Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding will be allocated for woodland creation and tree planting grants under the Countryside Stewardship scheme for 2020-24; and what the average funding per hectare has been under Countryside Stewardship to date.
Funding has been allocated under the Countryside Stewardship scheme for woodland creation and the associated maintenance payments for the financial years 2019/20 to 2023/24 as follows:
(£000's) | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
CS Woodland Creation Total | 5,233 | 5,157 | 5,386 | 5,566 | 5,746 |
It has been estimated that in the earlier years of the Countryside Stewardship, the average cost per hectare was £4,243. More recent applications, since 2018, had a value of £4,153 per hectare. These figures are for capital grants only and exclude the additional annual maintenance grants, worth £200/ha for 10 years, also available.