Guidance

Applicant's guide: Woodland Tree Health grants 2023

Updated 5 August 2024

Applies to England

1. Important dates and scheme changes

This guidance was valid for applications made between 5 January and 31 December 2023. Read the agreement holder’s guidance if your agreement started between these dates.

1.1 Scheme changes

1. Agreement duration has increased for new agreements. For applications received from 5 January 2023, Agreement Holders will have 3 years to complete capital works.
2. Land in a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is now eligible for capital items if the land is already covered by an existing Countryside Stewardship (CS) or Environmental Stewardship (ES) agreement.
3. We are applying more proportionate reductions where claims are received late. Instead of a 100% reduction for being one day late, the reduction will be scaled according to how late the claim is.

2. About Woodland Tree Health grants

WTH grants are available under CS. You can submit an application for a WTH grant at any time of the year. If you accept an offer for a grant, you will enter into an agreement with the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

You can also apply for other CS woodland capital grants at any time of the year.

The WTH grant has 2 parts:

• WTH Restoration, which provides support for restocking woodland after felling due to a tree health issue
• WTH Improvement, which provides support for the removal of trees and rhododendron infected with either Phytophthora ramorum, Phytophthora pluvialis or Phytophthora kernoviae

You can apply for these grants individually or together. You will have 3 years to finish the work that is needed. We cannot pay you for any work that takes place after the 3 year period.

A Forestry Commission Woodland Officer will assess your site to make sure that the grant is appropriate.

2.1 Capital items available

There are 19 capital items available through the WTH grant. The online Countryside Stewardship grants tool (known as the grant finder) gives a description and essential requirements for each capital item. This includes eligibility and evidence requirements.

You can find the payment rates and details about using supplements in section 5: How WTH grants work.

2.2 How applications are assessed

The WTH grants are not competitive.

If you are eligible for the grant and there is sufficient budget, the RPA (supported by a Forestry Commission Woodland Officer) will approve your application.

2.3 What the grant cannot pay for

The grant cannot be used to pay for:

• any capital works started (or materials ordered) before the agreement start date
• planning application fees or other transactional fees
• agent fees or other advisory fees
• meeting legal requirements, including planning conditions and Tenancy agreements

3. Who can apply and what land is eligible

The WTH grant is open to land managers who are either:

• an owner occupier
• a tenant
• a landlord
• a licensor

3.1 Land that is eligible for a WTH grants

To be eligible for a WTH grant agreement, land parcels must be entirely within England.

You must have management control of the relevant parcels for 5 years from the agreement start date or have your application countersigned by the landlord (read section 3.3.2).

Land must meet the definition of woodland. Woodland is defined as an area of land that:

• is at least 0.5 hectares
• has an average width of at least 20 metres
• is under groups or lines of trees that are, or will reach, at least 5 metres in height and with a crown cover of more than 20% of the ground area

There is no area threshold for the WTH improvement part of this grant, although the works under the agreement must be worth at least £500.

There is a minimum agreement size of 0.25 hectares and a minimum woodland block size of 0.1 hectares for applications for the WTH restoration grant.

3.2 Land that is not eligible

The following land is not eligible for the scheme:

• developed land and hard standing (including permanent caravan sites and areas used for permanent storage)
• land that is already part of another obligation which is incompatible with CS
• land within the HS2 (High Speed Two) route safeguarding zone

3.3 Management control: who can apply

The WTH grant is open to land managers who are either:

• an owner occupier
• a tenant
• a landlord
• a licensor

You must have control of the land and all activities needed to meet the requirements of the capital items selected for the full period of the agreement (3 years) and for the subsequent 5 years from the date of final payment (see section 7.1 Agreement period for the obligation to maintain capital items).

If you do not, you must get the written consent of all other parties who have management control of the land and activities for the full agreement and durability periods.

3.3.1 Tenants

If you occupy land under a tenancy, including the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 (a Farm Business Tenancy) or equivalent, and you are applying for an agreement in your own name, you must have:

• security of tenure for at least 3 years from the start of the CS WTH agreement
• management control of the land for 5 years from the start of the CS WTH agreement – if you do not have this you must get the counter signature of your landlord as part of your application
• control of all the activities over the land to meet the scheme requirements for the chosen capital items
• the agreement of your landlord before you apply

It is your responsibility to check that by joining CS you do not breach the terms of your tenancy agreement.

If the landlord takes over a CS agreement from you once your tenancy has ended, they must be eligible to do so. For example, they must not be an ineligible public body.

3.3.2 Landlords

If you are a landlord and can show that you keep management control over the land and activities, you can apply for an agreement on land that you have let to a tenant.

Dual use is where the applicant for this grant is different to the applicant for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). Dual use for this grant is possible in limited circumstances, for example when you are replacing young trees on land under a Woodland Maintenance or Farm Woodland agreement and which is also eligible for BPS.

For more information read Guidance on woodland grant schemes and BPS: operations note 42.

As the Agreement Holder, you must give your tenant a copy of the CS agreement. We may ask you to provide evidence to show that you have done this. It is your responsibility to make sure that your tenant does not breach the terms of the agreement.

3.3.3 Partnerships

If you are in a business partnership, you can apply for CS. The person submitting the application must have the appropriate permission levels in the Rural Payments service (see section 4.1 Register with the Rural Payments service for more information).

3.3.4 Licensors

If you are a licensor, you can apply for a CS agreement. It is your responsibility to make sure that the licensee does not breach the terms of the CS agreement.

You must make sure that the licensee is aware of the requirements of the agreement, as relevant to the licence, and include these in the licence agreement.

3.3.5 Licensees

Licensees are usually not eligible for CS as a licence arrangement will not provide sufficient management control of the land to the licensee for the agreement period.

If in practice your licence agreement gives you wider land management responsibilities, this may mean you are a tenant and therefore may be eligible for CS. You must show that you have sufficient management control of the land and activities to be able to apply. See section 3.3.1 for more information about CS for tenants.

3.3.6 Land owned by public bodies

Land owned or run by a public body is in general not eligible for CS Land is not eligible if it is owned or run by:

• Crown bodies (including all government departments, executive agencies and trading funds)
• non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs)

See a list of all government departments, agencies and public bodies on GOV.UK.

Land owned by some public bodies is eligible for CS provided the work does not form part of their obligations as a public body.

This includes land owned by:

• local authorities
• national park authorities
• public corporations

Parish councils and former college farms are not considered to be public bodies and so are eligible to apply for CS.

3.3.7 Tenants of land owned by public bodies

If you are a tenant of a public body, you will need to check with your landlord if the land is eligible for CS.

If the land is eligible, you will be eligible for CS, but the public body must countersign your application if you do not have security of tenure. You will not be eligible for funding any work which is already a requirement of your tenancy agreement or any other legally binding obligation.

If the land is not eligible, you will still be eligible for CS if you have security of tenure for the full term of the agreement, including the durability requirement, as the public body cannot countersign the application. You will not be eligible for funding any work which is already a requirement of your tenancy agreement or any other legally binding obligation.

3.4 Land receiving other funding or other agreements

You cannot use this grant for capital works which you are required to carry out under other legally binding obligations (including private contractual obligations) or for which you are receiving (or have received) funding from other sources. For example, work might be required as part of a tenancy agreement or grant schemes such as:

• ES
• England Woodland Creation Offer
• other grants within CS
• SFI
• Farming and Forestry Improvement Scheme
• Farming Recovery Fund
• Heritage Lottery Fund
• Inheritance Tax Exemption

You must make sure that any work proposed as part of this grant does not breach the conditions of any other agreement. We will carry out checks to make sure that capital works are not funded twice from public money.

If your application is on land which is already in an ES, English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS), Farm Woodland or Farm Woodland Premium Scheme agreement, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and RPA will check it to make sure the work is compatible. However, it is your responsibility to make sure that you and the land are eligible.

3.4.1 Compatibility with other CS schemes

You can apply for a WTH grant on land parcels which already have a CS, ES or SFI agreement. However, the grant application cannot include any work which is already required by the existing scheme or is a breach of the conditions of the existing agreement.

If you have discussed your plans with a Forestry Commission Woodland Officer or Natural England adviser, you may:

• apply for a CS Implementation Plan (PA1), Feasibility Study (PA2), Woodland Management Plan (PA3) or WTH grant agreement on the same land parcels
• apply for a Higher Tier capital only agreement on parcels with woodland multi-year options in place
• apply for a Higher Tier woodland agreement (WD2) on parcels already in an agreement with woodland capital items

If you have an existing ES, CS or SFI agreement, you can also apply for a WTH grant on land parcels which aren’t in your existing agreement.

4. How to apply

Find out how to apply for a WTH grant and the evidence and consents you’ll need.

4.1 Check you’re registered

Register on the Rural Payments service, if you have not already done so.

If you prefer to use an agent, you will need to authorise them to act for you

All land parcels listed on your application must be registered on the Rural Payments service and have a parcel reference number (in the format AA1234 5678). You will be asked to provide your parcel reference numbers when you apply.

To register land, you must complete a Rural Land and Entitlements (RLE1) form and provide annotated maps to clearly show where the land parcels are on your holding and send this to RPA.

4.2 Ways to apply

You can apply by email or post using the CS WTH application form. Use the how to complete your WTH grant application by email or post guidance to help you.

If you are unable to get online, or cannot download the application form, you can also request a copy of the form by emailing ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk or calling 03000 200 301.

If you are eligible and we offer you an agreement, you will need to follow Annex 1: CS Terms and Conditions.

4.3 Application deadline

You can apply for a WTH grant at any time. The grant is open throughout the year.

4.4 Business viability test

For applications including capital expenditure of more than £50,000, you must submit a statement from a registered accountant (for example, a chartered accountant or certified accountant). This is to confirm that the business or SBI has the resources from trading profits, reserves, or loans to undertake the work in the proposed agreement schedule.

Where confirmation from an accountant is needed, the accountant will need to provide a letter on headed paper which confirms:

• they are a registered accountant
• they act as the accountant for the applicant or have been contracted to act on behalf of the applicant
• you as the applicant have sufficient finances to complete the capital works in your application and how these funds will be sourced (for example, savings or a loan)
• their understanding of the total value of the capital works in the application

If your application includes more than £500,000 of capital items, we will also review 3 years of your relevant business accounts or other evidence. This is to confirm that you have the administrative, financial and operational capacity to meet the agreement requirements.

4.5 Get consent

You must check each capital item you are applying for to see if any consents are needed.

You are responsible for arranging all relevant consents, permissions, exemptions and any written advice needed for your application. We may ask to see this evidence.

4.5.1 Planning consents

Your local planning authority can give you informal advice on whether a proposal needs planning consent. We will not pay you for any work you carry out unless you have all the necessary consents and permissions in place before you begin the work. There is also planning practice guidance available. In some cases, you will not be offered an agreement if these are not in place.

4.5.2 Felling licences

You may need permission from the Forestry Commission to fell growing trees (unless an exemption applies). Permission is given with a felling licence or with approval under a dedication scheme. In certain circumstances you may also need special permission from another organisation for any proposed felling. Information on when you need to apply for a felling licence is available.

If you’re not sure if you need a licence for your WTH application you can speak to your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer or the nearest Forestry Commission office for guidance. You can find details about offices and opening hours online.

4.5.3 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) including National Nature Reserves (NNRs)

One-to-one technical advice for WTH grants is not available from Natural England, except in relation to any land in an SSSI which is contained in the application. Work on land in an SSSI will need consent and you should contact Natural England as early as possible when you are getting your application ready. For further information on SSSI consents go to Give notice and get consent for a planned activity on a SSSI.

4.5.4 Scheduled Monuments

Your local Historic England officer can provide advice on any management or changes needed to maintain or bring the monument into favourable condition. You will also need Scheduled Monument consent from the government (advised by Historic England) for some of the chosen work (such as fencing and gateways). In these situations, you must speak to Historic England to see whether consent is needed, or how to go about works to avoid or reduce negative impacts on the scheduled monument.

Historic England can advise whether proposals relating to registered parks, gardens and battlefields are likely to be acceptable.

4.5.5 Other consents

You may need to apply for other consents even if you do not need planning consent. If you do, you must keep this evidence as we may ask to see it. Examples of areas where consent is likely to be needed include where the work affects:

• protected species (as defined by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981)
• registered parkland
• a registered battlefield
• a watercourse or highway
• areas subject to a Tree Preservation Order – a licence may be needed for any changes to trees and hedges.

4.5.6 Other considerations

When you carry out work under the agreement, remember that you must not breach any other rules or laws, such as:

• breaking byelaws
• obstructing public rights of way
• blocking or restricting access to ‘open access’ land
• affecting oil or gas pipelines

4.6 Submit your application and supporting documents

Submit your application by email or post. A complete application is made up of:

• an application form
• an application annex
• the application map
• a CS land ownership and control form, if applicable
• any other supporting documents we ask for

Use the how to complete your WTH grant application by email or post guidance to help you submit your application.

4.7 After you apply

Once we receive your application, we will check it to confirm:

• it meets the eligibility requirements
• you have filled in all the necessary details on the application form
• you have completed the map

After the initial checks are complete, we will forward it to a Forestry Commission Woodland Officer to work through your application with you.

You can find more information about entering into an agreement at section 6.1.

5. How WTH grants work

The WTH grant has 2 parts:

• WTH Restoration, which provides support for restocking woodland after felling due to a tree health issue
• WTH Improvement, which provides support for the removal of trees and rhododendron infected with either Phytophthora ramorum, Phytophthora pluvialis or Phytophthora kernoviae

You can apply for these grants individually or together. You will have 3 years to finish the work that is needed. We cannot pay you for any work that takes place after the 3 year period.

5.1 Assessment

A Forestry Commision Woodland Officer will assess your site to make sure that the grant is appropriate.

We strongly recommend that you have a CS Woodland Management Plan for the affected woodland.

Support to help you create a Woodland Management Plan is available through the CS scheme. Visit the Woodland Management Plan grant page for more information.

5.2 WTH Restoration

If you have to fell trees because of a confirmed tree health issue, this element of the grant will pay for restocking the land with trees.

Support is available if the trees to be felled have been infected with:

• Phytophthora ramorum on either larch or sweet chestnut (the infection must be confirmed by statutory plant health notice (SPHN))
• Phytopthora pluvialis on either Douglas fir or Western hemlock (the infection must be confirmed by SPHN)
• Chalara (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) dieback of ash (the Forestry Commission or the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) must confirm the infection)
• Sweet chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) (the infection must be confirmed by SPHN)

For more information about these diseases and pests, see the Forest Research website.

There is also information about tree pests and diseases on GOV.UK.

For information about how to confirm a suspected infection contact your woodland officer.

5.2.1 Seasonal applications

If you submit your application in autumn or winter, we may need to wait until spring to process it so that the infection can be confirmed. We may ask you to submit photographs showing signs of the infection following budbreak to support this.

5.2.2 UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) compliance

You must make sure any proposed restocking under a CS WTH grant meets with the UKFS. Forestry Commission Woodland Officers can advise on suitable restocking for specific sites, in line with UKFS and applicable felling licence conditions. Read more about replacing trees after felling due to pests and diseases.

5.2.3 Capital items

Capital items are available to support the restoration of woodland. The primary item is tree planting (TE4). To reduce the risk of introducing or spreading harmful plant pests and diseases it’s important to source biosecure planting stock (preferably grown in the UK).

We would encourage the use of plants from Plant Healthy certified nurseries where possible. Plant Healthy is a certification scheme designed to make sure that people who grow and handle plants have suitable biosecurity standards in place.

Tree planting (TE4) is supported by a range of secondary items as detailed in table 1.

Table 1

Code	Capital items for use in WTH Restoration	Payment rate	Aim	Additional notes	Mandatory or optional
TE4	Tree planting	£1.72/tree	To supply, plant and weed young trees and protect with a 0.6m spiral guard	Spiral not needed in some circumstances – this needs to be agreed with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer	Mandatory in order to apply for WTH Restoration grant
TE5	Individual tree shelter	£2.43/unit	To protect young trees with a tree shelter	This supplement can only be used with TE4. Shelter height to be agreed with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer	Optional
FG1	Fencing	£6.34/m	Method of stock control, to help habitat management or protect environmental features	This item can be used with the item TE5 where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer.	Optional
FG2	Sheep netting	£7.47/m	Exclude sheep to protect environmental features	This item can be used with the item TE5 where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer.	Optional
FG4	Rabbit fencing supplement	£5.65/m	Supplement to fencing (FG1) or sheep netting (FG2), or deer fence (FG9) to exclude rabbits to help protect environmental features	This supplement can only be used alongside one of the following capital items; FG1 (Fencing), FG2 (Sheep netting), FG9 (Deer fencing). This item can be used with the item TE5 where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer.	Optional
FG5	Fencing supplement – difficult site	£3.98/m	Supplement to fencing (FG1) to cover the extra costs of fencing on a difficult site	This supplement can only be used alongside one of the following capital items; FG1 (Fencing), FG2 (Sheep netting), FG9 (Deer fencing). This item can be used with the item TE5 where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer.	Optional
FG9	Deer fencing	£10.27/m	To protect newly created woodland from deer browsing	This item can be used with the item TE5 where appropriate and agreed with your Forestry Commission Woodland Officer.	Optional
FG10	Temporary deer fencing	£8.09/m	To protect newly created or existing woodland from deer browsing as part of a wider woodland creation or woodland management project.	When used in combination with the item FG9, the temporary fencing (FG10) must be deer proof.	Optional
FG14	Badger gate	£61.81/gate	Provide badgers unrestricted access either side of a newly erected fence, which crosses known badger routes	This supplement can only be used alongside one of the following capital items; FG1 (Fencing), FG2 (Sheep netting), FG4 (Rabbit fencing supplement), FG5 (Fencing supplement difficult sites), FG9 (Deer fencing)	Optional
FG15	Water gates	£532.80/gate	Use across streams in conjunction with other stock control options to keep livestock and deer out of new planting	This item can only be used on fence lines across streams, with other stock or deer control items	Optional
FG16	Deer pedestrian gate	£475.44/gate	To install a deer proof pedestrian gate within the deer fence to allow access and/or enable woodland management	When used in combination with the item FG9, the pedestrian gate (FG16) must be deer proof.	Optional
FG17	Deer vehicle gate	£749.63/gate	To install a deer proof vehicle gate within the deer fence to allow access and/or enable woodland management.	When used in combination with the item FG9, the vehicle gate (FG17) must be deer proof.	Optional
FY1	Deer high seat	£265.00/unit	To provide a safe, temporary vantage point from which to cull deer to relieve browsing pressure.	Not applicable	Optional
BN12	Stone wall restoration	31.91/m	Re-build stone walls to make them stock-proof and restore their landscape value	Not applicable	Optional
BN13	Top wiring - stone wall maintenance	£5.54/m	To control stock by adding a top wire onto a stone wall	Not applicable	Optional
BN14	Stone wall supplement – stone from quarry	£164.50/m	To make sure that wall restoration can be finished where there isn’t enough re-usable stone on-farm, and stone has to be sourced from an off-site quarry	Not applicable	Optional

See Countryside Stewardship grants (known as the grant finder) for full details on each capital item.

5.2.4 Payment caps

Payments under the WTH Restoration are subject to a cap that limits the amount that can be paid. The cap is based on the average grant per hectare and includes the cost of trees and additional capital items.

The cap depends on the type of trees planted and if the site is an ancient woodland. The native tree species cap applies where over 80% of restocked trees are native tree species. If over 20% of restocked trees are non-native species, the non-native cap applies.

For native tree species the cap is:

• £6,000 per hectare for ancient woodland
• £4,720 per hectare for other woodland

For non-native tree species the cap is:

• £3,000 per hectare for ancient woodland
• £3,850 per hectare for other woodland

For confirmation on which tree species are classed as native or on-native, please check with your Woodland Officer.

5.3 WTH Improvement

This element of the grant is for the removal of trees or rhododendron infected with:

• Phytophthora ramorum
• Phytopthora pluvialis
• Phytophthora kernoviae

It is not available for the removal of trees infected with the Chalara dieback of Ash.

The tree health issue needs to be verified to confirm eligibility for the grant. An infection must be confirmed by SPHN for:

• the removal of immature larch (up to 25 years old) infected with Phytophthora ramorum
• the removal of Douglas fir or Western hemlock infected with Phytophthora pluvialis

These activities fall under capital item SB1 – Scrub control and felling diseased trees.

For the removal of rhododendron that is either infected with Phytophthora ramorum or Phytophthora kernoviae or at high risk to infection, the site must be subject to an SPHN or within 3 kilometres of a site with an SPHN.

This activity falls under capital item SB6 – Rhododendron control.

For more information about these diseases and pests, see the Forest Research website.

There is also information about tree pests and diseases on GOV.UK.

For information about how to confirm a suspected infection contact your woodland officer.

5.3.1 Capital items

The capital items in table 2 are available under this grant.

Table 2

Code	Capital items for use in WTH Improvement	Payment rate	Aim	Additional notes
SB1	Felling diseased trees	Between £375 and £2,424.20 per hectare depending on method of removal, stem diameter and % ground cover. See item guide for more information.	To remove immature trees that could spread diseases and cannot be economically felled	Applicants can cut trees manually or with a machine. Manual removal is carried out on foot, with a clearing saw or chainsaw, and machine cutting from a cab, by a tractor fitted with a flail
SB6	Rhododendron Control	Between £3,500 and £5,500 per hectare dependent on the slope of site and rhododendron height. See item guide for more information.	To support rhododendron control, reducing the amount of host species and the negative effect this can have on a site	Not applicable

Annex 1: Terms and Conditions

See the CS Terms and Conditions 2023.

Annex 2: Contact details

Contact Rural Payments Agency (RPA)

You can contact RPA by email, phone or post.

Rural Payments Agency (CS)
PO Box 324
Worksop
S95 1DF

Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk

Telephone: 03000 200 301
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm, except bank holidays
Find out about call charges

For Higher Tier only: To request pre-populated applications forms:

• use the Rural Payments service
• email or call us

Please quote your single business identifier (SBI) and agreement number in all enquiries.

Contact Natural England

You can contact Natural England by email, phone or post.

Natural England
County Hall
Spetchley Road
Worcester
WR5 2NP

Email: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk

Telephone: 0300 060 3900
March to September: Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, except bank holidays
October to February: Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm, except bank holidays
Find out about call charges

Contact other organisations

You may also need to:

• contact the Forestry Commission

• contact Historic England

• contact Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF)