Lord Wigley
Main Page: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)
It is the turn of the Conservative Benches.
Lord Katz (Lab)
I thank the noble Baroness for that question. To be clear, I do not know whether the Treasury has done precisely that analysis, but I can say that at the Budget last week, the Chancellor announced that any unused allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners from 6 April next year. We have taken this action after listening to feedback from many stakeholders who called strongly for the change to planned reforms to reduce complexity and remove an unfairness for widows and widowers. This change will double the tax-free allowance for agricultural business property available to estates of those widowed before 6 April 2026. It is worth pointing out that almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim business property relief, are not expected to pay more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.
Lord Wigley (PC)
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the farming pattern in Wales is very different from that in the majority of England? Most farmers may be capital rich but are income poor, with average incomes under £25,000 a year. In these circumstances, will the Government either exempt all agricultural holdings from capital gains tax where they are transferred from family to family for an ongoing agricultural purpose, or enable Senedd Cymru to introduce a new agricultural taxation system in Wales to safeguard our traditional family farms?
Lord Katz (Lab)
I thank the noble Lord for that question. It is probably a little outside my bailiwick to talk about changing the devolution settlement with the Senedd. To reassure him, we are working with farmers in all parts of the country and in all farming sectors to ensure that they have fairer, more equitable supply chains, which is of course a really important factor in ensuring that businesses are viable. We have already introduced fair dealing regulations for pig and dairy farmers to ensure that small businesses are treated fairly in their contractual dealings with large buyers. We are currently developing those regulations in other sectors, such as the milk/dairy sector, and I can tell him that the egg sector regulations are well advanced: we are getting cracking with it.
Lord Katz (Lab)
My Lords, this is a subject of the utmost seriousness. I cannot commit to publishing data without understanding that the data is available to be published in a correct and statistically reliable format. This is something that the Government take very seriously. The noble Lord will be aware that, since May 2024, Defra has funded the farmer welfare grant, which provides half a million pounds to support charity projects focused on improving the mental health and well-being of farmers in England. That fund runs until next March; we are currently evaluating how it works to see whether it is possible to extend and expand this fund post 2026.
In the wider NHS, we have hired 8,500 new mental health support workers, which will help access for anyone in distress. It is important that we do not politicise mental health issues across society, particularly when we have sectors that are impacted by it. This Government stand behind their farming sector. We understand that the changes that we had to make in last year’s Budget, which we have ameliorated in this year’s Budget, are tough on farming businesses, but it is important that we make decisions that put farming on a firm footing and are fair by the public finances.
Lord Wigley (PC)
My Lords, following my earlier question, I wish to ensure that my interests in matters regarding agriculture, which are in the register, are drawn to the attention of the House.