Prospectuses and grant availability

 

These prospectuses seek to take forward regional agendas alongside our commitment to six key national targets, which are described in detail in our English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) Applicant’s Pack. The use of regional budgets improves our ability to focus and control our overall budget. It also allows us to work more effectively with other government agencies and applicants to deliver Government's targets for forestry.

England - national prospectuses

England Prospectus 2008
The Forestry Commission is still waiting for a final settlement in relation to Treasury and RDPE budgets and hence cannot provide finalised national or regional budget provisions for 2009/2010 and beyond. Until the Secretary of State confirms the final settlement in the coming months, we cannot provide final EWGS budget figures.

Following internal discussions and liaison with Defra and the national Applicants' Focus Group, we decided to:

• plan on the basis of a conservative 2009/2010 budget estimate, similar to the 2008-09 final amount,
• open EWGS for applications with effect from late May 2008 but confirm final budget after the Secretary of State’s settlement,
• publish the prospectuses and update this webpage following the announcement.

By this strategy we are seeking to:

• retain confidence in EWGS, enable forward planning and support business continuity,
• avoid any obvious discrepancies between the management of Environmental Stewardship and EWGS,
• remain responsive to a challenging budget settlement.

As with previous years we will manage case fall-out to ensure that the available budget is utilised as fully as possible.

Previous prospectuses
England prospectus 2007 (PDF 61kb)
England prospectus 2006 (PDF 41kb)

Grant availability

The closing date for Woodland Creation Grant is 30^th September 2008. For all other grants the closing date is 28^th February 2009, although they may close early if they are fully subscribed.

Grant availability and application handling is subject to our grant management policy as described in Operations note 7: Grant Budget Management Policy (PDF 40kb)

All grants for payment in 2009/2010 opened on 30^th May 2008.