§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) how much money the Forestry Commission(a) received from the sale of land and (b) spent on acquiring land in each financial year since 1980–81; and how much it is forecast to (i) receive and (ii) spend on the sale and acquisition of land in the current financial year; [2893]
(2) how many hectares of land were (a) bought and (b) sold by the Forestry Commission in each financial year since 1980–81; and how many are forecast to be (i) bought and (ii) sold for each region in Scotland and county in England and Wales in the current financial year. [2894]
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§ Mr. Kynoch[holding answer 13 November 1996]: The subjects of the questions relate to matters undertaken by Forest Enterprise. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. Gordon Cowie, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Gordon M. Cowie to Mr. Hugh Bayley, dated 21 November 1996:
The Secretary of State for Scotland has asked me to reply to your Questions about Forestry Commission acquisitions and disposals.I enclose at Annex A a list of disposal receipts for the sale of all types of Forestry Commission land and properties since 1981. including the forecast for 1996–97.I enclose at Annex B a list of the total monies spent on acquiring land and other interests from 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1996, together with the forecast for 1996–97. We only hold information on the total amount of money spent on the acquisition of land and other interests for the financial years 1986–87 onwards.I enclose at Annex C a list of the area of land acquired by the Forestry Commission each year since 1980–81. Annex D gives a similar list of the Commission's disposals.The Commission plans to sell 14,000 hectares of forest land in Britain in the current financial year. The proportion of this that will be sold in each region in Scotland and county in England and Wales will depend on the state of the market, particularly the demand for forest land in different parts of Britain.Acquisitions of land are to a large measure opportunistic, depending on the market, and again a forecast for each region or county is not possible.
Annex A: Sales of Forestry Commission properties (including woodland areas) by year: £ million Year ended 31 March Total receipts (£million) 1981 4.5 1982 6.9 1983 14.6 1984 23.6 1985 22.1 1986 17.0 1987 14.7 1988 13.1 1989 12.4 1990 13.0 1991 12.0 1992 14.5 1993 9.9 1994 17.4 1995 14.6 1996 120.0 1Forecast
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Annex B: Forestry Commission acquisitions of land and other interests by year: £ Year ended 31 March £ 1987 1,392,890 1988 1,101,895 1989 898,225 1990 161,001 1991 1,616,390 1992 1,123,541 1993 494,033 1994 493,901 1995 210,001 1996 111,371 1997 1200,000 1 Forecast.
Annex C: Forestry Commission acquisitions of land by year: hectares Year ended 31 March Hectares 1981 2,031 1982 5,064 1983 4,432 1984 2,870 1985 902 1986 1,189 1987 3,697 1988 1,718 1989 2,312 1990 505 1991 2,970 1992 1,920 1993 333 1994 379 1995 486 1996 29
Annex D: Sales of Forestry Commission properties (including woodland areas) by year: hectares Year ended 31 March All land (hectares) Forestry land (hectares) 1981 2,240 688 1982 10,423 2,347 1983 12,108 6,632 1984 44,570 16,507 1985 28,857 16.072 1986 16,573 8,314 1987 10, 956 6,186 1988 8,929 6,387 1989 7,675 4,328 1990 7,851 5,559 1991 7,428 4,770 1992 6,911 6,263 1993 10,589 6,827 1994 14,950 14,419 1995 10,808 10,014 1996 9.088 8,217