Correspondence

eAlert: 11 February 2020 - Countryside Stewardship opens for applications

Published 11 February 2020

Applies to England

Today Countryside Stewardship opens for applications, its also a great time to update your details in the Rural Payments Service, read their blog to find out how, also Natural England has a new single point of contact. We have made improvements to the speed of our Felling Licence Online service, the Urban Tree Challenge Fund successful applicants are announced and we welcome our new Forestry Commission chair.

1. Countryside Stewardship is open for applications

Applications for 2021 agreements open today 11 February 2021.

Applicants to Countryside Stewardship (CS) higher tier can apply for application packs from 11 February. This will result in woodland improvement (WD2 and capital) schemes being implemented from January 2021. Application packs can be obtained until midnight on 31 March, they must be submitted by midnight on 1 May 2020. The RPA have put together all of the key dates for environmental schemes.

We encourage applicants to apply for packs online and to complete their applications as early as possible. All CS agreements confirmed by the end of 2020 will be funded for their full lifetime.

The Forestry Commission has agreed that woodlands are excluded from an annual extension to existing CS schemes that are due to end on 31 December 2020. Instead, applicants with agreements ending in December 2020 should submit new CS applications. If you need more advice contact your Woodland Officer.

Applications for Woodland Management Planning Grant, Woodland Creation Grant and Woodland Tree Health are available all year, but do allow plenty of time (at least 5 months to get your agreement for Woodland Creation). When submitting Woodland Management Plans they need to be submitted by 31 December in the year before an application for Woodland Improvement to ensure that they can be assessed and approved in time.

You can find out about all of the grants available for trees and woodland through Countryside Stewardship and other mechanisms, including the Woodland Carbon Guarantee in our grants and incentives overview table.

2. How to update your details in the Rural Payments Service

Read the RPA’s latest blog to find out why it’s important to keep your details up to date.

Keeping your contact details up to date means that the RPA can get in touch with you about important issues, you can update your detail or even give someone else permission to act on your behalf. Find out how in their latest blog.

3. Natural England has a new Single Point of Contact for enquiries

Find out how to get in touch with them.

On 10 February 2020 Natural England launched a single point of contact (SPoC) for any advice or activities on protected sites (SSSIs, SPA, SAC, Ramsar). This is part of a wider reform that Natural England is undertaking aimed at maintaining customer service standards whilst enabling greater focus on delivering environmental outcomes, and builds on the approach already in operation for planning applications and wildlife licences. Natural England staff will log your ‘query’, then pass it onto the relevant local staff for a response, and will ensure efficient tracking of the enquiry.

We, the Forestry Commission, are keen to ensure that Natural England continues to respond to protected sites queries quickly and effectively, so are helping to signpost the new email address mailbox which is ProtectedSites@naturalengland.org.uk. Enquiries sent to Natural England through other methods will be re-directed to this mailbox.

4. Felling Licence Online system improvements

The speed of Felling Licence Online has increased – find out what that means for you.

A number of system performance improvements and changes to Felling Licence Online were released by our Development Team in January. The main change is improved system speed where certain system processes take place such as when data is requested, sorted and loaded into a user screen. An increase in overall system performance and a significant reduction in all screen loading times should now be experienced.

Please have a look at our Felling Licence Online guide on GOV.UK for access to the system, supporting documents and up to date guidance. We will share updates with you in future eAlerts.

5. The first round of successful bidders are announced in the Urban Tree Challenge Fund

Across the country over 22,000 large trees and 28,000 small trees will be planted in urban areas.

We are pleased to announce that 13 projects in urban communities have been awarded funding in the first round of the Urban Tree Challenge Fund. You can read more about the successful applicants from across England in our press release.

The Urban Tree Challenge Fund is a £10 million scheme which will see 130,000 trees planted across England’s towns and cities. Those interested in applying when the second phase opens can submit an Expression of Interest form now to state their interest and receive the latest information before the fund opens for the year 2 application window.

6. Welcome to the new Chair of the Forestry Commission

Sir William Worsley appointed as Chair of the Forestry Commission.

Today Sir William Worsley takes up the position as Forestry Commission chair - you can read more about it in our press release.

He takes over from Sir Harry Studholme who reflects on his time in the role on our Blog - Forestry is about people.