the need to work collaboratively with other agencies in a practical way.
c) Director Scotland Report
From the Director Scotland report, Mr Hodge wished to highlight the item on the SNP manifesto, which contained a fair amount of mention of forestry, including a commitment to higher targets for renewable energy.
He was also pleased to report that FC Scotland are due to achieve ISO 14001 accreditation across all site, which is a significant achievement.
d) Director Wales Report
Mr Owen commented on the political developments within Wales, and the appointment of a new Minister for Environment and Sustainability, John Griffiths AM, whose portfolio includes forestry.
9. Any Other Business
Gravetye Trustees
Following a recent recruitment exercise for two new trustees, Sir Harry Studholme reported that he wished to recommend two candidates for appointment. The Board unanimously supported the recommendations, and Mrs McGinley agreed to take this forward with the Administrator, Mrs Taylor.
Action – Mrs McGinley
10. Date of Next Meeting
21/22nd September, in Bristol. Venue to be confirmed.
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