Spelman Still Selling the Maximum Amount of Our Forests

Caroline Spelman

Previously we have discussed how Caroline Spelman planned to sell a large chunk of the forest estate and the huge backlash this evoked from the public  and how she backed down and admitted it was wrong.

However Spelman has recently admitted, while giving evidence to the Environment Select Committee, that the government is still planning the sale of 15% of our forests, which is the maximum amount they can currently sell without changing the law.

Also of important note is the proposed Public Bodies (Disposal of Assets)  Bill. In a previous post we discussed Clause 17 of this bill. This clause would allow secretary of state to sell 100% of our forests without consulting parliament. The government has removed the text of this bill from parliament.uk and our links from previous discusions have been redirected to the Public Bodies Bill [HL] which does not appear to contain Clause 17 of the proposed Public Bodies (Disposal of Assets)  Bill . If the Government is planning to sell off as much of our forests as they legally can after backing down and admitting it was wrong, we wonder are they still trying to quietly change the law so they can sell the rest too?