Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment

Ben Lake Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ben Lake (Ceredigion Preseli) (PC)]

It is an honour to contribute to the Sir David Amess summer Adjournment debate. I shall limit myself to a topic that is very important for my constituency of Ceredigion Preseli: the future of coastal rural economies. I shall make the case for a renewed emphasis and focus on the redevelopment and regeneration of those economies, not least because that would go a long way to addressing the Government’s aspiration for growth across the United Kingdom, but also because it would help address a demographic trend that already poses severe challenges for the provision of public services in those areas, and that, if left unarrested, could become critical.

Ceredigion Preseli, like many other constituencies, has an ageing population. The trend is particularly pronounced in my constituency. According to the Office for National Statistics, if current trends continue, 30% of the population of Pembrokeshire and a third of the population of Ceredigion will be older than 65 by the year 2040, which is just 15 years away. I need not explain to hon. Members just how challenging it will to not only maintain the vibrancy of our communities, but ensure effective provision of the wide range of public services that any civilised community and society expects.

In a renewed emphasis, focus and perhaps even strategy on rural and coastal economies, the Government would do well to recognise the importance of small businesses to these communities. In Ceredigion Preseli, some 81% of our over 5,500 businesses are classified as small businesses, and have fewer than 50 employees. This is quite typical for rural areas, where small businesses—especially in the agricultural, hospitality, tourism and leisure sectors—drive the local economy.

It would be very welcome if the Government looked again at a policy that used to be in place. I was told yesterday by a former civil servant that back in the Tony Blair Government, one stage in the development of any policy in Whitehall was called rural-proofing—a consideration of the impact of the policy on rural contexts. If that had been reintroduced, I do not think we would have had the inheritance tax changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief, which are already causing great concern. According to a report by Confederation of British Industry Economics, it is estimated that 55% of family businesses and 49% of farm businesses are cancelling proposed investment projects in anticipation of those changes. Small businesses in rural and coastal areas need a little bit of hope and confidence from this Government. Rural-proofing as a stage in policy development, and a dedicated strategy for the redevelopment of rural areas, would go some way to restoring that faith.

In the short time I have left, I will touch briefly on the importance of our higher education sector. Universities and higher education institutions must play a critical role in any strategy for ensuring growth across every part of the United Kingdom. In my constituency, some 3,300 jobs are supported by its universities—that is 10% of all jobs—and it is a real concern that we hear so little about universities’ current quandary.

[Several hon. Members rose—]