The government has outlined its five stages to rebuild Britain with six key commitments and first steps for change being:

1. Growth – to deliver economic stability
2. NHS – to cut NHS waiting times
3. Cheaper bills – to set up GB Energy
4. Secure borders – launch a new border security command
5. Safer streets – crack down on antisocial behaviour
6. Young people – recruit 6,500 new teachers to support young people

The autumn budget

The eagle eyed of us will identify there is no mention of food security, agriculture or the rural sector. With this in mind, what are we expecting from the autumn budget review for Defra? 

The current agricultural budget is £3.5 billion of which £2.4 billion is the annual farming budget for England. This budget funds Environmental Land Management (ELM) and has been complemented with further grants to support farmers in areas such as productivity, innovation and animal health and welfare. With speculation of a £358 million agri budget underspend (over three years) what could be the unintended consequences of any cuts?

• For government – it would need to reassess targets for food production, environmental protection and recovery, and further manage expectations for delivery on both.
• For the rural sector – businesses would need to reassess profitability and sustainability within current enterprises and make changes which could impact levels of food production and environmental protection and recovery.

All of this is occurring against a backdrop of uncertainty regarding Agricultural Property Relief (APR) from inheritance tax. While Labour categorically stated it had no plans to change APR, this was before the prime minister warned ‘things will get worse before they get better.’ If inheritance tax reliefs are revised it could affect succession planning and many farming businesses will need to reevaluate their position.

The Labour manifesto

In terms of government support for the rural sector, here’s a reminder of a number of the key messages from the Labour party manifesto:

• Make ELM work for farmers and nature
• Labour recognises that food security is national security
• Half of all food purchases across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards
• Introduce a land use framework
• Support the introduction of a carbon border adjustment mechanism
• Plant millions of trees and create new woodlands

At the presentation of the manifesto our comment was that it was very light on detail and we are continuing to wait for the much-needed clarification. 

Labour did say it was here to steady the ship for the agricultural sector, having seen the uncertainties and change the sector has faced in recent times. With this in mind, the government will do well to stick by its statement when faced with autumn budget decisions and return to its report, Feeding the Nation: creating a resilient, growing food industry which was published in 2013 – ‘Labour is committed to work with UK farmers and producers to meet these challenges, and ensure a resilient, safe and secure supply of food,’ and ‘Food can drive the economy’. With economic stability a key commitment, let’s see this happen.

Further information

Contact Kelly Hewson-Fisher or Andrew Wraith