Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on the future of the public forest estate and on ways of putting this on a sustainable footing for the future; and whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to achieve those policy objectives.

The Government's policy on the future of the Public Forest Estate is set out in its Forestry and Woodlands Policy Statement of January 2013. The Government is committed to maintaining the Public Forest Estate in public ownership and to establishing a new operationally-independent public body to manage the estate for the long-term benefit of people, nature and the economy.

There were many proposals competing for the limited space within the Fourth Session programme and the proposed forestry measures could not be accommodated. However, the Government stands by its commitment to establish the new public body as soon as parliamentary time allows.