§ Mr. William Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Wales how much land was acquired by the Forestry Commission in Wales during the last three years; and how much has been acquired by the Economic Forestry Group.
§ Mr. George ThomasDuring the three years ended 31st March, 1969, the Forestry Commission acquired 10,800 acres of plantable land in Wales. I have no complete information about private transactions in land, including those of the Economic Forestry Group; but during this period, proposals were made on behalf of the Group's clients for the future planting of 8,500 acres under the Commission's grant schemes.
§ Mr. William Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many acres of land in Wales are under forest belonging to the Forestry Commission and private forestry groups; and how many acres of land ready for planting are available to each group.
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§ Mr. George ThomasAt 31st March 1969, the Forestry Commisison had 302,100 and 32,400 acres awaiting planting. Corrosponding estimates for land owned by clients of the private forestry groups and managed, or proposed for management, under the Commission's grant scheme were 25,500 acres and 4,100 acres respectively.
§ Mr. William Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals the Forestry Commission has submitted to him to establish an industry to use the timber now available in Mid-Wales and to improve the marketing of its own timber; and what action he proposes to take.
§ Mr. George ThomasNo special action is considered necessary because demand exceeds supply and existing markets are capable of expanding to absorb all the expected increase in production from Welsh forests in the foreseeable future.
§ Mr. William Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many people are employed by the Forestry Commission in Wales; how many of them are in supervisory grades; and what was the position 10 years ago.
§ Mr. George ThomasOf the 1,987 people employed on 30th September, 1969, 232 were in supervisory grades. Comparable figures ten years ago were 3,597 and 298.
§ Mr. William Edwardsasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many forestry workers have been declared redundant during the last three years; and how many supervisors have become redundant during the same period.
§ Mr. George ThomasIn the three years ended 30th September, 1969, 75 industrial workers were discharged by the Forestry Commission in Wales under the redundancy procedure. One member of the supervisory forester grades was retired a year earlier than the retiring age traditionally accepted for these grades in the Commission. This retiring age is now being reduced by stages and the full effects of this policy will not become apparent until 1970–71. No information is available for the private sector.
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