Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:55 pm on 13 July 2021.
Thank you very much, and that's an inspired idea of, 'Plant a tree in 2023 and another in 2024'. I will shamelessly take that off you, I think, Mike Hedges—I think that's brilliant. I will take that away and work up something. Thank you very, very much; that's an excellent suggestion.
In terms of a forestry commission-type body, perhaps I was too coded in my response, but I did say looking at the Irish example that we will need to learn from a body that adds value across the whole supply chain. They not only have far higher rates of tree planting than we do, but they've got a much better system for monetising that, and using it for economic advantage and generating local wealth from it. And I think we need to look at that, too.
One of the things I think we need to think about—and I didn't want to do this in this short, sharp exercise, because we can't be flippant about it—but to look at where the best set of functions lie in this, and whether NRW is the right body. I think we have set them up to stumble and fail sometimes by asking them to be both the regulator and the promoter, and I think that is extremely difficult for any body to do. As I say, they're often criticised for how slow and bureaucratic it is, but they are doing things we've asked them to do, and part of what this function through this exercise is is to take some of that off them, to make it easier for them so that they're not always getting it in the neck, but to put their effort into doing things that are going to help, which is what they want to do, to be fair. But I think there is an open question about what is the right body to do that co-ordinating function. It may not be NRW, but I want to reach that conclusion thoughtfully and patiently.