Correspondence

eAlert: 10 May 2022 - annual grant deadlines

Published 16 May 2022

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

1. Are you making an England Woodland Creation Offer application and need some tips?

1.1 Read our blog and watch the webinar to help make sure your application is right first time!

It was great to have so many of our customers attend our England Woodland Creation Offer Application Tips webinar on 26 April 2022. We were able to help lots of customers with tips on how to confidently submit a complete EWCO application the first time around.

We have also published a blog covering all the application tips: Five tips to help you apply for the England Woodland Creation Offer. If you didn’t make it to the webinar - don’t worry you can view a recording of the event.

Thank you to everyone who attended!

2. Join our woodlands for water webinar

2.1 Discover how planting trees can help reduce flooding, improve water quality and support biodiversity.

• Tuesday, 14 June 2022
• 9.30am - 11.00am

To find out about the far-reaching benefits trees have for land, the environment and water book your place.

3. Annual Claim deadline for Forestry Commission grants

3.1 You have until 16 May 2022 to submit your claim.

If you need to claim your grant from us please submit your claim as soon as possible. We are accepting claims via email and post but encourage you to email your claim or to obtain proof of posting a claim.

If you think you might have problems meeting the deadline please contact your admin hub at the address below. This is also the place to email your claim form to:

• Bucks Horn Oak (this Hub generally covers the east of the country) adminhub.buckshornoak@forestrycommission.gov.uk
• Bullers Hill (this Hub generally covers the west of the country adminhub.bullershill@forestrycommission.gov.uk

If we receive your claim after 16 May 2022 payments will be reduced in value by 1% for each working day that the claim is received late. Claims received after 10 June 2022 will result in the total loss of that payment for the year.

4. Change to EWCO - NfC Social GIS Targeting and Scoring layer

4.1 Make sure your application is with us before 16 May.

We recently told you about a change to the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) layer used for targeting woodland creation and scoring applications for the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) for social benefits. This affects the eligibility of applications for the two social Additional Contributions (ACs): close to settlements and public access.

Applications received before 16 May 2022 which were eligible for these ACs before the layer changed will remain eligible for them. From 16 May 2022, only schemes that fall within the published layer will be eligible.

The EWCO - NfC Social layer can be viewed on the Forestry Commission’s Map Browser.

5. Don’t miss the closing date for the first round of Landscape Recovery Applications

5.1 Applications for Landscape Recovery projects will close at midnight on Tuesday 24 May.

Defra closed the window for questions on this round of Landscape Recovery on 26 April, but there is still time to submit an application. This is to give applicants enough time to digest all the published information and finalise their bids. You can view a list of all the questions and answers received about the scheme and applications by registering on Defra’s eSourcing Portal (Bravo).

For more information on how to apply, please see Defra’s recent blog post: Landscape Recovery: your questions answered. This includes a webinar, with details on the application process found at 15:40 on the recording, as well as other information on applying.

Defra will have representatives at The British Pig & Poultry Fair in Stoneleigh on 10 and 11 May, where they will be able to provide more information about the wider Defra offer.

6. Local Authority Treescapes Fund and Urban Tree Challenge Fund application deadline is coming up

6.1 Submit your applications before 31 May 2022.

The Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF) and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF) both close for applications at 23:59 on 31 May 2022. More information about each fund can be found on GOV.UK, this includes grant manuals and a frequently asked questions guide.

There are also case studies available for both funds providing real life examples of the benefits that each grant can deliver. The UTCF case study looks at planting carried out by Durham County Council, who have been successful in all three rounds of UTCF held to date.

7. Read our latest case study on woodland creation

7.1 Orchard Farm – a small woodland offering public access and woodfuel for the farm.

Find out how a small woodland has been planted at Orchard Farm to enhance the already established conservation habitats in the area. This scheme takes advantage of the additional contribution for public access for the community to enjoy, and will produce a small amount of sustainable woodfuel for the farm’s biomass boiler.

You can read other tree planting and woodland creation stories on our Tree planting and woodland creation case studies page on GOV.UK.

8. Bringing BPS payments forward

8.1 Farmers with eligible applications will receive half of their payment from the end of July, and the rest from December.

The price of agricultural commodities has always been closely correlated to energy prices and as we all know these have been sharply rising.

To help prevent increased pressure on cash flow in the short term, Defra have decided to change the way they make Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments.

BPS 2022 payments are going to be made in 2 installments. Farmers with eligible applications will receive half of their payment from the end of July, and the rest from December. Read more in Defra’s recent blog.

9. Would you like for find out how to capitalise on existing trees and woods on your farm?

9.1 Join the Woodland Trust for a free webinar.

Hear first hand from farmers and forestry experts how farm woodlands and trees can deliver for farming businesses. With appropriate management the woody assets on your farm can provide products, deliver environmental services and help tackle the climate and nature crisis.

Join live to listen and ask questions:

• Thursday 12 May 2022
• 5:00pm - 6:15pm

Register to attend.