Farming and Inheritance Tax

Alison Bennett Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

Although our policy should discourage the kind of tax planning to which I think the hon. Gentleman refers, the policy is broader than that. It is necessary to balance significant relief from inheritance tax on family farms with the need to fix the public finances, and that is the balanced decision that we have taken with this policy.

Of course, the decision on this tax policy sits alongside the Government’s wider decisions at Budget 2024. There is £5 billion over two years for farming and land management in England, which will help restore stability and confidence in the sector. That includes the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature recovery in our country’s history. Despite the difficult fiscal inheritance, £60 million of funding has also been prioritised for the farm recovery fund, to support farmers impacted by severe wet weather over the last year.

[Alison Bennett (Mid Sussex) (LD)]

The Minister rightly mentions the need for more sustainable land management, but is it not the case that the changes to APR will actually undermine the sustainable land management initiatives that farmers in Mid Sussex are trying to deliver every day?

[James Murray]

No, that is not the case. The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner), who will be responding at the end of this debate, can set out more about what the Government are doing to support farmers in their work on land management across the country.