Guidance

Applicant's guide: Woodland Management Plan from 8 February 2022

Published 11 February 2022

Applies to England

1 Introduction

The Woodland Management Plan grant is part of Countryside Stewardship. It’s a capital grant for farmers and land managers to produce a woodland management plan.

This manual applies to Woodland Management Plan applications received from 8 February 2022. It explains what you need to do to apply for a Woodland Management Plan grant and any additional requirements and processes which you must follow.

Woodland Management Plan manual

This manual explains what you need to do to apply for a Woodland Management Plan grant and any additional requirements and processes which you must follow.

Read Countryside Stewardship: How to apply for guidance and information on other woodland capital grants available as part of Countryside Stewardship.

Countryside Stewardship scheme overview

The main priority for Countryside Stewardship is to protect and enhance the natural environment, in particular:

• increased biodiversity, improved habitat and expanded woodland areas

• improved water quality

• improved air quality

Other outcomes supported are:

• protection against flooding and coastal erosion

• maintaining the historic environment

• improved landscape character

• climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Countryside Stewardship supports Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan ‘for our country to be the healthiest, most beautiful place in the world to live, work and bring up a family’. It also supports Defra’s Strategic Objective of ‘a cleaner, healthier environment, benefitting people and the economy’.

Countryside Stewardship (CS) gives incentives for land managers to look after their environment and is made up of the following elements:

• Higher Tier agreements for land that requires more complex management tailored to the individual site and now includes woodland maintenance.

• Mid Tier agreements that provide a range of options and capital items that together help to deliver a broad range of environmental benefits.

• Four Wildlife Offers that provide a simpler set of options to help improve the wildlife on farms.

• The Capital Grant offer provides grants for boundaries, trees and orchards, water quality, and air quality.

• The Woodland Tree Health grant to help restore and improve tree health.

• The Facilitation Fund supports individuals who bring together groups of farmers, foresters and land managers, to improve and protect the environmental outcomes in their area.

• The Countryside Stewardship Protection and Infrastructure grant provides grants for woodland infrastructure.

The Woodland Management Plan grant is designed to help create a UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) compliant 10 year woodland management plan.

Woodland Tree Health and Woodland Management Plan grants are not competitive.

If you are eligible for the grant and there is sufficient budget, RPA (supported by a Forestry Commission Woodland Officer) will approve your application.

More information

Read the Countryside Stewardship: How to apply page and the Countryside Stewardship forms page

for more information specific to woodland support and the Woodland Management Plan.

Agricultural Transition

We will continue to offer Countryside Stewardship agreements in 2023 and 2024.

Applications for Countryside Stewardship agreements which start on or after 1 January 2022 are made under domestic legislation.

Countryside Stewardship will eventually be replaced with three new schemes that reward the delivery of environmental benefits: the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery. This will follow piloting involving farmers and land managers. By 2025, we will have fully introduced our three new environmental land management schemes.

Signing up to a Countryside Stewardship agreement now will put you in the best possible position to join future schemes. What’s more, it will give you a viable, long-term source of income for providing environmental benefits as Basic Payment Scheme payments are reduced. Anyone in a Countryside Stewardship agreement that started on or after 1 January 2021 will be able to end their agreement early, at agreed points, where they have secured an agreement in one of our environmental land management schemes.

Sustainable Farming Incentive Pilot Scheme

You cannot apply for the CS Woodland Management Plan capital grant on land parcels in a SFI pilot standards agreement. If you have other land parcels not included in your SFI pilot standards agreement, you can apply for the CS Woodland Management Plan capital grant on those parcels.

Sustainable Farming Incentive 2022

We will launch the first round of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) in 2022.

When it opens, farmers who are eligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) will be eligible for SFI. Land parcels already in a CS Capital Grants agreement will be eligible for SFI in 2022 provided they meet the respective scheme eligibility requirements. You can also apply for CS Capital Grants on land entered into SFI in 2022.

Important information

Woodland support grants are provided under domestic legislation. You may need to keep evidence and provide it when requested. Check Countryside Stewardship grants (known as the ‘grant finder’) in GOV.UK for the evidence and record-keeping requirements of grants before you apply for them.

Accessibility improvements

We have made a number of changes to improve accessibility as part of our ongoing aim to provide a high quality service to all our customers. You will see some small changes in the Countryside Stewardship application annexes and forms, but the way they work and the data required remain the same.

Countryside Stewardship Woodland Management Plan Agreement

A Woodland Management Plan agreement comprises of:

1. the Countryside Stewardship Annex 1 Terms and Conditions

2. an Agreement Document (which sets out Agreement Holder specific details)

3. the supplementary documents referred to in the Agreement Document.

Mandatory parts of the Woodland Management Plan manual

The Terms and Conditions refer to the mandatory elements of this manual that Agreement Holders must comply with. The mandatory elements of this manual are:

• Section 2: How it works

• Section 3: Who can apply and what land is eligible

• Section 5: Scheme requirements, procedures and agreement management

Be aware of fraud

How to avoid fraud and what to do if you suspect an attempted fraud.

Fraudsters may target farmers who receive subsidy payments and we’re aware that in the past some customers have received emails, texts and telephone calls claiming to be from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) or the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Links to a fake website designed to look like an authentic RPA or Defra online service are sometimes included in the message.

We will not send emails or text messages with links to websites asking you to confirm your personal details or payment information. We strongly advise anyone who receives such a request not to open the link, and delete the item.

As fraudsters may target farmers who receive subsidy payments, remember:

• never discuss your bank account details with someone you do not know

• we will not ask you to make a payment over the phone

• delete any emails or texts you do not believe are genuine, and do not open any links unless from our main email addresses which are:

• [email protected]

• [email protected]

• [email protected]

• [email protected]

• [email protected]

• be cautious about what information you share externally, particularly on social media.

If you suspect an attempted fraud or feel you have been the subject of fraud, you can contact:

• RPA’s Fraud Referral Team on 0800 347 347 or [email protected]

• Action Fraud (the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber-crime) on 0300 123 2040.

2 How the Woodland Management Plan works

This section provides information about the main elements of the CS Woodland Management Plan (WMP) grant.

2.1 Introducing the Woodland Management Plan

The CS WMP grant is a capital grant under which you can apply for a one-off payment to create a UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) compliant 10 year woodland management plan.

You must have a binding CS agreement (which means you’ve applied, been offered and accepted an agreement) before you can start work on your WMP.

Acronym	Explanation
RPA	Rural Payments Agency – administers scheme, processes applications and offers grant agreements and pays claims
FCWO	Forestry Commission Woodland Officer – works with the applicant or their agent to develop a WMP that complies with the UK Forestry Standard and approves it
FC Admin Hub	Forestry Commission Administration Hub – processes any felling licence associated with the Woodland Management Plan once the plan has been approved
UKFS	UK Forestry Standard – the standard for sustainable forest management in the UK. The WMP must meet the relevant requirements and guidelines in the Standard to be approved

2.2 Woodland Management Plan (WMP) application process (through capital item PA3)

The list below shows the process from applying to claiming payment:

1. Applicant wants to manage their woodland so contacts Forestry Commission (FC)

2. Applicant (or agent) registers the woodland on the Rural Payments service

3. Applicant (or agent) submits WMP application (online/paper) to RPA (with WMP annex and maps)If the applicant is eligible, RPA offer a grant agreement

4. Applicant accepts the grant agreement offer

5. Applicant (or agent) talks to FC Woodland Officer, produces a draft WMP and submits to Forestry Commission Administrative Hub for a Woodland Officer to check it meets with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS)

6. The draft WMP is either approved in principle or reasons given why it fails to meet the UKFS. Aim for a maximum of 2 iterations of the WMP

7. Any felling proposals included in the draft WMP are placed on the Public Register and any statutory consultation is undertaken by the Forestry Commission

8. Felling licence approved and WMP is approved by the Forestry Commission

9. Applicant (or their agent) submits a claim to RPA which is then paid

You can apply for a WMP grant using the Woodland Management Plan grant Application form.

You can read about PA3 at PA3: Woodland management plan.

The WMP must cover all woodland on your holding (read section 4.3 for more information) and you must use the Forestry Commission WMP template to create it.

2.3 What are Woodland Management Plans?

Your WMP must set out the management intentions for your woodland for at least 10 years. It must also be fully compliant with the UK Forestry Standard. Read Create a woodland management plan to find technical guidance on the production and content of a WMP.

Your plan must be approved by the Forestry Commission before you can apply for support under the Higher Tier element of Countryside Stewardship. You can find more information on this in section 4.7.

2.4 When to apply

You can submit an application at any time. The grant is available throughout the year subject to sufficient budget. Read section 4.4 for information on how to submit an application.

If you are writing a WMP with grant funding, you need to have your grant agreement in place before you start work on your plan.

If you accept an agreement we have offered you, you will then need to produce a draft WMP. The standards and procedures the plan must follow are set out in Create a woodland management plan.

2.5 Scoring

Grant applications for the creation of WMPs are not competitive so we do not score applications. As long as you are eligible to apply for this grant (read section 3) and subject to the budget approval, we will offer you an agreement.

2.6 Payment rates

The payment rates for the capital item WMP (PA3) are shown in the following table. The payment rates and conditions help to make sure that the plans we approve provide value for money.

Total area of eligible woodland	Payment
3 – 50 hectares	Flat rate of £1,000
51 – 100 hectares	Flat rate of £1,000 for the first 50 hectares, plus £20 per additional hectare up to and including 100 hectares
Over 100 hectares	Flat rate of £2,000, plus £10 per additional hectare over 100 hectares

We calculate the amount to be paid using the total area of eligible woodland on the holding. This can include a maximum of 20% newly planted woodland (this is woodland that is under 10 years old at the time of application). However, the WMP must cover all the woodland on the holding (including all newly planted woodland).

You cannot usually apply for payment for a WMP on land which already has an approved WMP.

If your land already has an approved WMP but a change in circumstances means a new one needs to be written, contact your Forestry Commission area office and talk to a Woodland Officer about whether you are eligible. You can find contact details and Office access and opening times on the Forestry Commission website.

2.6.1 Agreement duration

Once you accept an agreement, you have 2 years from the start of the agreement to create the WMP and get approval (including any associated felling approval) from the Forestry Commission. You then have a further 3 months to submit your payment claim.

For example, if your agreement starts on 1 June 2023, the end date of the agreement would be 31 May 2025. Your WMP would need to be completed and approved by then. You would then have until 31 August 2025 to submit your payment claim.

We recommend that you send your draft WMP to the Forestry Commission within the first year of your agreement. If they receive your WMP after this time, they cannot guarantee that they will approve it within the 2 year period. You will get more information about this in the agreement offer letter.

The 2 year duration of your agreement is for the submission and approval of a WMP, including any associated felling approval. It is not for the duration of the work detailed in the WMP itself.

2.6.2 Payment claims

You must claim payment for your WMP in a single claim, once your WMP has been approved by the Forestry Commission, and within 3 months following the agreement end date. You can find more information on payment claims in section 5.2 – Claiming for the Woodland Management Plan.

2.6.3 What the grant cannot pay for

The WMP grant cannot be used to pay for the cost of any of the following:

• planning application fees or other transactional fees meeting legal requirements, including planning conditions.

• The cost of the woodland management work itself.

• Any work done before the agreement start date (see 4.4)

• Any agent fees or other advisory fees

3 Who can apply and what land is eligible?

You must read and meet the requirements detailed in this section as these are mandatory for all Countryside Stewardship Woodland Management Plan (WMP) agreement holders.

The CS WMP grant is open to land managers who are either:

• an owner occupier

• a tenant

• a landlord

• a licensor.

3.1 Eligible land

3.1.1 What land you can enter into the scheme

To be eligible for the scheme:

• The land must be woodland. Woodland is defined as an area of land that:

• is at least 0.5 hectares

• has an average width of at least 20 metres

• is under groups/lines of trees that are, or will reach, at least 5 metres in height

• has a crown cover of more than 20% of the ground area.

• The woodland must be larger than 3 hectares in total, within a minimum woodland block size of 0.5 hectares.

• All woodland on your holding must be included in the WMP. (see section 4.3). A holding is all the land in one geographical location that is managed as a single, separate unit. We calculate the amount to be paid using the total area of eligible woodland on the holding. This can include a maximum of 20% newly planted woodland (this is woodland that is under 10 years old at the time of application).

• The area of eligible internal open space shall be limited to 20% of the total woodland area (in limited and exceptional cases this may be increased to 30%). Open space may include forest tracks, rides, way leaves and other permanent open areas but should be managed as part of the woodland environment.

• You cannot claim payment for WMP (capital item PA3) on land which is used to claim Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), but you can include it in the WMP.

• For example, you can include an area of short rotation coppice that is used to claim for BPS in your WMP but cannot include the area in your WMP grant payment claim.

• Land that has previously received funding for a WMP is eligible to apply for another grant, to produce a new woodland management plan. The existing plan must be within one year of expiry and plans should not overlap.

• However, under the allowance for including up to 20% newly planted woodland in the WMP agreement, we will not accept any land that you are using to claim for BPS and that is also:

• within the durability period under Countryside Stewardship Woodland Creation (5 years following the agreement end date), or

• that is currently in a Woodland Creation Maintenance grant agreement (10 years), or

• that is currently under an English Woodland Grant Scheme - Farm Woodland Payment (FWP) or Farm Woodland Premium Scheme (FWPS) agreement.

• that is currently in a HS2 (High Speed Two) agreement

• that is currently in a Woodland Carbon Fund (WCF) agreement

• that is currently in an England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) agreement

3.1.2 Ineligible land

The following land is not eligible for the scheme:

• land that does not meet the definition of a woodland, as set out in section 3.1.1

• developed land and hard standing (including permanent caravan sites and areas used for permanent storage)

• land that is already part of another obligation which is incompatible with Countryside Stewardship, for example woodland that is already under an obligation to have a written management plan, for example due to a planning consent

• any land parcels which are not entirely within England. Parcels that are either partly or entirely within Scotland or Wales are not eligible for Countryside Stewardship

• land where you do not have management control for the period of the agreement and you are not able to have an application countersigned by the landowner (read section 3.2).

• land within the HS2 (High Speed Two) route safeguarding zone

3.2 Management control: eligibility and scheme rules

You must have control of the land and all activities needed to meet the requirements of the capital items selected for the full period of the agreement (2 years).

If you do not, you must get the written consent of all other parties who have management control of the land and activities for the entire period of the capital agreement.

3.2.1 Tenants

If you are a tenant applying for an agreement in your own name, you must have:

• management control for the period of the agreement.

• control of all the activities needed to meet the scheme requirements for the chosen Woodland Management Plan. security of tenure for the full two year period of the agreement.

If this is not possible, you must get your landlord to countersign your application. If you are not able to do this, you cannot include that particular area of land in your application.

You must have the agreement of your landlord or the landowner before you apply. If you are a tenant, including under the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986, the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 (a Farm Business Tenancy) or equivalent, it is your responsibility to check that you do not breach the terms of your tenancy by joining Countryside Stewardship.

If the landlord takes over a Countryside Stewardship agreement from you once your tenancy has ended, they must be eligible to do so. For example, they must not be an ineligible public body.

3.2.2 Landlords

If you are a landlord and can show that you keep management control over the land and activities, you can apply for an agreement on land you have let to a tenant.

Dual use, where the applicant for this grant is different to the applicant for BPS on the same land, is possible under this grant. You can claim for PA3 on land that is subject to BPS, that is, areas of young woodland which are still being used to claim BPS and which are within the 20% allowance. The applicant must still show they have management control over the land.

For more information read Guidance on woodland grant schemes and BPS: operations note 42.

As the agreement holder, you must give your tenant a copy of the Countryside Stewardship agreement. We may ask you to provide evidence to show that you have done this. It is your responsibility to make sure that your tenant does not breach the terms of the agreement.

3.2.3 Partnerships

If you are in a business partnership, you can apply for Countryside Stewardship. The person submitting the application must have the appropriate permission levels in the Rural Payments service.

3.2.4 Licensors

If you are a licensor, you can apply for a Countryside Stewardship agreement. It is your responsibility to make sure that the licensee does not breach the terms of the Countryside Stewardship agreement.

You must make sure that the licensee is aware of the requirements of the agreement, as relevant to the licence, and include these in the licence agreement.

3.2.5 Licensees

Licensees cannot usually apply for a Countryside Stewardship agreement as they are unlikely to have sufficient management control of the land. However, if you are a licensee, you may be eligible to apply if, in practice, your agreement with the landowner gives you wider land management responsibilities.

3.2.6 Land owned by public bodies

Land owned or run by a public body is in general not eligible for Countryside Stewardship. If you are a tenant of a public body, you will need to check with your landlord if the land is eligible for Countryside Stewardship.

Countryside Stewardship cannot pay for any environmental management that is already required through:

• payment from EU and Exchequer funds

• grant aid from any other public body

• any other form of legally binding obligation including tenancies.

This means that Crown bodies and non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are not eligible for the scheme. This includes those that are Trading Funds or those that do not receive funding direct from the Exchequer.

Crown bodies include all government departments and their executive agencies, for example:

• Ministry of Defence

• Forestry Commission.

NDPBs are public bodies that have a role in the processes of national government but are not a government department, and are not part of one. These include:

• Environment Agency

• Natural England

• Historic England

• National Forest Company.

Parish councils and former college farms are not considered to be public bodies and so are eligible to apply for Countryside Stewardship.

The following table provides more detailed eligibility requirements for public bodies:

Body/Organisation	Eligibility	Notes
Government departments, executive agencies and NDPBs (for example, Ministry of Defence, Forestry Commission)	Ineligible	Not applicable
Other public bodies (for example, local authorities, National Park authorities and public corporations)	Eligible	Provided the work does not form part of their obligations as a public body.
Parish Councils and former college farms	Eligible	Not applicable
Tenants of eligible public bodies	Eligible	Ineligible where the work is already a requirement of the tenancy agreement. The public body must countersign the application if the tenant does not have security of tenure
Tenants of ineligible public bodies	Eligible	Ineligible where the work is already a requirement of the tenancy agreement. Tenants must have security of tenure for the full term of the agreement, including the durability requirement, as the public body cannot countersign the application.

3.3 Land receiving other funding

You cannot combine the WMP grant with other sources of public funding to provide the same plan on the same land. You cannot use the grant to produce a WMP which you are required to carry out under other agreements, for example work which is already a requirement of a tenancy agreement or other grant schemes such as:

• Environmental Stewardship

• Other grants within Countryside Stewardship

• English Woodland Grant Scheme

• Farming Recovery Fund

• Heritage Lottery Fund

• Inheritance Tax Exemption.

You must make sure that any work proposed for this grant does not breach the conditions of any other agreement. We will carry out checks to make sure that capital works are not funded twice from public money.

4 How to apply

This section gives the information you need to apply for support to create a Woodland Management Plan through Countryside Stewardship.

4.1 Register with Rural Payments service

You must be registered in the Rural Payments service before you can apply for a CS agreement. When you’re registered you will receive a Customer Registration Number (CRN) and a Single Business Identifier (SBI). Agents applying for you must also be registered in the Rural Payments service and you must give them the appropriate permission levels in the service.

You are responsible for making sure that you assign permissions on Rural Payments correctly and that contact details are all correct.

Read ‘Give someone else permission to act on your behalf’ on GOV.UK for more information on the different levels of permission. You should also read the information in the Permission levels screen in the Rural Payments service. This lists what is permitted at each level.

You must make sure that all the land parcels listed on your application are registered in the Rural Payments service and have a parcel reference number (in the format AA1234 5678). You will be asked to provide your parcel reference numbers when you apply. To register land, you must complete a Rural Land and Entitlements (RLE1) form and provide annotated maps to clearly show where the land parcels are on your holding and send this to RPA. You can read more information about registering and updating your details at Rural Payments service: registering and updating your details.

4.2 Getting consent

You do not need to provide any consent when you make your WMP grant application.

However, if the work proposed affects certain designated sites (such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) or Scheduled Monuments (we may need to see your consents before we can approve your WMP. Read Create a woodland management plan for more information.

4.3 Make sure the proposed Woodland Management Plan covers all woodland on the holding

You should include all woodland on your holding when you apply for a WMP grant. However, if your business manages a number of woodlands in different locations, it may not be appropriate to produce a single WMP that covers all of them. In this situation you can apply to create a plan that covers part of your holding. The Forestry Commission will provide technical advice that will help to decide what forms a holding in a given case. Read section 3.1 for more information.

4.4 Submitting an application

There are 2 ways that you can submit a WMP application:

• online using the Rural Payments service

• using the Woodland Management Plan form, available to download from GOV.UK. If you are unable to get online, you can also request a copy of the application form.

You must not submit a draft WMP with your CS application. You can only start work on producing the draft WMP once you have signed the agreement (returned it to us, accepting the offer) and the agreement start date has passed.

If you are eligible and we offer you an agreement, you will need to follow the Countryside Stewardship Annex 1 Terms and Conditions.

4.4.1 Online application

You can apply for a WMP grant online. You can do this through the Rural Payments service.

The service already includes the following information, so you do not need to re-enter these details, but you should check them to make sure the information is up to date:

• your personal details of the applicant (name, address, and so on)

• your CRN and SBI

• the land parcels registered to the SBI.

You will also need to enter the total area of the woodland that needs support. Not all parcels will be eligible (please check eligibility rules for PA3 on gov.uk) but you should include them in the WMP Annex. You will need to answer initial eligibility questions and select the land parcels that you would like to include in your WMP application. You then select ‘submit’ - which is the same as signing an application form.

A complete WMP grant application is made up of the following documents:

• The WMP Application form

• a WMP Annex. If you are applying online, you do not need to fill in the land summary tab in the WMP Annex, as you will have already selected your land parcels as part of the online application.

• a map of the land to be included in the application, this must meet the minimum mapping standards outlined in section 4.4.3.

You cannot submit the WMP Annex online. To request an Annex, email us or phone the above telephone number. You are required to send us the Annex as well as your completed form and maps. Read the Supporting information section for more details.

Supporting information

You must send us the following documents to support your online application before we will consider it. If you email them to us, as long as they are sent by someone with the correct permission levels (and an email address that is registered on the Rural Payments service for that person) you do not need to print the relevant section(s) and form(s), sign and scan the documents back into your computer.

Title your email ‘Countryside Stewardship, document type, year, SBI number’, for example Countryside Stewardship, Woodland Management Plan grant application, 2022, [SBI]

If you cannot download the application form, please contact us.

After you’ve submitted your online application RPA must receive your supporting documents within 30 days of the ‘Submit Date’ in the initial Countryside Stewardship applications screen. If you cannot submit them to reach RPA within the 30 days you must tell RPA within the 30 days why you cannot submit them. If we do not receive either, we’ll need to reject your application. To check what evidence you must keep until you’re asked for it read Countryside Stewardship grants.

For more information read How to apply online for a Woodland Management Plan Grant and there is a ‘Help’ link on each screen of the Woodland Management Plan application in the Rural Payments service.

4.4.2 By email or post

If you cannot apply online, you can use a paper application form and send it to us by email or post. You must download one and fill it in, then send it by email or post to RPA. If you choose to email it to us, as long as the application form is sent by someone with the correct permission levels (and an email address that is registered in the Rural Payments service for that person) you do not need to print the relevant section(s) and form(s), sign and scan the documents back into your computer. Title your email ‘Countryside Stewardship, document type, year, SBI number’, for example Countryside Stewardship, Woodland Management Plan grant application, 2021, (SBI).

If you cannot download the application form, please contact us.

A complete WMP grant application is made up of the following documents:

• The Countryside Stewardship Capital Grant Application form

• The WMP Annex (incorporating all information required to apply for the WMP)

• An application map, created according to the standards set out in section 4.4.3.

Send your email, remembering to attach all application documents to us. Put ‘CS Woodland Management Plan Grant – SBI’ as the email subject, for example. ‘CS Woodland Management Plan Grant – 123456789.

If you cannot email your application, you can post it to us (check Annex for address details). We recommended that you get proof of postage for any applications or any other documents you send to us by post.

It’s a good idea to keep a copy of your completed application form and maps. You should also keep either a paper copy, or an electronic version of your WMP Annex, so that you have a self-calculating version of this document.

4.4.3 Prepare a map to accompany your application

You must provide a map (or maps) showing the full area of the woodland you are including in your proposed WMP and send this with your WMP grant application. The map needs to be clear, readable and meet the standards set out below and match your WMP Annex.

How to create a map

You can create the map associated with a WMP application yourself, as long as it meets the standards set out below, or you can request one through the Forestry Commission map request service.

Maps you supply should be based on OS maps and/or Geographical Information System (GIS) generated digital maps. Maps must be based on a scale of 1:2500 or 1:5000 or for large schemes 1:10000. If you are using a GIS based map at a non- standard scale, add a scale bar to the map so that this can be used to measure lengths. Please use black ink when you write on the Agreement Map. If you make a mistake strike through it. Do not use correction fluid on your map.

You should mark the land parcel references and the SBI clearly on the map.

If you’re sending your supporting documents to us by email, send us your map as a PDF file.

Minimum mapping standards

If you create your own agreement map, or are marking up a map you’ve received from the Forestry Commission map request service, you must make sure they meet the following rules:

• the map (or maps) must show whole land parcels with land parcel references and a clear boundary for the extent of the WMP

• the map should have a number (1, 2, 3, and so on). Include this map number and also the total number of maps for example, 1 of 3

• write your Single Business Identifier (SBI) – consisting of 9 digits, the application year and agreement title (as detailed on the application form) on the top right of the map

• write the name of business or applicant – this should be the name (beneficiary) that is registered with us for the SBI, on the right hand side of the map

• if there are no numbered OS grid lines write a 6 figure OS grid reference for the centre of the map on the bottom left of the map

• if you make a mistake strike through it. Do not use correction fluid on your map.

4.4.4 Business viability test

We will check all applicants against an insolvency register. If we assess your application as not financially viable, we may not offer you an agreement.

For applications including capital expenditure of over £50,000, you must submit a statement from a registered accountant (for example, a chartered accountant or certified accountant). This is to confirm that the business or SBI has the resources from trading profits, reserves or loans to undertake the work in the proposed agreement schedule.

Where confirmation from an accountant is needed, the accountant will need to provide a letter on headed paper which confirms at least the following:

• they are a registered accountant

• they act as the accountant for the applicant or have been contracted to act on behalf of the applicant

• they can confirm that you as the applicant have sufficient finances to complete the capital works in your application and how these funds will be sourced, (for example, savings, loan and so on)

• their understanding of the total value of the capital works in the application.

4.5 Authorise an agent

You can authorise an agent to fill in and submit your application and payment claim forms for you.

For an agent to act for you, you must give them the appropriate permission levels in the Rural Payments service.

This applies even if you have previously authorised the agent using the paper agent authorisation form.

Read ‘Give someone else permission to act on your behalf’ on GOV.UK for more information on the different levels of permission. You should also read the information in the Permission levels screen in the Rural Payments service. This lists what is permitted at each level.

You are responsible for making sure that you assign permissions on Rural Payments correctly and that contact details are all correct.

4.6 After applying

4.6.1 Missing information and rejection

Once we receive your application we will carry out a number of checks on it and will contact you if there is any missing information. You must send us the missing information we ask for within the timescales we give you. If you do not, we may reject your application.

If this happens, you would then need to resubmit your application, making sure you provide all the information we need and that you meet all of the eligibility requirements. You must not start to create a WMP until you have an agreement.

4.6.2 Eligible applicants being offered an agreement/agreement acceptance

If you apply online (outlined in section 4.4.1), you will only be able to submit your application if you have met all of the eligibility requirements. The Rural Payments service will reject your application immediately if it fails any of the eligibility requirements. The service gives onscreen feedback to explain why this has happened. If this happens, you can edit and resubmit your application.

If you apply using a paper form (outlined in section 4.4.2), we will need to manually carry out eligibility checks. We will contact you if you fail any of the checks and explain how you can correct them. You can find more information about this at section 4.6.1.

If you are eligible, we will send you an agreement offer by post. You must accept or decline the offer signing and dating the declaration and returning it to us. You can ask us for an acknowledgement that we have received your signed agreement. You cannot modify, extend or amend the WMP agreement.

The agreement start date will be shown on your agreement and is usually the first day of the month after you receive your agreement offer.

If you wish to enter a Higher Tier agreement and your land holding contains a SSSI, whether it is in or outside of woodland, you must consult Natural England. If the SSSI is found to be in poor condition, a feasibility study (PA2) may be required. This study must be undertaken before a Higher Tier application can proceed.

You can contact Natural England by email at [email protected] or by phone on 0300 060 3900.

You must have an approved WMP throughout the 5 year period of your Higher Tier agreement. If you have a WMP that ends before your Higher Tier agreement does, you’ will need approval of a new WMP for the remainder of your Higher Tier agreement.

You can submit your draft for a new WMP at any point, but it must be before your existing WMP ends.

If your Higher Tier application relates to a woodland SSSI, you also need Natural England to give their consent on your new WMP. You will be able to submit a SSSI management notice for NE consent if you have WMPs in place for the duration of your woodland CS agreement.

If you intend to include historic environment multi-year options or capital items within the woodland in your CS application for Higher Tier, the work required should be declared in your WMP. Any work related to Scheduled Monuments may require Historic England to provide Scheduled Monument Consent. This can either be obtained separately or in parallel with the Forestry Commission’s approval of your WMP.

You can contact Historic England by email: [email protected] or by phone on: 0370 333 0607.

4.6.3 Creating a draft Woodland Management Plan

You can start work creating a WMP after the agreement start date. You must follow the technical guidance outlined in ‘Create a woodland management plan’ and submit the WMP to the Forestry Commission (read Annex for details).

You can find information on biodiversity and woodland management intended to benefit rare and declining woodland wildlife in the Woodland Wildlife Toolkit.

Do not send your draft WMP to RPA. You must send it to the Forestry Commission.

The maximum size of emails that we can accept is 32MB. When you send your application by email make sure it’s not over this limit. If it is over the limit, you will need to split the information and send more than one email, each less than 32MB. For security reasons, we cannot accept discs, USB pen drives or other external storage media.

A FCWO will contact you and help you to develop the plan for final approval. The final WMP (including any associated felling permissions) needs to be approved by the Forestry Commission before the agreement end date (read section 2.7 for agreement duration).

4.7 Woodland Management Plan agreements and Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier

You must have a WMP approved by the Forestry Commission before you can apply for woodland support under the Higher Tier element of Countryside Stewardship.

This is the case whether the CS Higher Tier application is for woodland only or woodland in a ‘mixed’ agreement (an agreement that includes woodland and agri- environment land).

The WMP must be approved (or approved in principle) on or before the deadline for initial CS Higher Tier applications (29 April 2022).If the WMP is only approved in principle at the time the initial CS Higher Tier application is made, the plan must be fully approved (including felling licence in place) by the deadline for final CS Higher Tier applications.

‘Approved in principle’ means that approval of the plan depends on any accompanying felling licence permission being in place, which can often take longer than approval of the WMP. This is because of the requirement to publish felling proposals on a public register for 28 days.

To make sure there is opportunity for a WMP to be at least approved in principle in time for an initial Higher Tier application, you should submit your draft WMP to the Forestry Commission by 31 December of the year before the Higher Tier application will be made.

4.8 Land in Environmental Stewardship agreements

You can make a WMP grant application on land that is already included in an existing Environmental Stewardship (ES) agreement, as long as preparation of a WMP is not a requirement of the ES agreement.

However, you cannot enter land in an existing ES agreement into CS Higher Tier, unless it included HC7 and/or HC8 on Woodland that will end before the Higher Tier agreement starts. Those parcels can be included into CS Higher Tier because those options cannot be included in an ES extension.