Guidance

LATF beat-up survey guidance

Updated 8 January 2026

Applies to England

You need to complete the beat-up survey form when making a final maintenance claim under the Local Authority Treescapes Fund (LATF).

Refer to the LATF claims guidance for more information on what else to submit.

We can only accept one beat-up survey and claim form per final maintenance claim from each agreement holder (lead local authority). If you have multiple delivery partners (for example lower-tier local authorities) you should collate their returns into a single beat-up survey form to submit with your maintenance claim.

Introduction

As part of your LATF agreement, a beat-up survey is required to assess the number of trees surviving at the end of the maintenance period (3 years following planting) and determine which sites fall below the required minimum 75% survival rate.

For sites that fall below the 75% minimum survival rate threshold, you must determine how many trees you will need to plant in the final winter planting season (October to March) and then undertake this work by 31 March.

The form helps you plan which sites need restocking, and record when this is completed. 

A completed beat-up survey is required to enable the final maintenance payment for the relevant trees. Follow one of the 3 example scenarios:

Round 1 agreement (2021-22) for 2 years of planting

Your final maintenance claim and beat-up survey is due by 31 March 2026 for your Year 2 trees only.

Round 2 agreement (2022-23) for 1 year of planting

Your single, final maintenance claim and beat-up survey is due by 31 March 2026 for all LATF-funded work.

Round 2 agreement (2022-23) for 2 years of planting

Your final maintenance payment for year 1 trees (planted 2022-23) is due by 31 March 2026 (as part of a maintenance claim covering both year 1 and 2 trees) and for the year 2 trees (only) by 31 March 2027. Submit a beat-up survey for year 1 trees by 31 March 2026 and for year 2 trees the following financial year.

Refer to your post-planting reports (PPRs)

The PPRs that were submitted for the relevant year of trees should be used to inform each beat-up survey (original number/type of trees planted and where):

• year 1 trees in their final maintenance year: use the year 1 PPR (submitted with claim 2)
• year 2 trees: use the year 2 PPR (claim 4)

During the summer of the final maintenance year for your LATF-funded trees, download the latest LATF beat-up survey form spreadsheet from the LATF claims page. Or email us to request the form at LATF@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

Your beat-up survey should align with the sites listed in your PPR. This may be for either Year 1 or Year 2 planting, depending on the stage of your agreement in this financial year.

Summary of actions to take in the final maintenance year 

1. Carry out a beat-up survey during your final summer maintenance rounds for each site (sites should match those listed in the relevant PPR).

2. Complete part 1 of the beat-up form and use this to populate the left-hand side of part 2 (restocking) and part 3 (natural colonisation remedial work) by 1 October. This is to inform the work that needs to be done to achieve a minimum 75% survival rate per site for LATF-funded trees and allow for this work to be completed by 31 March. You do not need to send us the form at this point.

3. Complete restocking and/or natural colonisation remedial work during the winter planting season and take photos of the remedial work you complete. 

4. Complete the right-hand sides of parts 2 and 3 and the declarations in part 4 by 31 March. Ensure you check and sign the declarations in part 4 (this should be the lead applicant or signatory used for previous claims/acceptance of offer). 

5. Ensure that your beat-up survey spreadsheet is accompanied by photos and maps, where relevant (as detailed later in this guidance). 

6. Submit the completed spreadsheet by 31 March of the financial year that the final maintenance payment for these trees is due (or the third year of the maintenance period following planting where no maintenance payment is scheduled). Follow the guidance for existing LATF grant holders for advice on how to make your final maintenance claim.

Part 1: beat-up survey 

To help complete the beat-up survey, you should open the PPR submitted with your claim 2 (or claim 4 if assessing planting from Year 2 of a 2-year agreement). The beat-up survey should be carried out in the final summer maintenance rounds while the trees are in leaf (recommended to be completed by 1 October) 

Instructions can be found in the grey box at the top of the tab. Enter the lead local authority name, LATF agreement reference (only one agreement should be detailed per spreadsheet) and choose the relevant planting year that the beat-up relates to. Enter the date the survey is fully completed once this has been done. 

In the main table, list the sites named in the relevant PPR (‘Planting and NC Locations’ tab). Complete the row for each site as follows, for both planting and natural colonisation (NC) sites as applicable. 

Planted sites 

Complete the row for each site, including grid reference, number of LATF-funded trees planted (from the PPR) and number of LATF-funded trees that have not survived (determined during the beat-up survey).

Where groups of 50 or more whips have been planted, you can estimate a survival rate and manually enter a % instead of entering numbers of trees lost. This will generate a number of trees in a hidden column that is used to calculate % survival rate overall. Leave blank any columns relating to NC. 

Natural colonisation sites 

For NC sites, leave blank all columns relating to LATF-funded planted trees. Enter the number of NC trees that have established (approximate if large numbers are evident). If this is 0 enter ‘Y’ for site requires inspection to determine remedial work. If there is clear evidence of trees establishing by NC, enter ‘N’ to inspection required. 

Survival rates and restocking/remedial work 

The tab will calculate the survival rate per planted site, and where this falls below 75% it will automatically flag that the site requires restocking (‘Y’). NC sites with 0 saplings should be flagged manually as requiring inspection (enter ‘Y’). 

Photographic requirements 

You should take and store photo evidence of each site to show the extent of survival by the end of the agreement period.

You only need to submit this with your claim if you did remedial work to achieve 75% survival.

Part 2: restocking of planted sites 

Complete this tab for all planting sites that have been identified in Part 1 as requiring restocking. Instructions can be found in the grey guidance box at the top of the tab. Do not use this tab for NC sites. 

Restocking plans should be entered following completion of the beat-up survey (ideally by 1 October) to enable sufficient time to restock (if needed) during the winter planting season. Restocking should be done to achieve a minimum 75% survival rate of the LATF-funded trees originally planted and you do not need to restock up to 100% of these.

Sites that do not meet the 75% survival rate by the end of their maintenance period will be removed from the final maintenance payment.

Replacement tree stock should be direct replacements of trees funded in this LATF agreement and should be done on a like-for-like basis, for example, replace failed standards with standards. 

If no restocking is required (all sites have achieved a minimum 75% survival rate), and the agreement does not involve NC, move to Part 4 to sign the declarations.

Before 1 October (left hand section)

Using the information in part 1, part 2 will draw across sites that require restocking (planted sites only). It will also automatically generate the minimum number of trees that need to be restocked to achieve 75% survival rate.

Manually enter the number of whips, feathers and/or standards you will plant. You should restock like for like, for example, replace failed standards with standards. 

Between 1 October and 31 March (right hand section)

Carry out your restocking work during the winter planting season and complete this part once this has been done. This will calculate the updated survival rate.  

You should provide a photograph per restocked site clearly evidencing the work undertaken (named by site). Suggested naming conventions can be seen on the example entry, for example, ‘photo 3 Redbridge Lane Restocking’.

Ensure photo names match each site/entry on the Excel spreadsheet. 

If the restocking work is undertaken at a different location due to the original location being a factor in failure, provide maps to show where the restocking has taken place.

As for your PPR, include a grid reference and plot either individual trees or the boundary of groups of trees. A photo can be embedded on the map if this is feasible. Suggested naming conventions can be seen on the example entry. You do not need to send maps for planting sites that remain in the same location.  

Once restocking or remedial work is completed, complete and sign the declaration part of the beat-up survey form.

Part 3: natural colonisation failure intervention 

Complete this tab for all NC sites that have been identified in part 1 as having no evidence of new tree growth. You will need to determine remedial work to remove barriers to this. Instructions can be found in the grey guidance box at the top of the tab. Do not use this tab for planting sites. 

Before 1 October (left hand section)

The names of the sites where no evidence of successful NC is evident (NC sites only) is automatically drawn from part 1 to part 3. Enter the reason for NC failure and the potential remedial work required.

Between 1 October and 31 March (right hand section) 

Complete this part once you have carried out your remedial work.

Provide a photograph per remediated site clearly evidencing the remedial work undertaken (named by site). See the suggested naming conventions on the example entry, for example, ‘Brook Road Park – NC remedial work photo’. 

Ensure photo names match each site/entry on the Excel spreadsheet.  

If the remedial work is undertaken at a different location due to the original location being a factor in failure, enter ‘Y’ in the ‘Site Relocated?’ column and provide map(s) to show where the remedial work has taken place.

Enter the name of the map in the ‘Map provided’ column, for example ‘Brook Road Park – NC remedial work map’.  You do not need to send maps for sites that remain in the same location.

Part 4: declarations 

In the declaration tab, tick all boxes and sign your name and date to confirm you understand all items and activities recorded in the document to be accurate and have provided all necessary additional evidence before proceeding. 

If you are due a final maintenance payment, complete a maintenance claim declaration form. 

Supporting evidence 

Mapping 

If any of your restocked planting sites are in a different location to those submitted in your original PPR, you need to send a new map for these sites with your beat-up submission.

You do not need to send maps for sites that have not changed.

Creating maps

You can use either:

• a Geographic Information System (GIS) map
• your own map if it meets the standards listed
• a base map (OS MasterMap®) requested through our map request service

If you use our map service, we supply a blank base map for you to mark up by hand to show your proposal. We supply maps by post or email. You should request this as early as possible.

We do not accept screenshots from internet map browsers, such as Google Maps as base maps. 

Your map should comply with the following standards: 

• maps must be based on a scale of 1:2,500 or 1:5,000 (or smaller if 8 figure grid references are provided for individual trees)

• maps must show all the land on which the LATF planting/NC has been undertaken 

• the boundary of the site must be clearly marked by a coloured line 

• the location of the proposed work must be shown and either marked with a shaded/hatched area with the number of trees planted in the area listed next to each location, or each tree plotted individually if software allows

• the site name (as detailed on the beat-up form) must be shown 

• include a minimum 6 figure Ordnance Survey grid reference for the centre of the map (on the map) 

• the map number and the total number of maps (for example, ‘1 of 3’) must be visible 

Photographic evidence 

For 2025-26 final maintenance claims onwards, you only need to submit photographs for restocked planting sites and remediated NC sites. They should clearly demonstrate the extent of remedial work undertaken to ensure 75% survival by the end of the maintenance period. For example, more than one photograph may be needed where the work exceeds the frame or is not clearly evident from a single photograph.

Single photos of each individual tree are not required. This will be more practical for larger-scale planting of feathers and whips, and may reduce the number of photos needed for standards if, for example, they are planted along a street and can all be identified and photographed from one angle. 

You do not need to submit photos for sites where no restocking or remedial work took place. This is a change to guidance from previous claim years.

Labelling photographs 

Label photographs with the OS national grid reference and planting site name or ID used in the beat-up form. Give the LATF agreement reference and the date. If you are sending more than one image, also include the image number. 

Photographic evidence quality 

Requirements apply equally to digital photographs or those supplied as paper photographs. All photographs must meet the following standards: 

• photographs must be in focus and clearly show the relevant capital item or environmental feature
• images sent by email must be in JPEG format
• digital images should not be smaller than 600 x 400 pixels and ideally the image file size no larger than 400KB
• printed photographs must be no smaller than 15cm x 10cm
• where possible, include a significant feature to provide authenticity (for example, building, road, pathway)

Final checks and what to send

Email the following to LATF@forestrycommission.gov.uk:

• the beat-up survey spreadsheet
• a zip file with photographs of remedial work, where applicable include maps for any new locations
• your final maintenance claim (LATF maintenance claim declaration form)
• include your LATF reference number in your email
• quote “final maintenance claim submission” in the subject line and body of your email

You must submit the beat-up survey spreadsheet by 31 March of the third and final maintenance year of the agreement for the trees it applies to. For example, a 2 year planting agreement will need a beat-up in the final 2 years of your agreement.

Contact us

Contact the LATF team if you require assistance with completing and submitting the final beat-up survey and maintenance claim form.

Email us at LATF@forestrycommission.gov.uk with your LATF agreement reference in the subject heading.