Property Taxes
Ann Davies Excerpts(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
I begin by referring the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
I represent a rural, agricultural community. As we look forward to a Budget for Christmas, this Labour UK Government’s last autumn Budget remains of significant concern. The wide divide between rural Wales and Westminster was made clear as day last year when the Chancellor announced plans to restrict full inheritance tax relief from April next year to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Combining APR and BPR means that the asset value of the tools and the machinery necessary to operate a farming business are affected, as well as the agricultural land and property.
While the Government maintain that this policy will affect only about 500 estates a year and that small family farms will not be affected, the calculations of the Farmers’ Union of Wales and NFU Cymru show otherwise. When I told the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs that 92% of one local accountancy firm’s clients would be hit, it was totally dismissed, but now even the producers of the research used by this Government to justify their plans have conceded that working farmers are more likely to suffer under the policy than the wealthy.
Edward Morello (West Dorset) (LD)
Over half of UK farms have a net value of over £1.5 million. Farmers are already worried about the family farm tax and are now looking at the potential tax rises that the Government are floating for the upcoming Budget, including increased rates of inheritance tax and other forms of property taxes. These are our food producers, and they are writing to me to ask why they should continue to sow the seeds. Does the hon. Lady agree that farmers need a break?
Ann Davies
Absolutely, and I will come on to that in a minute. In Wales, between 75% and 90% of farmers will be affected by the policy, according to NFU Cymru and FUW.
It is clear that this Government’s APR changes will not hit tax-avoiding wealthy land hoarders. Instead, they will punish working farmers in Wales, whose income dropped by an average of 34% last year, forcing many to sell what their parents and grandparents spent lifetimes building. And it is not just farm business owners. Family Business UK estimates that the changes will cause a £15.5 million reduction in GVA in my constituency of Caerfyrddin alone, along with the loss of 282 full-time jobs.
The new inheritance tax rules will be introduced amid mounting financial pressures on our farmers, from the financial implications of bluetongue restrictions and testing requirements to the effect of Wales’s hottest summer on record on crops and pasture. Our rural businesses will also suffer, with car garages, food wholesale businesses and uPVC project businesses among those in my constituency that are hard hit by this Government’s BPR changes. All employ hundreds of my constituents.
We cannot afford to lose our rural businesses or our family farms. We cannot lose the knowledge, the heritage and the community—the work that sustains and feeds our nation. Ahead of the autumn Budget at the end of November, I call on the Government once again: please reverse these changes before it is too late. Diolch yn fawr.
UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy
Ann Davies Excerpts(4 months, 1 week ago)
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Darren Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and he will see in due course, when the industrial strategy is published, that we have been thinking across Government about the role of infrastructure as an enabling investment to unlock other types of investment, and to create great opportunities for people and economies where they can afford to live and are able to get around to access those opportunities.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
The Chief Secretary’s statement made no mention of rural areas. When it comes to infrastructure, Welsh rural communities have for decades lost out, with a lack of investment in both our physical and digital infrastructure. Unfortunately, the £445 million on rail does not come anywhere near rural Wales. What are the Government doing to prioritise investment in disadvantaged rural areas in Wales?
Darren Jones
I thank the hon. Member for her question. Without wanting to go through the entire infrastructure strategy or spending review, there is significant money coming to all parts of the country. The Chancellor has increased day-to-day spending by £190 billion and capital spending by £120 billion, so I am confident that the hon. Member’s constituents will benefit from an improved national health service, improved road maintenance and improved digital infrastructure. There is a very long list of things people will be able to experience, and they will see the difference made by a Labour Government as we deliver on our promise of change.
Regional Growth
Ann Davies Excerpts(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Darren Jones
I thank my hon. Friend for championing jobs and livelihoods in her constituency and the region, and for welcoming the historic £1.8 billion of investment announced today for transport infrastructure. As she rightly alludes to, the announcement is about transport infrastructure, but the Government are doing much more to improve lives, wages and communities in every part of the country. We will be setting out further information in the coming weeks in relation to other types of infrastructure as well as how, through the industrial strategy, we are supporting skills, jobs and training opportunities for people so they can get better jobs and better pay. I note that, of course, the transport funding announced today will serve one of the largest advanced manufacturing zones in the United Kingdom, which will be great news for her constituents and great news for the country.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
Following on from High Speed 2, there is a new chapter in the great Welsh train robbery—I am sure hon. Members know where this is going. The East West Rail project between Oxford and Cambridge has been classified as an England and Wales project. I have lived in Wales all my life, and I have got to say that it is nowhere near the Welsh border. The last time I looked, neither of them were anywhere near Wales. Honestly, will the Chief Secretary explain why the Treasury has made the farcical decision again to deny Wales millions of pounds in funding, which we desperately need to transform our dilapidated, crumbling rail network?
Darren Jones
I think that the hon. Member and I can agree on one important thing, which is the failed promises of the last Conservative Government, who made decisions that undercut investment in Wales and deprioritised Wales. She will know that we have a brilliant group of Labour MPs now representing Wales who have been making their case strongly for the Government to invest in Wales. We will be setting out further details of that investment at the spending review next week.
Farming and Inheritance Tax
Ann Davies Excerpts(10 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)
I associate myself with the excellent speeches by my hon. Friends the Members for Ribble Valley (Maya Ellis), for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes) and for Forest of Dean (Matt Bishop), who were all absolutely right to say that this Government are committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with British farmers and ensuring their voices are heard and their future is secured. Nowhere is this more vital than in Buckinghamshire, where farming is not just an industry, but an integral part of our local identity. It supports our economy, shapes our landscape and is woven into the fabric of our communities.
Since I was elected in July I have engaged closely with farmers across north Buckinghamshire, and I have been grateful to meet local agricultural and rural businesses in my constituency such as Boycott farm in Stowe and Hogshaw farm and wildlife park; I thank them for welcoming me to their world. These visits have reinforced my commitment to representing their interests and addressing the challenges they face.
I have been struck this afternoon as I listened to speeches from across the House by the inability of the Conservatives to confront and defend their own record in office. Time and again, the previous Government failed to stand up for Buckinghamshire farmers. As has been said, they failed to spend £358 million of the UK’s agricultural budget, and that money should have gone straight into the pockets of Buckinghamshire farmers. Instead, the Conservatives left it on the table, not because it was not needed, but because they could not be bothered to make sure that their policy to replace the basic payment scheme was completed on time. That was their attitude when in office. The gaps and the unanswered questions in the schemes left many farmers in my constituency in limbo, undermining their confidence and threatening their livelihoods.
When in government, the Opposition failed again when they negotiated trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, removing most tariffs on beef and lamb. Even the Conservative Cabinet Member responsible for negotiating the deal said it was a bad one. These deals have opened the floodgates to imports that threaten to undercut our domestic producers, leaving British farmers struggling to compete against lower-welfare and lower-cost alternatives. Our farmers deserve better. That is why this Government are determined to do things differently. We have committed, as others have said, £5 billion to the farming budget over the next two years. That is the largest investment in sustainable food production in our history, because we know that food security is national security. In the coming year alone, £2.4 billion will go directly to supporting British farmers, ensuring that they can thrive in a rapidly changing and uncertain world.
Callum Anderson
I would be happy to were there not too little time. These investments are about more than money. They represent a vision for a resilient and sustainable future. On the inheritance tax point, the Government’s approach is balanced and fair.
Winter Fuel Payment
Ann Davies Excerpts(1 year, 1 month ago)
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Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
It was only two months ago that Labour won a majority in the general election on a message of change. But in those two months the new Labour UK Government have refused to abolish the cruel two-child benefit cap and now seek to take away winter fuel payments of up to £300 from millions of pensioners across the UK, by limiting it to recipients of pension credit. Well, nothing has changed.
Some 68% of households in Carmarthenshire lived in homes with poor energy efficiency in 2022, and 60.4% of households in my Caerfyrddin seat live off the gas grid, often relying on oil as a heat source. But the price of oil is very volatile, and in winter we can see it going up by 20p or 30p a litre, causing uncertainty for people budgeting over the winter.
Not heating a home can have serious consequences. A cold home brings with it a higher risk of stroke, respiratory infection and falls or other injuries. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition estimated that nearly 5,000 excess winter deaths were caused by living in cold homes during the winter of 2022-23. And many older, vulnerable people have higher energy costs due to health reasons.
It is a shame that the Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire misspoke earlier this week, as the consideration of other options, such as a social tariff or different ways of means testing, would be welcomed. As constructive criticism, can the Government bring the winter fuel payment within the definition of a taxable income to ensure that pensioners get what they need?
In closing, I call on colleagues to consider whether they can justify—
