Forestry Commission to slash at least 400 jobs - 150 of them in Scotland

AT LEAST 400 jobs are to be cut at the Forestry Commission in Scotland and England, it was announced yesterday.

Between 100 and 150 jobs will go at the organisation's corporate offices in Edinburgh over the next four years. Another 300 jobs will be cut in England.

The losses come as a result of cuts to the commission's budget of 26 per cent between now and 2015, and staff were told this morning in a series of meetings, a spokesman said.

The Forestry Commission spokesman said: "We are talking around 300 posts in England and there will be at least 100 at the Great Britain office, based in Edinburgh. This could rise to 150 depending on the outcome of the changes in England."

The spokesman said the organisation expected a mixture of voluntary redundancies and retirements, but did not rule out compulsory redundancies.

Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "These job cuts will decimate the Forestry Commission, where many staff have spent their entire careers.

"For many there is no prospect of picking up other work, because the economy is in such a poor state. The private sector jobs that the coalition spoke about have not materialised.

"These job losses will hit industries and services allied to forestry, have a severe impact on small communities and affect tourism and other services to the 40 million visitors a year to the forests."

Mr Serwotka added: "The only way to protect staff and avoid the wider impact on jobs and economies from the attack on the forests is to have a properly-resourced Forestry Commission to directly own and run the public forest estate."