GRJ0036

Written evidence submitted by BSW Timber Group

About BSW Timber Group

BSW Timber Group is the UK’s largest fully integrated forestry company, founded in 1848. In 2015, the Company acquired Tilhill Forestry, the UK's leading forestry management and timber harvesting and marketing company, and in August 2019 Maelor Nurseries, based in Whitchurch, Wales, joined the group. We have offices and sawmills across the UK, where we employ 1,200 people, as well as Latvia and Slovenia. In February 2020, the company was acquired by Endless LLP, a change that allowed BSW Timber Group to continue its growth and contribution to the rural economy, most recently through the acquisition of Dick Brothers Forestry Ltd. and then the Building and Supply Solutions division of SCA Wood UK.

BSW Timber’s current turnover is over £500 million, and the company is responsible for the production of over 30% of the UK’s softwood output. Our sawn timber products are mostly used for construction, pallet, packaging, DIY, fencing and gardens, while the co-products are also used for paper, panel board and energy markets. Even with a national and international reach, being part of and contributing to the local community is an important part of how BSW Timber operates. Wherever we are based, we are committed to providing good quality green jobs and training opportunities for young people.

Summary of questions for consultation

2. Does the UK workforce have the skills and capacity needed to deliver the green jobs required to meet our net zero target and other environmental ambitions (including in the 25-year environment plan)?

As a very specialised sector where location is also very relevant (most sector businesses are based in rural areas or in their proximity), in our work we constantly experience difficulties in finding the talent we need. As a result of this, we have developed a very proactive approach to skills and in-job training: we have a very good offering of certified training pathways for our employees and apprenticeships at all levels that help us attract young talent; we have also built very good collaborations with colleges to ensure the knowledge and skills of the relevant courses are and remain up-to-date and at a suitable level. Additionally, we also engage with local schools to raise awareness of the various opportunities in the sector.

Other green sectors, like offshore and onshore wind power, face similar problems but forestry and timber processing has become particularly good at taking the initiative to find ways attract, shape and retain the talent we need, perhaps as a result of the little attention generally paid to the sector. Even so, we believe that only the Government can provide the policy and services framework needed to enact the radical change that a green economy requires. There are many fronts on which the right policy can make a stark difference. First of all, an effective and well-funded National Careers Service that covers all sectors and increasingly focuses on exposing young people to green jobs will be a key tool to secure the skills needed for the Net Zero transition and educate the public about the less common sectors. A refresh of the apprenticeship policy -as well as clarity and consistency around the financial support available to apprentices- will also be needed to drive up numbers but also to give both more responsibility and flexibility to businesses to tailor programmes to their own needs. One other essential factor is better collaboration between the British and devolved governments on apprenticeships: as a business that operates across England, Scotland and Wales, we have often found ourselves in situations where lack of clarity around services and funding caused serious challenges for our “cross-border” apprentices. Finally, a more high-profile endorsement by policy-makers, including the Environmental Audit Committee’s members, of the importance of forestry and timber products in building a green recovery and a sustainable economy would make a significant change in how the sector is perceived.

3. What needs to be done to ensure that these skills and capacity are developed in time to meet our environmental targets?

Reports from the Institute for Financial Studies and the Resolution Foundation found that under-25s will be the worst hit by the COVID-19 crisis because of job losses in the hospitality and retail sectors and of a very difficult job market that won’t reward new entrants. For a viable and genuinely sustainable recovery, young people must be at the heart of Government efforts to rebuild the economy and drive up employment.

We argue that there should be a Government-led funding programme for green infrastructure (the creation and sustainable management of green spaces, new woodland) along the lines of the rumoured plans for big investment in infrastructure schemes. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation even launched the Sustainable Wood for a Sustainable World[1] initiative to highlight the contribution of sustainable forestry and its wider supply chain to creating resilient, climate change-proof employment opportunities and to combating poverty. A major tree-planting drive would offer employment and training for many young people in rural areas of the country, which are often very reliant on tourism and will certainly experience job losses in the hospitality sector as a consequence of the virus crisis.

Large-scale investment and the appropriate policy-framework for afforestation will also have the secondary -but just as important- benefit of providing a stable future for the forestry and timber products sector. As it normally faces difficulties in finding the necessary talent, the industry generally provides well-paid jobs that come with many opportunities for in-work training and professional growth, thereby ensuring a workforce that is always up to date with the latest health and safety procedures and have the skills to adapt to the latest technological advancements. But the return on this investment goes even further. A reliable supply of timber products would also fuel real change in the building industry and drive innovation, thereby creating new highly skilled jobs, from engineering to advanced manufacturing, from forest management to clean energy production (at the end of its life cycle, construction timber can become biomass for energy production). The APPG for Timber Industries estimated that this kind of green policies would result in 195,000 new skilled construction workers by 2026[2].

5. What risks are there to meeting the Government’s ambitions for green job creation in both the public and private sectors? What should the Government do to create the conditions to ensure its commitments are met by both sectors? / 11. How can the UK ensure high emissions are not locked-in when tackling unemployment?

The unique combination of the economic uncertainty we have experienced since the beginning of the epidemic and the climate emergency we are facing make a systemic change across all sectors not only essential but also possible, given the radical transformation of our lives in the last 10 months. A mix of investment and integrated, interlinked policies that support the transition to a sustainable economy are now needed to address the issues emerging from epidemic (inequality, unemployment, contracting economy) and -most importantly- to build back better.

The biggest challenge to the UK meeting its environmental targets and having a green recovery from the current epidemic is the lack of a truly comprehensive strategy that encompasses all sectors of the economy and sets cross-departmental policies. Without this, short-term and inadequate solutions will be implemented that, while perhaps temporarily driving down unemployment, might replicate the unsustainable high-carbon system and, ultimately, still result in job losses further down the line.

Over the last few years, the British Government has made great progress on the environmental and climate agenda, starting with the landmark 25-Year Environment Plan and the commitment to improve the environment within a generation; the commitment to a green recovery is also very promising. However, it still seems that there are many gaps in policy that hamper efforts in the public and private sectors to achieve the set ambitions. A crucial example of this comes from the forestry and timber processing sector in which we operate. Despite commitments to drastically increase tree-planting and stimulate a green recovery, most policies and interventions from ministers mostly ignore the huge contribution this processing sector can make to decarbonise the economy and support green jobs now and in the future.

In the Westminster Hall debate about the National Tree Planting Strategy on 16 December 2020, there was only one -hurried- mention of “timber” and “all kinds of opportunities it offers” by the responding Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. Tree-planting should not just be about that but also about all the positive effects it would trigger: very valuable green jobs spread evenly and fairly across the country, enriched rural communities, and low-carbon, healthier and more energy efficient buildings. When faced, as we are, with a climate emergency and an ailing economy, there is no room for disjointed policy making. We would like to see the Government establish an overarching Net Zero strategy that links all policies about economy, health, transport, education and the environment and provides a stable policy and regulatory framework upon which businesses can base their decisions and plans.

7. How can the UK ensure jobs are created in areas most impacted by the transition to a low-carbon economy?

As a business that operates in rural areas, we are fully appreciative of the vast differences in needs, challenges and opportunities each community is faced with. Some areas, like parts of Wales and the North East of England, will be more vulnerable to potential job losses deriving from the transition to Net Zero, but also have specific local characteristics that give them a natural advantage. For example, public and private investment in a project like the Northern Forest, 50 million new trees planted between Liverpool to Hull, will deliver social and health benefits, but also will create many new employment opportunities linked to timber supply, tourism, and outdoor activities. This is why we are supportive of local and combined authorities to play a leading role in the green recovery. Because of this, we strongly believe that consultation between policy-makers and local communities is the essential ingredient to the success of any scheme and strategy. The national government has the financial and organisational ability to coordinate the effort for a green recovery, but only the local authorities and communities have the knowledge and connections necessary to deliver it on the ground.

8. What additional interventions should be undertaken to aid in a ‘just transition’?

With over 50% of the UK’s emissions coming from the built environment, it is imperative that, as we move forward from the COVID-19 crisis, legislators look at buildings as a whole when determining their carbon footprint. This will drive the adoption of low carbon materials and new, low-waste and higher-efficiency construction methods; it will also increase the demand for a workforce with the appropriate skills, thereby fuelling the creation of green jobs across a swathe of sectors.

The Government’s support for retrofitting the existing housing stock to improve energy efficiency is certainly a step in the right direction, both in term of decarbonisation and of creation of green jobs. However, further policies will be needed to drive far-reaching change to deliver a green recovery, for example, a lower VAT rate for timber construction products, a clear strategy to increase productive woodland, and a binding requirement for timber to become -where appropriate- the primary building material for public projects.

Ultimately, however, a clear strategy to invest and support a “green stimulus” through policies is the only way to make a lasting difference. If businesses are confident of the government’s intentions to “build back better” by making the necessary changes to regulations, policy and public funding schemes, then it will be easier to plan for the future by adapting and driving positive change further. The green recovery will depend not so much on the short-term support but on the policies and funding that will be designed to support it.

January 2021