News
The English Woodland Grant Scheme is now open and the Forestry Commission is accepting applications for grant support with first payment year of 2009/2010.
All of the forms and guidance have been updated for 2008 (and are dated May 2008). They are all available for download from the EWGS website and paper versions from your local Forestry Commission office from early June. We recommend getting a new pack to ensure you have the latest copies of the scheme rules and forms, as there are some notable changes such as SBI (see below).
All of the EWGS Operations Notes have also been updated and will be available in the EWGS document library or from your local FC office from the 2nd June.
National & Regional Grant Prospectus
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, liaison with Defra and the national Applicants Focus Group (stakeholders), we decided to:
- Plan on the basis of a conservative 2009/2010 EWGS budget estimate, similar to the 2008/2009 final amount
- Open EWGS for applications with effect from late May 2008 but confirm final budget (through the publication of national and regional prospectuses on the FC website) after the Secretary of State’s settlement
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.
Customer and Land Registration
Last autumn we alerted the sector to this forthcoming new requirement and published full details on our website of how to apply and certain transitional arrangements. From now on EWGS applicants must be registered with a Single Business Identifier (SBI) and their land registered on the Rural Land Register (RLR) before applying. Any applications where the customer or land has not been registered or the SBI/RLR details provided will be returned. For further details on customer and land registration, please refer to EWGS 1 – General Guide to EWGS, or Operations Note 19.
Woodland Creation Grant (WCG) 2008 round
As with the 2007 round, each region has a fast track score so applications that achieve that score are offered grant on a first come first served basis. The fast track scores for 2008 are the same as last year and are detailed on the Woodland Creation Grant homepage.
The final deadline for WCG applications is the 30th September 2008.
For more information visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-6WMCY7
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