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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with relevant stakeholders to help ensure that trees planted on newly built housing estates survive beyond 12 months.

We recognise the critical importance of maintaining trees after planting to ensure they grow and thrive into the future. Under the England Woodland Creation Offer, as well as planting carried out by the Community Forests, funding is provided for establishment and maintenance costs for up to 15 years.

Where Defra grants are not used to fund the planting, we cannot require establishment care through our grant terms and conditions. The Government has produced guidance for local authorities and others who wish to plant trees. For example, the Local Authority Tree & Woodland Strategy Toolkit provides a guide for local authorities and their stakeholders to develop effective tree strategies. It emphasises resilient treescapes, strategic planting and the importance of long-term maintenance. The Urban Tree Manual: The Right Tree in the Right Place for a Resilient Future, provides advice on the establishment of new trees and woodlands and the requirement for watering, particularly as part of the preparation and continued maintenance. Further advice is published within the Forest Research Climate Change Hub.