HL Deb 08 July 1985 vol 466 cc119-20WA
Lord Melchett

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will list, separately for England, Scotland and Wales, for each of the years 1940, 1945, 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980 and 1984:

  1. (i) The acreage of land planted with conifers owned or leased by the Forestry Commission; and
  2. (ii) the number of full-time employees of the Forestry Commission.

The Lord Advocate (Lord Cameron of Lochbroom)

(i) The areas of Forestry Commission land planted with conifers (including restocking) were as follows:

Year to England Wales Scotland Hectares Total
30.9.40 5,851 3,859 9,710
30.9.45 1,355 1,095 2,450
30.9.50 5,731 4,488 9,838 20,057
30.9.55 6,670 4,736 13,569 24,975
30.9.60 6,564 5,246 12,005 23,815
30.9.65 5,088 3,853 12,354 21,295
31.3.70 4,205 2,565 15,566 22,336
31.3.75 2,497 2,044 18,422 22,963
31.3.80 2,882 1,994 16,305 21,181
31.3.84 2,742 1,795 10,306 14,843

Separate figures are not available for England and Wales for the years 1940 and 1945.

The end of the Commission's reporting year changed from 30th September to 31st March in 1969.

(ii) Until comparatively recently, the Forestry Commission's employment records were maintained centrally only on a Great Britain basis and—except for 1980 and 1984—information cannot be provided on the numbers employed in each country in the years in question other than at disproportionate cost. The figures for 1980 and 1984 were as follows:

Year England Wales Scotland Total
1980 3,168 1,429 3,532 8,129
1984 2,642 1,098 3,096 6,836

The Commission's employment records on a Great Britain basis are incomplete for the years 1940, 1945 and 1950, but the total numbers employed in the subsequent years to 1975 were as follows:

  • 1955–15,576
  • 1960–14,387
  • 1965–13,612
  • 1970–10,104
  • 1975–8,304