Guidance

Woodland Creation Planning Grant changes: December 2023

Published 8 December 2023

Applies to England

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

Purpose                                                                                                                           

This Operations Note provides information on changes to the Woodland Creation Planning Grant (WCPG) that will apply in December 2023 and how the Forestry Commission will apply these to applications and existing agreements.

Summary

The Stage 1 fixed payment has increased from £1,000 to £1,500. The £500 increase will not be deducted from any Stage 2 payment and the funding cap will increase from £30,000 to £30,500 per application.

There is now an option to use standard costs when applying for a Supplementary Payment (SP) for a natural environment survey.

A new SP option to assess the impact of deer has been added to WCPG’s suite of surveys.

The grant application form and Woodland Creation Design Plan template have been amalgamated into a new document the ‘Woodland Creation Planning Grant Application and Plan’ (WCPG AAP) and the format updated. This aims to guide the agreement holder through the process more clearly.

We are working to make further improvements to the WCPG in spring 2024.

Context

Landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply to WCPG for support to help cover the costs of producing a UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) compliant woodland creation plan. WCPG contributes towards the costs of gathering and analysing the information land managers need to consider to ensure their proposals for new woodland take account of any impacts on:

• biodiversity
• landscape
• water
• soil
• climate change
• the historic environment
• local stakeholders

Background

WCPG is a long-standing grant that has undergone several revisions since its conception in 2015, most recently in November 2020. Since this time, various developments have occurred in the wider context of woodland creation, notably the launch of the England Tree Planting Programme. These changes account for this and feedback from stakeholders on how we can make WCPG as effective and accessible as possible. These changes are the first phase of changes and further updates will be made to how WCPG schemes are processed in spring 2024.

Changes in December 2023

Uplift to payments

The fixed rate payment for Stage 1 work has increased to £1,500 to better reflect the cost to applicants of gathering data from Local Environment Record Centres (LERCs) and Local Historic Environment Services (LHES). The £500 increase will not be deducted from the Stage 2 payment and has been mirrored in the funding cap that applies to WCPG agreements, which has increased to £30,500. A new applicant will never be paid less than £1,500 for approved Stage 1 work and a minimum of £500 for approved Stage 2 work.

Natural environment survey standardised cost option

Provision of an option to choose standardised costs for natural environment surveys (peaty soils, National Vegetation Classification (NVC), and breeding birds) aims to provide a simpler option to access support for these survey types as no quotes are needed. It also provides greater opportunity for applicants/agencies to use in-house specialists where this is preferred. The standardised costs are given in Annex 2 of the Ecological Survey and Assessment for Woodland Creation  

Supplementary Payments for deer impact assessments

Support for deer impact assessments as a funded SP option will help project planners establish the level of risk deer pose to their scheme as early as possible. This will enable development of mitigation strategies at the planning stage to safeguard the woodland’s future success.

One applicant document

We have merged the application form and woodland design plan into one document. We hope this new Woodland Creation Planning Grant Application and Plan (WCPG AAP) will improve the customer journey from initial application to completion of Stage 2 of the WCPG process. The new format (Excel) of the document also enables easier transfer of application information between WCPG and the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO), making the transition between the 2 grants more efficient.

Implementation

Applications

Applications in progress

The new Stage 1 rates will be applied to all applications we are currently processing, irrespective of when they were submitted. This includes where applicants have received but not yet accepted a Stage 1 offer.

New applications

We have published new forms and guidance for new applicants to use with changes embedded. Applicants will be given lead in time before use of the updated forms becomes mandatory from 1 February 2024.

Agreements

The uplift to the Stage 1 payment and funding cap will not apply to existing WCPG agreements – where a Stage 1 offer has been accepted and agreements that have progressed past this point in the process.

The standardised survey rates and the option to apply for a deer impact assessment under the Supplementary Payment mechanism will be available for all existing agreement holders if deemed appropriate by the Forestry Commission.

Agreement holders who have submitted their final woodland creation design plan or have been paid Stage 2 funding are not eligible for any of these changes.

Timing

We will implement these changes from 8 December 2023.

Sources of further advice

The Woodland Creation Planning Grant gov.uk webpage contains all the information you need to apply for WCPG. Alternatively, you can request this information from:wcpg@forestrycommission.gov.uk.