Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Tree Planting

Thursday 9 May 2024 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Theresa Villiers asked the Minister to streamline the permissions process for tree planting to meet government goals.
  • Dan Jarvis inquired about the Department's efforts to promote increased tree cover in areas identified as needing investment by the Tree Equity Score UK map.
  • Toby Perkins criticized the Government for being off target on legally binding tree-planting goals, according to an Office for Environmental Protection report.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Theresa Villiers Con
Climate Environment
Context

The MP inquired about streamlining the process of obtaining permissions for tree planting.

Question

Trees must play a crucial role if we are to meet our commitments on nature recovery and net zero, and they are a tremendous source of happiness, well-being and landscape beauty. To meet the ambitious tree-planting goals that the Government have set, can they streamline the permissions process? Some of the red tape seems disproportionate and in need of regulatory reform.

Answer from Rebecca Pow

I thank my right hon. Friend for the work she has done in her constituency to encourage tree planting, but she is right that the process needs to be fast and simple. We have taken that on board, and the Forestry Commission has recently introduced the woodland creation fast track, aiming to help to decide eligible woodland creation offers within just 12 weeks.

Answered
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Q2 Dan Jarvis Lab Barnsley North
Environment
Context

The MP asked about promoting increased tree cover in specific parts of the country.

Question

Led by the Woodland Trust, Tree Equity Score UK is a map-based application created to address disparities in urban tree distribution by identifying the areas in greatest need of investment in trees. What is the Department doing to promote increased tree cover in the parts of the country that need it most?

Answer from Rebecca Pow

I highlight again the low-sensitivity map, which points out exactly the same things as the map the hon. Gentleman refers to. We have many funds focused in particular on urban areas—some come from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities—to encourage urban tree planting, because it is so important for our health and wellbeing.

Answered
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Q3 Toby Perkins Lab Chesterfield
Environment
Context

The MP criticised the Government for falling behind on their legally binding tree planting target and highlighted underspending issues.

Question

I have to say that the Minister's response suggests that the Government are completely in denial. The Office for Environmental Protection report exposed that the Government are way off target on their legally binding tree-planting target. There has been no trend of improvement on tree planting between 2018 and 2023. It would be bad enough if the problem were lack of money, but her Department is even failing to spend the money that it has been allocated. The environmental land management scheme is underspent by hundreds of millions, and the nature for climate fund that she spoke about has returned £77 million to the Treasury unspent. Is not it clear that, to get the tree cover that our country needs, we do not need a magic money tree; we need a Labour Government?

Answer from Rebecca Pow

I ask the hon. Gentleman to look at his own tree-planting record. This Government have planted more trees than Labour did. We now have the plan in place so, if one looks at the graph, it is ramping up to hit those targets, and the training, skills, the forest apprenticeship and the framework are in place to reach our targets.

Partly answered

Not addressed: specific spending figures and progress towards the target

How: Look At His Own Tree-Planting Record

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