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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to tackle illegal tree felling.

All trees are subject to the tree felling controls defined in Part II of the Forestry Act 1967 (as amended). In most cases a licence for felling is required from the Forestry Commission to cut down trees, including as part of sustainable woodland management, but there are a number of exemptions to the need for a felling licence in the Act, such as for example the felling of most trees growing in a garden.

When trees have been felled without a licence, and where it appears to the Commissioners that an offence had been committed, the Forestry Commission can serve a Restocking Notice to secure replanting, avoiding the need to seek a prosecution for the felling offence.

If there is failure to comply with the requirements of a Restocking Notice, an Enforcement Notice will be served; this usually requires compliance with the prescription in the original Restocking Notice.

Failure to comply with an Enforcement Notice is itself an offence and will result in the Forestry Commission seeking a prosecution for the non-compliance.

Through the Environment Act 2021, new enforcement measures came into force on 1 January 2023. These allow further penalties to be applied when trees are felled illegally under the Forestry Act:

• Felling trees without a felling licence where one was required can now carry the penalty of an unlimited fine - replacing the previous limit of £2,500 or twice the value of the trees felled.
• Failure to comply with a Forestry Commission Enforcement Notice and a subsequent court-ordered Restocking Order (meaning any trees felled must be replanted) will put offenders at risk of imprisonment, in addition to an unlimited fine.
• Restocking Notices and Enforcement Notices will be listed on the Local Land Charges Register, making them visible to prospective buyers of the land - making clear the restocking requirements in place, and potentially reducing the land's value.