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This guide will help you to apply for the Tree Production Capital Grant (TPCG). It covers how to complete your application form and finance spreadsheet.

You can find the application forms and further details on the TPCG forms page.

The deadline for applications is 8 July 2026.

We will notify all applicants of their TPCG funding decision. We expect to issue outcomes on 19 August 2026.

What to do before applying

Before completing your application you should:

• read this guidance and the TPCG information page thoroughly
• consider the source of your 50% match funding. Match funding cannot be sourced from any other Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) funded grant
• check that the items you wish to purchase and activities you wish to carry out are eligible
• ensure you will have the funds available to purchase items and/or pay for work up front as the grant is paid in arrears
• get quotes for items so you’re confident in the estimates you provide in your finance spreadsheet and to ensure good value for money
• speak to suppliers and contractors about delivery times and availability to ensure items or work can be delivered on time

How to complete your application form

You must:

• complete all sections of the form
• write your answers in English
• not alter the layout or format of the form

If any part of your application is incomplete or incorrect, we will return it to you within 3 working days for you to revise and resubmit before the deadline.

Part 1: application details

Applicant details

The ‘applicant organisation’ is the organisation that will be named on the grant agreement if successful and to whom grant payments will be paid. The ‘applicant organisation’ will assume all responsibilities detailed in the grant agreement, in line with the terms and conditions of funding.

Give the organisation’s legal name. If this is different to how it is known publicly, include the public-facing name in brackets.

Include the name and contact details of the lead applicant. The person included in this section must also sign the form in Part 9.

Enter one of the following:

• a company registration number (preferred)
• charity number (preferred)
• UK Provider Reference Number (preferred for educational institutions)
• VAT registration number
• Unique Taxpayer Reference

Your tree or tree seed production

This section gives the evaluation panel additional context about your tree or tree seed production. It also helps us to monitor the types of producers who are applying for and receiving TPCG funding.  

All applicants must answer the first 2 questions in this section. Only tree producers need to answer the rest of the questions.

Submitting a business plan

If your organisation has been selling or supplying trees or tree seed for 3 years or less, you must submit a business plan. This is regardless of whether you have been producing other plants or seeds for longer. The business plan should demonstrate your objectives, strategies and forecasts, including what the market is for your trees or tree seed.

The content and length of your business plan should be proportionate to the size and type of your operations. If you are a not-for-profit organisation, your plan should cover how you will support yourselves financially.

Read guidance on how to write a business plan.

Project details 

Tick the relevant box or boxes to show which financial year(s) you are seeking funding in.

Summarise your proposed project and what you hope to achieve in 100 words or less. Focus your answer on the items and activities you are seeking funding for.

Tick the relevant box to let us know whether the items and/or activities you are applying for will be used exclusively for tree or tree seed production. Explain what other purposes the items/activities may be used for.

Tick the relevant box to let us know whether the items and/or activities you are applying for will be used for the production of trees or tree seed for England. If you supply other countries, tell us how much you will be supplying England.

Eligibility criteria

Read the eligibility criteria carefully and respond to each question by completing the Yes/No/N/A column.

All projects will be assessed against these eligibility criteria before they are scored by the evaluation panel. If you answer No or do not answer any questions, your application will be rejected.

Part 2: assessed questions

The questions in this section will be scored by the evaluation panel. The weighting of the scores is given in brackets next to each question. Read how applications are assessed for more information.

Each question has a word limit. Information significantly exceeding this will not be evaluated.

In your responses to questions 1-5, you should justify the items and activities you are applying for and outline the impact these will have. Address all proposed items and activities.

Be realistic when predicting outcomes and benefits, including increases in annual production capacity. You will be asked to report back on these at the end of your project in your post-implementation report.

Outline any major risks or dependencies.

Make it clear if any of the expected improvements outlined in your answers are dependent on external factors. For example, hiring a new nursery manager or acquiring land.

All project work must be completed by 27 March in each financial year. In your responses, demonstrate how you will ensure the project is delivered in this time.

You can attach documents to your application to support your answers. For example, Gantt charts, quotes, maps or CVs. If you do, clearly refer to them in the relevant section.

Part 3: finances

You must complete and submit a finance spreadsheet with your application form. This forms part of your answer to Question 5: value for money.

Read how to complete your finance spreadsheet.

Parts 4-8

Read through the information in these sections carefully.

In Part 7: declarations, tick each box to show that you have read, understood, and agree to each declaration. If you fail to comply with any obligations your application may be rejected.

Part 9: authorisation 

Once you have completed your application form and finance spreadsheet, sign the form.

You must either add a

• digital e-signature: select the signature box and follow the instructions
• printed signature: print the form, sign it by hand ²¹²Ô»åÌýscan it back in

We cannot accept typed signatures.

The person signing the form must be the lead applicant named in Part 1.

How to complete your finance spreadsheet   

Read the Instructions tab of the finance spreadsheet before starting.

Your finance spreadsheet outlines how you propose to spend the grant funding and will form your budget for the project if you are successful.

List all proposed project costs in your finance spreadsheet and specify what financial year they will incur in. If a cost will be split across 2 financial years, split it across 2 rows, one for each financial year.

Ensure the information is comprehensive and includes all anticipated costs. If successful, you will need to link each cost you claim for to its relevant item reference on your finance spreadsheet.

If you include staff or contractor costs, make it clear what these costs will cover and ensure they are eligible. See what you can apply for.

If you’re VAT registered, all items should be exclusive of any VAT that can be recovered from HMRC. If you are unable to recover VAT on a cost, include the VAT in the total amount you provide. If you can recover VAT on a cost, provide the cost exclusive of VAT.

Consider the financial year in which you are applying for each item carefully. Outcomes are expected to be issued on 19 August 2026. Items must be received, and work completed by 27 March in each financial year. Budget cannot be moved between financial years.

Before submitting, check that:

• all costs are correct
• you are only applying for eligible items and activities
• you have applied for costs in the correct financial year
• the ‘Summary of Costs’ tab is correct
• the total funding applied for is no less than £5,000
• the total funding applied for is no more than £175,000
• you are only applying for up to 50% funding towards each item

Financial viability evidence

If you are a local authority, public body or university and the total cost of your project exceeds £50,000 you must submit a departmental letter of authority to spend on the items in the agreement.

Departmental letters must:

• come from someone with decision making capacity, such as a member of the finance department, or the head of the department through which the project will be delivered
• acknowledge the total cost of capital items
• confirm that the department has sufficient funds to deliver the capital costs of the project up front and they understand that claims will be paid in arrears

How to submit your application

Check your application form and finance spreadsheet are complete before submitting.

Submit the following to tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk:

• application form
• finance spreadsheet
• business plan (if you’ve been selling or supplying trees or tree seed for 3 years or less)
• financial viability (if applicable)

The deadline for applications is 11:55pm on 8 July 2026.

After you have applied

Read the TPCG process diagram for an overview of the application process.

How applications are assessed

All applications will be initially assessed for eligibility. Any application deemed to fall outside the scope of the fund or does not meet TPCG eligibility criteria will not be evaluated and will be rejected.

Eligible applications will be evaluated and scored by a panel with expertise and experience of tree production methods used in England.

Initial sift

If we receive a high volume of applications, the panel will conduct an initial sift on responses to Question 1: productivity using the regular evaluation criteria. Applications that pass the initial sift will be scored in full.

Evaluation

Funding will be awarded to the highest scoring applications.

The panel will apply the following evaluation criteria to assessed questions:

Score	Description
0	Unacceptable – nil or inadequate response. Fails to demonstrate how the assessment criteria are met
1	Poor – response is partially relevant and/or poor. The response contains insufficient/limited detail or explanation to demonstrate evidence of meeting the assessment criteria
2	Acceptable – Response is relevant and acceptable. The response provides sufficient evidence of meeting the assessment criteria and covers the majority of points expected for a given criterion
3	Good – response is relevant and good. The response provides full details of how the assessment criteria will be fulfilled covering all of the points expected for a given criterion
4	Excellent – response is completely relevant and excellent overall, possibly exceeding requirements. Full detail provided that exceeds some or all of the requirements, where relevant including quantitative and species-level data. The response is comprehensive and provides a high level of detail on how the assessment criteria are met

Question 1: productivity is weighted at 25%, and all other questions are equally weighted at 12.5%. In the event of a tie and there being insufficient funds to support all projects, responses to question 1 will be used to break the tie, with the highest score winning. If both applications have the same score for question 1, the evaluation panel will review responses in detail to decide which is marginally stronger.

If your application scores 0 for any of the scored questions or scores less than 16/32 overall, it will be unsuccessful.

The evaluation panel will have access to information about the delivery of previous TPCG grant agreements you may have held and may use this to help score your response to Question 7: deliverability.

Application outcomes 

We will email all applicants to inform them of the outcome of their application. We expect to issue outcomes on 19 August 2026.

We will issue you with one of the following:

1. Successful outcome letter: your application was successful. You will also receive an offer letter, and a grant agreement.
2. Unsuccessful outcome letter: your application was unsuccessful.
3. ‘Offer in principle letter’ and ‘offer in principle form’: the evaluation panel requires further information before deciding whether to award funding.

The offer in principle form outlines the evaluation panel’s comments and requests. You must complete the relevant sections in the form and provide the necessary information, clarification and/or documents requested. You must email your response within 2 weeks or request an extension if you are unable to make the deadline. If you do not submit a response or request an extension by the deadline, your application will be unsuccessful.

If successful, you must sign and return the grant agreement by email before beginning any project activities. Items purchased or activities conducted prior to the start of your grant agreement will not be eligible to claim for.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may not be able to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants.

If successful, read the guidance for TPCG grant recipients.

Further information

If you need to clarify any application requirements or the application process, email  tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk

If we consider information requests relevant to any applicant, we will provide additional guidance to all applicants by email to ensure a fair and open process. We may be unable to respond to some requests due to the competitive bid process.

You can amend your application before the published deadline or withdraw at any time.

Applicants who canvass Forestry Commission or Defra employees associated with TPCG may have their applications rejected.

Neither the Forestry Commission nor its respective partners, advisors, directors, officers, members, partners, employees, other staff or agents:

• makes any representation or warranty (express or implied) as to the accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of this guidance
• accepts any responsibility for the information contained in this guidance or for the fairness, accuracy or completeness of the information. Nor shall any be liable for any loss or damage (other than in respect of fraudulent misrepresentation) arising as a result of reliance on such information or any subsequent communication

Changes to the application process

The Forestry Commission reserve the right to amend, add or withdraw all or any part of the application process or grant offer at any time. All changes and updates are recorded. If you have already submitted an application, we will inform you of the changes via email.

Significant changes (for example, to the closing date or eligibility) will be communicated via the Forestry Commission grants and regulations eAlert.

Terms and conditions

Access the terms and conditions that will apply to this grant on the TPCG application form.

Confidentiality

If you consider the information contained within your application to be commercially sensitive, you must notify the Forestry Commission of this when submitting your application.

Contact us

If you have questions about the TPCG or the application process, email tpcg@forestrycommission.gov.uk

Find out how to make a complaint or appeal.