Estates Standards Restocking Survey 2024

Overview

Firstly, we would like to thank everyone in place who has collaborated with us and Maelor through a difficult planting season. Despite the challenges faced we have delivered our restock programme for year 2. We would very much like to factor your feedback into our thinking and will be presenting some thoughts to the Land Management Business Group in June. Gavin Bown sits on this. Your team’s responses to this survey may be included as background evidence. Standards Team have provided a range of activities during this year’s planting season. This includes:-

· supplying clear and prompt instructions to place on the back of finance instructions and changes from Executive Team (ET).

· communicating the real situation on the ground to ET level to ensure implications for planting are understood (e.g., how a stop on PO’s can result in plants we must pay for which will not be able to be used on our Estate) and the impact of this decision is understood.

· on site team-based training for Place with Future Forestry

· regular updates at Restock Co-ordinators monthly meetings, including Power BI tool and data showing progress (expenditure and plants delivered) through the season. NB these same stats are shared with Land & Asset Managers and appear as a standing agenda item at monthly Land Management Group meetings.

· responding to queries and questions raised from place on a Wales wide basis.

· managing an Issues Log for issues with Maelor performance to address concerns/issues promptly and supplying prompt feedback.

· monitoring expenditure with Finance colleagues – developing Power BI to check by place.

· contract management in line with current NRW Policy

· implementing Wales-wide workable solutions to the issues raised including:-

o plant availability,

o cut in budget allocation,

o NRW stop on raising POs for Contractors/Orders imposed by ET during Qu 3 of FY 23-24,

o plant swapping.

Purpose

The purpose of this survey is to capture the experiences of place-based colleagues during Year 2 of Maelor Contract in a constructive and helpful way to bring about positive improvements for next planting season (Year 3) and beyond for all involved in delivery.

We are open to your comments and ideas about what worked well and what needs more resource/thought to ensure lessons learnt and best practices put in place for future. It is an opportunity for the Standards Team to consider and make any improvements to manage the contract effectively to ensure it meets the current and future needs of NRW.

Context

Please consider your responses to the survey as a whole team, it would be helpful if responses to questions were to be as constructive as possible and represent the views of your team members. However, any issues which you have relating directly to Maelor’s performance should be recorded as normal so we can factor this into our contract management with Maelor.

We are not therefore seeking feedback on Maelor’ s performance via this survey.

We are here to listen and help you successfully deliver your programmes in a changing financial environment in the years ahead for NRW. Any thoughts or ideas you may have had this year to help improve would be welcomed.

Contact

If you have any questions prior to or during completing the survey, then please do not hesitate to contact carol.owen@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk or via teams.