Agenda Item 5Commissioners’ MeetingMemo No 02/09

5 March 2009

FORESTRY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN

Purpose

To seek Commissioners’ views on the advice they wish to put to Ministers on the appointment of a Chairman of the Forestry Commission to succeed Lord Clark.

BACKGROUND

The Forestry Acts

The statutory basis for the appointment of Commissioners is set out in Section 2 of the Forestry Act 1967(as amended):

“Section 2 (Constitution, administration, etc, of Commission)

(1)The Commissioners shall consist of a chairman and not more than ten other members appointed by Her Majesty by warrant under the sign manual to be Forestry Commissioners.

(2)Of the persons for the time being appointed to be Forestry Commissioners—

(a) at least three shall be persons who have special knowledge and experience of forestry;

(b) at least one shall be a person who has scientific attainments and a technical knowledge of forestry; and

(c)at least one shall be a person who has special knowledge and experience of the timber trade.”

This is the only reference to the Chairman in the Forestry Acts and the Acts view all Commissioners, including the Chairman, as equal.

The role of the Chairman

When Lord Clark was appointed in December 2001, the Forestry Commission was in the early stages of adjusting its governance structure in response to the Devolution settlements and its new role as a cross-border public authority. At that time, Ministers felt that, although less than was formerly the case, there was still an important role for a GB Chairman as the new governance structures bedded down. Lord Clark was therefore charged with providing strategic leadership during this period of transition, with the following specific responsibilities:

  • providing guidance on priorities to assist in the efficient allocation of resources;
  • formulating the Board’s strategy for discharging its statutory duties;
  • representing the views of the Board to the general public;
  • ensuring that the Board takes account of guidance provided by the responsible Minister or Department when reaching decisions;
  • encouraging high standards of propriety, ensuring Commissioners comply with the Code of Conduct for Board Members;
  • providing an assessment of performance of individual Commissioners and chairing the Senior Staff Group remuneration committee.

Since then, the role of the Chairman has inevitably changed as the FC has adapted to the devolved landscape. Lord Clark has overseen a number of significant changes to the governance of the Forestry Commission. When first appointed in 2001, the Board of Commissioners met 10 times a year. In 2003, National Committees were set up for England, Scotland and Wales and the following functions were devolved to them from the main Board:

  • giving strategic direction to all of the Forestry Commission's activities in the relevant country
  • approving corporate plans and annual reports for the FC in that country
  • setting targets for, and managing the performance of, the FE agency
  • grant-aiding and regulating woodland owners
  • identifying the resources required to meet objectives and monitoring financial performance
  • ensuring the safeguarding of resources through internal control systems
  • making decisions on country-specific developments, whether FC (eg disputed grant and felling licensing cases) or agency (eg Welsh wind farms).

In 2003, Lord Clark also assumed the role of Chair of the England National Committee and this is now the major part of his role.

This devolution of functions has been very significant, allowing the Forestry Commission to meet the needs of the devolved administrations. The responsibilities outlined above have been taken on by the Chairs of the National Committees in England, Scotland and Wales, who are also country non-executive Forestry Commissioners. As a result of these changes, the number of meetings of the main Board has reduced from 10 a year in 2001, to 6 a year in 2003, and to 4 a year from 2004.

Thus, the distinctive role of the GB Chairman has changed substantially over the years, and the role currently comprises the following core functions:

  • chairing the four meetings annually of the GB Board of Forestry Commissioners
  • a representational role on issues which are not devolved (in practice this has been limited)
  • liaison with the Director General on GB matters such as international work, plant health, forestry research and forestry standards. In practice this has been achieved through regular contact by telephone (weekly) and face to face meeting (roughly once a month)
  • the performance-assessing role for the Director General and the non-executive Commissioners, including chairing the Senior Staff Group remuneration committee.

This equates to approximately 10 – 12 working days per annum.

DETERMINING A WAY FORWARD

Lord Clark is due to step down on 9 June 2009 after two, three-year periods of appointment and one further 18-month extension. In looking to appoint a successor, we have identified 2 main options:

1.Open competition

2.Appointment from within the Board.

  1. Recruit a new GB Chairman by open competition

This would be done following OCPA guidelines, which the FC formally became subject to on 11 February 2009. There are sub-options:

  • Recruit a GB Chairman

This was the procedure used in the past. However, it is no longer straightforward. If the Chairman only has a GB role and is not a member of a National Committee, he or she would have very little contact with the business of the Commission, as this would effectively be restricted to the four meetings of the Board and any occasional representational work. Without a reasonable understanding of the work of the Commission, the Chairman would not be well placed to deal with issues at Board meetings. They would also have little contact with other Board members and would, in practice, be isolated.

  • Recruit a GB Chairman who would also Chair a National Committee

Under this option, the GB Chairman would also chair one of the National Committees. While an appointment could in theory be made from any country, in Scotland and Wales this could only be achieved by displacing the current chairs. Therefore there is only one vacancy - the chair of the England Committee. However, this effectively rules out the possibility of a new Chairman coming from Wales or Scotland (unless one of the existing Chairs was successful through open competition) and, therefore, does not sit easily with the devolved status of the Commission. Ministers in Scotland and Wales would have to be content. For example, we could suggest a shorter term for the GB/England chair, so that when Wales or Scotland NC Chairs became vacant, that vacancy would be filled by someone who also took on the GB role.

  • Recruit a GB Chairman who would also serve on a National Committee

Although this has the attraction of opening the post to all three countries, having a GB chair as a member of a delegated body with a separate chair could give rise to tensions and confused governance.

  1. Appoint from within the Board

In this option, one of the National Committee Chairs would also fulfil the functions of the GB Chairman. This option has the advantage that the Chairman would have experience of the issues affecting the Forestry Commission. It could allow the role to move around each of the countries in due course. This option has the advantage of being relatively easy to implement and might be the most appropriate for the current, highly devolved status of the Commission.

If implemented, Ministers would need to agree the appropriate procedure for appointment. For example, there would be a case for appointing the longest serving non-executive Chair of the National Committees. Another option would be to have a selection process from the chairs, which could include a new Chair of the England National Committee.

Chair of the England National Committee

The means of filling the post of chair of the England National Committee is dependent on Ministers decision on options for appointing a GB Chairman.

Composition of the Board

Under the current arrangements, England has four Commissioners while Scotland and Wales have three each. Depending on Ministers’ decisions on how to appoint a GB Chairman, the number of Commissioners could fall below the maximum permitted by the Act. If such a vacancy does arise, it would present an opportunity to consider the balance of representation on the main Board. While there is no statutory requirement to fill any vacancy, it would be possible to appoint a Board member to cover a specific issue, for example, forestry research. This would allow some flexibility to draw from expertise across all of GB without being constrained by the need for that member also to be on a particular National Committee. This is an issue for consideration after the appointment of a GB Chairman.

Next Steps

Commissioners’ views are invited on:

  • the role of the GB Chairman, and;
  • the options for appointment.

Commissioners’ views will be summarised in a submission to Ministers seeking their decisions on the appointment process.

Given the complexity of the current structure, which means this may take some time to be resolved, it would be possible to cover the functions in the short term.

Forestry Commission
February 2009