Guidance

Claims guidance for existing LATF grant holders

Updated 8 January 2026

Applies to England

This guide is for existing grant holders of the Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF). This fund is closed to new applicants.

Conditions of payments 

You should attempt to replant failed trees wherever practicable and proportionate to do so and must ensure a minimum survival rate of 75% of planted trees by the end of the maintenance period. Losses greater than this will be subject to the Forestry Commission’s Performance Improvement Plan.  

Replacements are expected to be funded by the local authority and planting must be carried out satisfactorily to receive future maintenance payments. The local authority may choose to plant a higher number of trees at the outset, to offset expected natural losses, or else undertake compensation planting in the second or third planting season (during the maintenance period).  

Trees lost due to exceptional circumstances, at our discretion, may be offered the opportunity to apply for LATF Extraordinary Payments for Replanting in Exceptional Circumstances (EPREC). Where agreed, LATF EPREC will pay a standard cost to supply and plant trees to replace those lost due to exceptionally hot and dry weather. 

Planting deferrals

If you have approval to defer 2024-25 planting into 2025-26, you will need to refer to your formal amendment letter for your revised claim schedule. 50% of the funding for planting that year will be provided up front following submission of your pre-planting claim. We will provide the remaining 50% upon receipt of the post-planting report (PPR). This will apply for planting work completed in 2025-26. 

The lead local authority must submit the PPR for our review. If the final planting within the post-planting report differs from the activity outlined in your application and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the instalment could be adjusted downward. You must complete all capital work (planting and/or establishing conditions for natural colonisation) and submit the associated claims by 31 March 2026.

Maintenance payments will be made at the end of each financial year of the maintenance period of your agreement. This is subject to satisfactory evidence for the maintenance work completed. The payment schedule and further details of the activity schedule are detailed in the LATF grant determination letter, which is offered to all local authorities selected for funding. You must submit your claim before 31 March of the financial year scheduled.

Contingencies and any costs related to inflation are borne by the applicant local authority. 

All detailed requirements are provided in the LATF claim forms page, where you can also find PPR guidance.

How to claim 

Pre-planting claims (1 and 3)

An LATF claim form for claim 1 (pre-planting) and a claim declaration form will be sent to you with your offer of funding and can also be found on the LATF claim forms page. This is the claim for the 50% upfront payment for planned planting/natural colonisation work in year 1 of your agreement.

You must sign and complete these forms and email them to LATF@forestrycommission.gov.uk along with your signed MoU and acceptance of offer form. If you have a 2-year planting agreement, you must submit a further pre-planting claim (claim 3) in year 2.

Post-planting claims (2 and 4)

Complete all capital works, submit a PPR and claim up to 50% of the remaining planting/natural recolonisation work before 11.59pm on 31 March of the financial year of planting. This will be claim 2 for year 1 planting and claim 4 for year 2 planting.

Read the PPR guidance on how to complete the PPR and claim form.

To ensure prompt payment of your claim, you should provide suitable evidence of all completed planting as part of your PPR and claim at the end of the financial year that planting takes place.

You must provide grid references/maps for all planting locations.

You must also provide photographs for 10% of your planting sites (you can select which sites). The reduced requirement for photos is in place for 2024-25 claims onward only. Photographs can be taken of individual trees where these are not close to others but can also be taken of groups of trees where many can be included in one shot. The photographs must be representative of planting in each location. 

We recommend recording this evidence at the time of planting.

The following map is an example of supporting evidence provided by a previous applicant as part of their PPR submission. It combines a precise location, species and photograph. Evidence of this quality enables us to process a claim with minimal delay.

An example 1:2:500 scale street map showing trees and site boundaries. Reproduced with permission from Cambridgeshire County Council.

Maintenance claims

The importance of maintenance for planted trees is reflected in the annual reporting requirements year 2 to 4 (and year 5 for 2-year planting agreements). 

You can submit your maintenance claim from 1 October following maintenance activities in the first growing season after planting and in the financial year stated in the agreement payment profile. For example, trees planted between October 2024 and April 2025 will have their first growing season April to September 2025. Annual claims for maintenance can then be submitted between:

• 1 October 2025 and 31 March 2026
• 1 October 2026 and 31 March 2027 
• 1 October 2027 and 31 March 2028 (where these are scheduled in your grant determination letter)

A review of evidence from each local authority will take place during the maintenance claims approval process.

New form for 2025-26 claims: ‘maintenance claim declaration form’

For financial years 2025-26 onwards, you will need to complete and submit an LATF maintenance claim declaration form, available on the LATF claim forms page.

This form replaces 2 forms: the Excel ’maintenance claim form’ and the ‘non-RDPE claims declaration form’.

This is for maintenance claims only. You still need to complete the non-RDPE claims declaration form for pre- and post-planting claims.

If you have already submitted the Excel maintenance claim form for 2025-26, you do not need to resubmit your claim.

By signing the LATF maintenance claims declaration form you are confirming that you want to claim the maintenance payment amount awarded in your ‘agreement grant determination letter’ (or subsequent ‘amendment letter’). 

A signed declaration form also confirms that you have achieved the minimum 75% survival rate at all sites in the agreement.

Claiming less than the full maintenance payment

If you’re not claiming for the full maintenance payment amount due on your claim schedule, because of either an underspend or not achieving the 75% survival rate, follow the relevant procedure:

Underspend

Download the LATF maintenance claim form (Excel) and enter the number of trees planted and claimed in your PPR and the new lower cost per tree that you want to claim for. 

You can enter an average cost per tree if you have spent less on some than others. For example, if one of your delivery partners has used volunteers for maintenance but you had applied for money for contractors. 

Submit this claim form with a standard claims declaration form (non-RDPE) by midnight of 31 March of the financial year in which the claim is due. 

Less than 75% survival rates

Where some of your sites have not achieved the minimum 75% survival rate, consider if your scheme is eligible to invoke the force majeure clause of your MoU.

Read more about invoking the force majeure clause.

If your force majeure application is successful, sites not achieving 75% survival can be removed from your agreement obligations and you can make a reduced claim.

Claiming in-house maintenance activities

While the LATF cannot fund the time of in-house project co-ordination, it can fund in-house maintenance activities in cases where a contractor is not used. If in-house maintenance resource is used, evidence should be kept of hours worked and hourly rate, should this be requested. Labour involved in planting and maintaining trees is classed as capital expenditure and is factored into our standard tree costs at application stage (project cost calculator).

Final maintenance claims and beat-up survey

In the final maintenance year (years 4 and 5 for year 1 and year 2 trees respectively if you have a 2-year agreement) you need to conduct and submit a beat-up survey.

The beat-up survey evidences that each area of planting has been surveyed to make sure the success rate meets the required minimum 75%. This enables the final maintenance payment for the relevant trees.

The final maintenance claim includes both third and fourth maintenance claims, if applicable, to 2-year planting agreements.

Read the beat-up survey guidance before completing the survey form.

Download the beat-up survey form from the LATF claim forms page during the final growing season. You should complete the survey during your maintenance rounds.

If restocking is required (where the beat-up survey reveals <75% survival rate at one or more sites), trees should match those lost (for example, standards, whips or feathers) and should be in the same location. It is not necessary to restock up to 100%. Read more about restocking in the beat-up survey guide.

If natural colonisation forms part of the agreement, this should also be assessed as part of the beat-up survey. If there is no evidence of regeneration, the reason should be investigated and remedied (where applicable) before the end of the agreement period. This is also captured on the form.

Final maintenance claims for round 1 and 2

The lead local authority should:

• complete the beat-up survey during the 2025 growing season, and then plant any replacements needed to ensure that the 75% survival rate is achieved in the winter planting season (and before the claim is submitted by 31 March)
• submit one beat-up survey with your final maintenance claim, which includes all trees planted and claimed in your 2022-23 post-planting report

We can only accept one beat-up survey per final maintenance claim.

Claims due in 2025-26 will not be paid if they are submitted after 31 March 2026.

How to submit your LATF claim

Complete the relevant forms:

• pre-planting claims: LATF pre-planting claim form and a signed non-RDPE claims declaration form
• post-planting claims: LATF post-planting report claim form and a signed non-RDPE claims declaration form – read the post-planting report guide
• maintenance claims: LATF maintenance claim declaration form – read more on final maintenance claims
• final maintenance claims: LATF maintenance claim declaration form and a beat-up survey form – read the beat-up survey guidance

All forms are available on the LATF forms page.

Email completed LATF forms and supporting evidence to LATF@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

Claims deadlines

The deadline for submitting LATF claims each financial year is 31 March. Claims must be submitted by the end of the financial year in which they are scheduled according to your grant determination letter (or subsequent amendment letter if applicable).

Claims will not be paid if they are submitted after the deadline.

Maintenance claims deadlines (all rounds)

You must submit maintenance claims between 1 October 2025 and midnight on 31 March 2026. We cannot accept maintenance claims submitted before 1 October of the financial year in which they are due.

Final maintenance claims deadlines (round 1 and 2)

Submit round 1 final maintenance claims (for year 2 trees) and round 2 final maintenance claims (for year 1 trees) by 31 March 2026.

Inspections  

In each year during the agreement period, planting on both public and private land will be subject to random or at-risk on-site inspection by the Forestry Commission. The local authority will be given 48 hours’ notice prior to any inspection and are required to provide access to our staff. 

A representative of the local authority need not be present at the time of inspection, but the nominated and named agreement holder/lead applicant on behalf of the lead local authority (or their confirmed agent) must sign the Forestry Commission’s subsequent inspection report to confirm that they understand the inspection outcome. 

Inspections may look for evidence of defrayal, necessary consents, licences and permissions (in particular, that they were in place prior to planting). It may also look for evidence that the grant-funded works have been undertaken in accordance with the MoU and published prescriptions, and to an acceptable standard.

Contact us

If you need further help from the Forestry Commission, email LATF@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

Find out how to make a complaint or appeal.