Form

How to complete your TPCG application

Updated 24 April 2025

Applies to England

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

This guide will help you apply to the Tree Production Capital Grant (TPCG).

You can find the application forms and further details on the TPCG forms page.

What to do before applying

Before completing your application you should:

• read this page and the main TPCG page thoroughly
• consider the source of your 50% match funding (match funding cannot be sourced from any other Defra-funded grant)
• check that the items you wish to purchase and activities you wish to carry out are eligible
• ensure you have the funds available to purchase items and/or pay for work up front as the grant is paid in arrears
• get quotes for items so you’re confident in the estimates you provide in your finance spreadsheet and to ensure good value for money
• speak to suppliers and contractors about delivery times and availability to ensure items or work can be delivered on time

Overview of the application process

To apply, you must submit:

• a TPCG application form
• a TPCG finance spreadsheet
• a business plan if you have been producing trees or tree seed for less than a year
• evidence of financial viability if applicable

All application documents should be submitted to tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk by 11:55pm Wednesday 25 June 2025.

We will notify applicants of their TPCG funding decision by Wednesday 6th August 2025.

How to complete your application form

All sections of the application form are mandatory, and you must complete the forms in English.

Do not make any alterations to the layout or format of the forms.

If any part of your application is incomplete, we will return your application to you within 3 working days for you to revise and resubmit before the deadline. If any part of your application is unclear, we may request further information.

If you need to amend your application before the published deadline or withdraw your application at any time, email: tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk

Part 1: Application details

Applicant details

The ‘applicant organisation’ is the organisation that will be named on the grant agreement if successful and to whom grant payments will be paid. The ‘applicant organisation’ will be responsible for the undertakings and obligations detailed in any grant agreement, in line with the terms and conditions of funding.

Give the organisation’s legal name. If this is different to how you are known publicly, include the public-facing name in brackets.

Include the name and contact details of the lead applicant. The person included in this section must also sign the form in Part 9.

Enter one of the following:

• a company registration number (preferred)
• charity number (preferred)
• VAT registration number
• Unique Taxpayer Reference

Your tree or tree seed production

This section gives the evaluation panel additional context about your tree or tree seed production. It also helps us to monitor the types of producers who are applying for and in receipt of TPCG funding.  

You can tick more than one box per section where applicable.

If you have ticked that your organisation has been trading as a tree or tree seed supplier for 1 year or less, you must submit a business plan. The business plan should demonstrate your objectives, strategies and forecasts. Read guidance on writing a business plan.

You must answer the first 2 questions in this section. Only tree producers need to answer the rest of the questions.

Project details 

Describe the project that you’re seeking funding for in 100 words or less.

Consider what items you want to purchase and what activities you can realistically carry out within the funding period.

Read the list of eligible and ineligible costs on the TPCG guidance page.

Tick the relevant box to let us know whether the items and/or activities you are applying for will be used exclusively for tree or tree seed production. Explain what other purposes the items/activities may be used for.

Eligibility criteria

Read the eligibility criteria in this section carefully and respond to each question by completing the Yes/No/N/A column.

All projects will be assessed against these eligibility criteria before they are scored by the evaluation panel. If you answer No or do not answer any questions, your application will be rejected.

Part 2: Assessment questions

The questions in this section will be scored by the evaluation panel. The weighting of the scores is given in brackets next to each question. Read how applications are assessed for more information.

You must answer all questions in this section.

Each question has a word limit. Information significantly exceeding this will not be evaluated.

Be realistic when predicting outcomes and benefits and estimating increases in annual production capacity. Outline any major risks or dependencies. You will be asked to report back on these at the end of your project in your post-implementation report.

You can add documents to your application to support your answers (for example, Gantt charts, quotes, maps, or CVs). If you do, clearly refer to these in the relevant question.

If any of the expected improvements outlined in your answers are dependent on external factors (for example, hiring a new nursery manager or acquiring land), make these clear.

This round of funding is for the 2025/26 financial year only. All project work must be completed by 27 March 2026. In your responses you should demonstrate how you will ensure the project is delivered in this time.

Part 3: Finances

You must complete and submit a finance spreadsheet with your application form. This forms part of your answer to Question 5: Value for Money.

Read how to complete your finance spreadsheet for more information.

Parts 4-8

Read through the information in these sections carefully.

In Part 7: Declarations, tick each box to show that you have read, understood, and agree to each declaration. If you fail to comply with any obligations your application may be rejected.

Part 9: Authorisation 

Once you have completed your application form and finance spreadsheet, sign the form.

You must either add a

• digital e-signature: click/tap on the signature box and follow the instructions
• printed signature: print the form, sign it by hand and scan it back in

We cannot accept typed signatures.

The person signing the form must be the lead applicant named in Part 1.

How to complete your finance spreadsheet   

Read the Instructions tab of the finance spreadsheet before starting.

Your finance spreadsheet outlines how you propose to spend the grant funding and will form your budget for the project if you are successful.

You must list all proposed project costs in your finance spreadsheet. Be as specific as possible, listing each item or piece of work to be completed.

If successful, you will need to link each cost you claim for to the relevant item reference in your finance spreadsheet, so ensure the information you include is comprehensive and all anticipated costs are included.

If you’re VAT registered, all items should be exclusive of any VAT that can be recovered from HMRC. If you are unable to recover VAT on a cost, include the VAT in the total amount you provide. If you can recover VAT on a cost, provide the cost exclusive of VAT.

Get quotes before applying and ensure all costs are deliverable in the funding period. Agreements are likely to be issued in August 2025. Items must be received, and work completed between the start of your agreement and 27 March 2026.

Any costs incurred after 27 March 2026 will not be eligible to claim back.

Before submitting, check that:

• all costs are correct
• you are only applying for eligible items and activities
• you have applied for costs in the correct financial year
• the ‘Summary of Costs’ tab is correct
• the total funding applied for is no less than £5,000
• the total funding applied for in each financial year is no more than £175,000
• you are only applying for up to 50% funding towards each item

Financial viability evidence

If you are a local authority, public body or university and the total cost of your project exceeds £50,000 you must submit a departmental letter of authority to spend on the items in the agreement.

Departmental letters must:

• come from someone with decision making capacity, such as a member of the finance department, or the head of the department through which the project will be delivered
• acknowledge the total cost of capital items
• confirm that the department has sufficient funds to deliver the capital costs of the project up front and they understand that claims will be paid in arrears

You can find the total value of capital costs for your application in the ‘Summary of Costs’ tab of your finance spreadsheet.

If you have applied for or been awarded funding for multiple projects under the Tree Production Innovation Fund, Tree Production Capital Grant and Seed Sourcing Grant, the £50,000 threshold is cumulative. This means that we will use the total of all unpaid agreements and pending applications to determine whether we require this additional evidence.

If you are not a local authority, public body or university we may be in contact to request evidence of financial viability if your application exceeds a certain threshold.

How to submit your application

Check your application form and finance spreadsheet are complete before submitting.

Submit your completed application form, finance spreadsheet and business plan (if applicable) by email to tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk.

The deadline for applications is 11:55pm Wednesday 25th June 2025.

How applications are assessed

All applications will be evaluated and scored by a panel with expertise and experience of tree production methods used in England. If the grant is oversubscribed, funding will be awarded to the highest scoring applications.

The evaluation panel will apply the following evaluation system to each of the assessment questions:

Score	Description
0	Unacceptable - Nil or inadequate response. Fails to demonstrate how the assessment criteria are met.
1	Poor - Response is partially relevant and/or poor. The response contains insufficient/limited detail or explanation to demonstrate evidence of meeting the assessment criteria.
2	Acceptable - Response is relevant and acceptable. The response provides sufficient evidence of meeting the assessment criteria and covers the majority of points expected for a given criterion.
3	Good - Response is relevant and good. The response provides full details of how the assessment criteria will be fulfilled covering all of the points expected for a given criterion.
4	Excellent - Response is completely relevant and excellent overall, possibly exceeding requirements. Full detail provided that exceeds some or all of the requirements, where relevant including quantitative and species-level data. The response is comprehensive and provides a high level of detail on how the assessment criteria are met.

Question 1 (productivity) is weighted at 25%, and all other questions are equally weighted at 12.5%. In the event of a tie and there being insufficient funds to support all projects, responses to question 1 will be used to break the tie, with the highest score winning. If both applications have the same score for question 1, the evaluation panel will review responses in detail to decide which is marginally stronger.

If your application scores 0 for any of the scored questions or scores less than 16/32 overall, it will be unsuccessful.

Example:

Question	Score (out of 4)
1. Productivity	3
2. Resilience	2
3. Diversity	4
4. Environmental sustainability	2
5. Value for money	2
6. Team, resources and track record	3
7. Deliverability	2
Total	21 out of 32

Any applications deemed to fall outside the scope of the fund or that do not meet the TPCG eligibility criteria will not be evaluated and will be rejected.

The evaluation panel will have access to information about the delivery of previous TPCG grant agreements you may have held and may use this to help score your response to the ‘Deliverability’ question.

Application outcomes 

Refer to the TPCG process diagram for an overview of the application process.

Once the outcome of each application is decided, the TPCG team will send out all outcome letters by Wednesday 6 August 2025.

We will issue you with one of the following:

1. Successful outcome letter: your application was successful. You will also receive an offer letter, and a grant agreement.
2. Unsuccessful outcome letter: your application was unsuccessful.
3. ‘Offer in principle letter’ and ‘offer in principle form’: the evaluation panel requires further information before deciding whether to award funding.

The ‘offer in principle form’ outlines the evaluation panel’s comments and requests. You must complete the relevant sections in the form and provide the necessary information, clarification and/or documents requested. You must email your response within 2 weeks or request an extension if you are unable to make the deadline. If you do not submit a response or request an extension by the deadline, your application will be unsuccessful.

If successful, you must sign and return the grant agreement by email before beginning any project activities. Items purchased or activities conducted prior to the start of your grant agreement will not be eligible to claim for.

You will be provided with a TPCG information pack, explaining TPCG processes and answering common grant holder queries.

Further information

If you need to clarify any application requirements or the application process, email  tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk

If we consider information requests relevant to any applicant, we will provide additional guidance to all applicants (via point of contact provided) by email to ensure a fair and open process. We may be unable to respond to some requests due to the competitive bid process. We reserve the right not to answer clarifications where we consider that the answer to that clarification would or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests. 

Applicants who canvass Forestry Commission or Defra employees associated with the TPCG may have their applications rejected from the process.

Terms and conditions

The terms and conditions that will apply to this grant are available online on the TPCG application form page.

Funding decisions may be conditional on the outcome of a physical inspection by us to ensure the suitability of the site and proposals.

Confidentiality

If you consider the information contained within your application to be commercially sensitive, you must notify the Forestry Commission of this when submitting your application. This will then be considered when requests for clarification are received.  

The Forestry Commission reserves the right not to answer clarifications where it considers that the answer would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interests.

Contact us

If you have questions about the TPCG or the application process, email tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk

Find out how to make a complaint or appeal.