# The Regulatory Reform (Forestry) Order 2006, Note: Explanatory note

Extent: E+W+S+NI

(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order is made under section 1 of the Regulatory Reform Act 2001. It amends the Forestry Act 1967 (“the Act”) and the Countryside Act 1968 (“the 1968 Act”) by removing restrictions on powers of the Forestry Commissioners (“the Commissioners”).
The Order removes restrictions on the powers of the Commissioners to form or participate in bodies corporate or charitable trusts for the purpose of exercising functions relating to land in England and Wales (article 2 and article 6(3)), to exploit intellectual property arising from forestry research (article 3) and to take action to secure restocking following felling on land in England and Wales (articles 4 and 5). It also permits the Commissioners to delegate their power to charge for facilities provided on land placed at their disposal, in England, by the Secretary of State or, in Wales, by the National Assembly for Wales (article 6).
Articles 2 and 6(3) provide the Commissioners with incidental powers to form and, subject to Treasury approval, invest in bodies corporate, to make loans (also subject to Treasury approval), to establish charitable trusts and to act (and to appoint persons to act) as officers of bodies corporate or as trustees of charitable trusts for the purpose of their functions under the Act or under the 1968 Act so far as relating to land in England and Wales.
Section 8(b) of the Act contains the Commissioners' powers, amongst other things, to carry out experiments and research. Article 3 amends section 8 to permit the Commissioners to exploit intellectual property arising from research carried out by the Commissioners or which they have aided in carrying out.
Section 17A of the Act gives the Commissioners power to serve a restocking notice on a person who has been convicted of the offence of felling without a licence under section 17 of the Act. Article 4 amends this power to allow the Commissioners to serve a restocking notice on any person who appears to them to have committed an offence in England and Wales under section 17. The notice remains subject to the appeal provisions in section 17B of the Act.
Section 24 of the Act permits the Commissioners to serve an enforcement notice on “the person responsible”, which is defined in section 24(2) as the owner of the land (“owner” is defined in section 34 of the Act), to require him to comply with the conditions of a felling licence or (as applied by section 17C) with works required by a restocking notice. Where the land to which a felling licence relates is in England and Wales, article 5 redefines “the person responsible” as the applicant for the licence if that person still has an interest in the land (being the same interest as that which a person is required to have before he can apply for a felling licence). In all other cases “the person responsible” is the owner of the land. By virtue of the amendment to section 17C made by article 5(4), the same provisions that apply to an applicant for a felling licence apply to a person served with a restocking notice.
Section 23(2) of the 1968 Act allows the Commissioners to provide or arrange for or assist in the provision of facilities for tourism, recreation or sport on land placed at their disposal, in England, by the Secretary of State, and, in Wales, by the National Assembly for Wales, and to charge in connection with those facilities. Article 6 amends section 23(2) to permit the Commissioners to delegate their power to charge and makes any arrangements entered into between the Commissioners and another person under section 23(2) that provide for the sharing of profit subject to Treasury approval.
A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Forestry Commission, 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 7AT.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/780/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/regulatory-reform-forestry-order-2006/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.