Minutes of the APPG meeting 16 June 2026
Attendees
Parliamentary: Alex Mayer MP (Chair, Lab, Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard), Baroness Young of Old Scone (Vice Chair, Lab), Baroness Boycott, Baroness Lister, Lord Bishop of Norwich
Woodland Trust: Andrew Allen, Scott Blance, Joe Humpage, Bridget Fox
External guests: Carrie Hume (Trees for Cities), Leah Johnstone (Trees for Cities), Scott Watson (Hartlepool Borough Council), Heather Acton (Heart of England Forest), Aoife Parker (Seahorse)
Minutes
Alex Mayer MP opened the session by thanking all the attendees and outlining some of the recent and forthcoming policy changes impacting woods and trees, including the waste crime action plan, land use framework, and funding to restore plantations on ancient woodland soils.
Andrew Allen, from the Woodland Trust, then presented early sight of the organisation’s forthcoming report on tree equity. Tree equity is the simple idea that regardless of one's background, income or postcode, access to the benefits of trees should be equitable. Currently, however, canopy cover and access to trees is highly unequal and it is generally the poorest, most deprived areas that have the worst tree coverage. The Tree Equity Score, a tool co-developed by American Forests, the Woodland Trust and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, measures tree cover and a range of other economic, social and environmental metrics to assess every urban neighbourhood in the country. Neighbourhoods with low tree canopy cover are likely to have worse physical and mental health outcomes, lower incomes and poorer living environments.
Andy’s presentation summarised the report’s findings and recommendations to national government, and this was followed by an open discussion. This covered the intersection of policy areas in which urban trees sit, and the need to embed the England Tree Action Plan beyond Defra and across Government. Commenting on the challenges with tree establishment, one attendee also commented on the need to get trees planted before full planning permission is granted, and tree aftercare is a topic that the APPG continues to campaign on. Another commented that the Forestry Commission has seen an increase in illegal felling cases in anticipation of planning permission being granted on a site. Developers have either been felling sequentially to stay under the volume threshold which requires a felling license, or accepting penalties as an ongoing business expense rather than a deterrent. FC is now using technology such as drones significantly more to address these cases and recently handed out its biggest ever fine to a landowner (£266,666) for failure to comply with forestry regulations, and who was preparing and repeatedly ignored directives.
Following this discussion, Scott Watson and Leah Johnston gave a presentation on how tree equity has been put into practice in Hartlepool, an area with the second lowest tree equity score in England. Tree equity data shows that some areas of the town have canopy cover of 0%. Hartlepool aims to transform from one of the lowest-scoring towns for tree equity into a Tree City of the World by 2026, and create a replicable model to do this in other areas of the UK. The presentation covered the indirect and direct benefits of the project, the tools and resources deployed, how communities are engaged, and learnings so far. The importance of community engagement and partnership working was heavily emphasised and the presentation made a strong case for maintenance funding for newly planted trees outside community forest areas. Combining community engagement with focused tree planting initiatives has proven to be a key contributor to enhancing a sense of place and pride amongst residents of Hartlepool.
The detailed presentation set the scene for a lively discussion with attendees covering a range of topics, from the role of women as enablers of engagement in tight-knit communities, to schools and young people. One peer described their work on poverty and inequality, and how there was no mention of this sort of project in the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, despite the demonstrable benefits for young people.
This discussion was followed by a call to action, for the group to take the opportunity afforded by the England Tree Action Plan (ETAP) to improve long term funding for tree planting engagement projects in the communities that need it most. Andrew Allen closed the session with a summary of the ETAP’s purpose and scope. Covering the period 2026-2030, it should be the most significant publication relating to trees and woods published by this Government. The document is currently in draft stage and attendees were asked to submit parliamentary questions relevant to tree equity and the ETAP.