§ Mr. MartlewTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the amount spent in each of the last 10 years on supporting British forestry in both cash and real terms; what is his estimate of future costs; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Hector Monro[holding answer 8 March 1993]: The bulk of public funding for forestry is channelled through the Forestry Commission. Figures showing the Commission's total net expenditure for the past 10 years, and estimates for the next four years, are given in the table. These include the net cost of managing the commission's forests, the net cost of forestry research, and grants paid to private forest owners. They do not take account of the Government's support for forestry through tax relief, 716W which will no longer be available after the end of the current tax year, nor the income from disposals of Forestry Commission land.
Year ended 31 March Cash £ million Real £ (1992–93) million 1983 55.7 97.5 1984 56.8 94.7 1985 54.0 85.1 1986 51.4 77.3 1987 51.2 74.5 1988 48.1 66.3 1989 53.4 68.7 1990 58.2 70.4 1991 74.4 82.9 1992 76.5 79.8 1993 198 — 1994 194 — 1995 196 — 1996 196 — 1 Estimates.