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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had since the announcement of the Northern Forest scheme on its possible extension to Lancashire or a part of that county.

The core Northern Forest (NF) area will see at least 1.8m new trees, funded by our £5.7m four-year investment planted in Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire, Yorkshire and the Humber. Beyond the core area of the NF, our investment will also fund new woodland creation in surrounding halo areas, of which Lancashire is included, where the NF partnership has judged that new woodland there would be beneficial.