My Lords, in moving Amendment 90A, I must thank the right reverend prelate the Bishop of St Albans for his support. He is following in the footsteps of Bishop James, the former Bishop of Liverpool, who did so much to safeguard the future of our woods and forests.
We now turn to concerns that powers within Clause 21 would allow the transfer of land from public bodies to the Homes and Communities Agency and could therefore allow the Government to transfer parts of the Public Forest Estate to the HCA for development. The Public Forest Estate is a precious asset providing us with beauty, space for recreation, space in which to walk and breathe, an environment for flora, fauna and wildlife to flourish and a means of preventing floods and slowing the effects of climate change. For those of us whose home is in a forest, they are part of our culture and heritage. They sustain livelihoods and support our local economy; they are the lifeblood of our communities. That is why I am passionate about protecting the Public Forest Estate.
6.15 pm
At Second Reading and in Committee, the response to concerns that many people have about the Bill and the Public Forest Estate was confused. Ministers said that the Government had no intention of transferring land from the new body to the Homes and Communities Agency as the Public Forest Estate is currently in use and not declared surplus. I imagine that the Minister will say that it cannot be used because the land that makes up the Public Forest Estate does not constitute an arm’s-length body. However, if your Lordships were to go to the Government’s website, the Forestry Commission sits in the same section as HMRC and other arm’s-length bodies which will, I imagine, be covered by the Bill in the list that will be brought forward and covered in secondary legislation. Can the Minister commit to bringing forward between now and Third Reading a list of bodies that will be covered by the Bill?
We have the thrust of what the Minister is going to say from a Written Ministerial Statement. It is the second time on this topic that the Government have sought to ensure that their views are set out ahead of debate. I am grateful to the Minister for providing me with an advance copy, but my fears have not been assuaged. I hold this Minister in very high regard and do not doubt his intentions but, because of the recent history with respect to this Government’s cavalier attitude to our forests, words are not enough if they are not in a Bill. Indeed, to repeat the words of Viscount Bledisloe in a debate on the Forestry Bill in 1981:
“It is not what you say; it is what is in the Bill itself”.—[Official Report, 11/5/81; col. 370.]
I regret that the two commitments in the Written Ministerial Statement are simply not enough. Indeed, the second commitment on:
“Not including the new Public Forest Estate management body in any future regulations specifying which bodies can transfer land to the Homes and Communities Agency”,
is particularly strange. It depends for compliance upon an institution which does not exist—the new Public Forest Estate management body. Much of the difficulty that the Government find themselves in here rests with the fact that there is some confusion about the legal definition of the Public Forest Estate, but there need not be.
The Government committed to bringing forward a Bill to implement the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Forestry, an important and detailed piece of work led by the former Bishop of Liverpool. The Government have argued in earlier debates that there is not enough legislative time to follow through on their promises. The Written Ministerial Statement repeats the canard that,
“it was not in the end possible to accommodate the necessary legislation within the current parliamentary programme”.—[Official Report, 4/11/14; col. WS 144.]
What a hoot, especially when your Lordships consider the paucity of legislation before us in this Session. I know that officials have been working on proposals, for which I am grateful, so why have the Government not at the very least brought forward a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny? The principal recommendation from the panel was that the Public Forest Estate should be held in trust for the nation; without a Bill, I regret that the legal ambiguity around it will continue.
The noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, will no doubt claim that my amendment, which would put his own assurances into the Bill, is otiose yet a recent example from the Forest of Dean clearly demonstrates that words spoken by a Minister do not provide protection. In 2011, Bircham Wood was sold despite the fact that when the Forest of Dean was exempted from the disposals part of the Forestry Act 1981, Hansard recorded the intention also to exempt the associated woodlands. When the Forestry Commission land agent was challenged about the sale, he said that as Bircham Wood was not named in the 1981 Act, the Act did not apply to it. On such small omissions, confusions and accidents do these matters rest.
That is why it is my very firm view and the view of thousands of our citizens that the Government need to accept this amendment. These people were devastated by the Public Bodies Bill; they were delighted by the
establishment and report of the independent panel; they were heartened by the Government’s response. Now, they feel totally let down by lack of action and are deeply concerned once more about the future of the Public Forest Estate. A few words in the Bill would alleviate those concerns. I beg to move.