Forestry Grant Scheme Update

Following the confirmation of the new Scottish Government Budget Bill for 2024/25, Scottish Forestry has seen a significant reduction (41% cut) to its Capital Budget which is utilised to deliver new Woodland Creation in Scotland.

This reduction to the grant funding budget has created significant challenges for the forestry industry, and Scottish Forestry have released two new Briefing Notes detailing how they are working to optimise delivery of woodland creation within these new restricted parameters.

The 41% cut to Scottish Forestry’s Capital Budget has created significant challenges for the forestry industry. Scottish Forestry have released two new Briefing Notes detailing how they are working to optimise delivery of woodland creation within these new restricted parameters.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said:

“It is critical that we make the most of the available funds during this financial year as next year’s budget for woodland creation has unfortunately had to be greatly reduced.

By extending the deadline it will assist woodland owners to complete their projects and carry out the paperwork needed to get their claims in for this planting year. Importantly, this action will avoid some slippage of projects rolling into the next financial year and eating into the reduced budget.”

Briefing Note 46: Details end of 2023 Claim Year, and Budget Management for 2024/25.

Key summary:

• Claims for Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) capital items with a 2023 claim year must be submitted to your local Scottish Forestry Conservancy office by 17th May 2024 (an extension of 6 weeks to try maximise use of the 2023 budget availability & reduce number of projects seeking variation to 2024).
• You can only submit one further claim for your 2023 claim year activity which can be claimed on completion of your works. NOTE: It will help Scottish Forestry greatly if you submit your claim as soon as you have completed your works – please do not delay submission until the deadline.
• Please claim what you have completed by the 17th May 2024.
• Variations for projects not claimed and/or not started are highly unlikely to receive approval for a variation into 2024/25.

Briefing Note 47: Forestry Grant Scheme Budget Update.

A full update and table has been provided to show current indicative budget availability for 2024 and 2025 (as of March 2024). With reduced budget availability and a significant number of applications already received or in pipeline with Scottish Forestry, we are seeing a far higher level of competition for funding than in previous years.

The value of applications in some categories (woodland creation over 50ha for 2024 & 2025, and native woodland creation over 20ha for 2024) has already exceeded the available budget. Applications will be assessed against agreed scoring criteria (found here on the Rural Payments website), with higher scoring applications more likely to be successful at any future clearing round. As funds become fully committed, Scottish Forestry (where possible) will seek to offer new applications a future claim year.