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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of ash trees felled in the last period for which data is available.

Most parts of the country are now experiencing the impacts of ash tree decline, although the speed and severity of the disease is variable at a local level. The Government does not collect data on the number of ash trees that have been felled, including those affected by ash dieback, but of the 2700 applications approved to date in 2021, the Forestry Commission has recorded 1564 felling licence applications containing ash (as a tree species planned for felling). This is very similar to the felling licence application figures for 2020.

The felling licences approved in 2020, and which contain ash as a tree species, cover just under 20,000 hectares of land, including land outside woodland, and contain an estimated 950,000 m3 of timber, and this is approved for felling within the next five to ten years, depending on the length of the felling licence.

Where appropriate, approved felling licences carry legally enforceable restocking conditions to ensure any trees felled are replaced using suitable means and to ensure tree and woodland cover is maintained for future generations.