Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the £816 million set aside for tree planting over the Spending Review period he plans to spend on the management of existing woodlands.

The £816 million of funding announced in the spending review is funding dedicated to supporting delivery of the statutory tree canopy and woodland cover target and increasing tree planting rates across England.

Recognising the importance of woodland management we have recently opened the Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier scheme for new applications. It includes an expanded woodland management offer, with funding for a variety of management actions and woodland types. Woodland managers can apply for funding to produce a woodland management plan and will then receive advice from Forestry Commission to agree the management of their woodland in the scheme.