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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) financial and (b) other support he is giving to local authorities to (i) plant more trees and (ii) create new areas of woodland.

Defra supports tree planting in England through established mechanisms, almost all of which are available to Local Authorities and their partners if they can meet the rules of the scheme. These include the Woodland Creation Planning Grant, Woodland Carbon Fund, Countryside Stewardship and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund.

We have also announced a £640 million Nature for Climate Fund which will drive tree-planting in this parliament. Plans for that will be announced through a new England Tree Strategy, including how local authorities can access grant funding for tree planting and woodland management.