Quinquennial Review stakeholder views - Statutory advisory bodies

 

Consultations

• Forestry Commission Advisory Panel (set up under the Forestry Act as the Forestry Commission's main advisory body)
• Regional Advisory Committees (also formed under the Forestry Act, effectively to advise on local issues) were consulted. Seven of the eleven RACs gave feedback.

Summary

Most of their members, drawn from a cross-section of representatives of organisations concerned with forestry, knew little of Forest Research. This prompted them to wonder whether it was actually doing relevant research (one RAC in particular believed that it did not deliver results which met the needs of its region) or was poor at disseminating results (a popular, across-the-board report on research outputs was sought).

Those who were familiar with Forest Research considered its advice relevant, sound and useful, although focussed on silviculture, with a growing but still insufficient output of environmental and, especially, social (forestry) research.

Objectives

There was a view that agency status had led it to lose its practical flavour: it had become too academic (producing learned papers not practical solutions) and too concerned with cost recovery.

There was concern that the financial objective undermined the achievement of some of the essential aims of the agency:

• It was important that the pathology service should be free at the point of use
• Though publications were sensibly priced, the cost of general advisory services was too high.

Knowledge transfer

On the issue of dissemination, one RAC suggested that Forest Research's aims should include the communication of research outputs:

• A popular report covering all Forest Research's research outputs was sought
• More site visits were suggested
• A network of consultants giving advice.

Research topics

Practising foresters (perhaps through the medium of the RAC) needed a greater input into the Forest Research work programme. However research (keyed into the country forestry strategies, with more research particularly on social research and the role of forestry on urban fringes) was felt to be very important indeed, and the private sector was too fragmented and weak to fund the long-term work which was needed.

Organisation

There was concern about the possibility of any future Forest Research cuts, because of the effect on the quantity of research carried out.

Most RACs favoured retention of executive agency status. It was pointed out that being part of a government department gave Forest Research's output a reputation for objectivity and access to the Forestry Commission's forestry estate as a research laboratory was seen as important.

More use could be made of strategic alliances with other research bodies, and finding new funding partners.

Other organisational models suggested were re-absorption within Forestry Commission (which was much better-known than Forest Research and might find it easier to disseminate results) or privatisation (which would force it to get closer to potential customers).