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 to help communities in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire restore nature.

Defra funds nature restoration across the country. This includes woodland creation grants such as England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO) that provides financial support for tree planting, providing 100% of standard woodland creation capital costs; with additional payments for projects that contribute to nature restoration. The Government also supports woodland creation and tree planting across 15 Community Forests. In Staffordshire, the Forest of Merica planted over 230,000 trees in the last five years.