Oral Answers to Questions

Katie Lam Excerpts

Thursday 18th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)]

9. What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of agricultural property relief and business property relief on food prices.

[Katie Lam (Weald of Kent) (Con)]

11. What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of agricultural property relief and business property relief on food prices.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

Modelling has shown that food prices are driven by the interaction of domestic and international considerations, including farm gate prices, import prices and exchange rates. Modelling from industry and Government expects food price inflation to fall gradually over the next two years.

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I do not think that the hon. Member’s characterisation of the Prime Minister’s remarks to the Liaison Committee is entirely accurate, but I am working on introducing and making available in the first half of next year a sustainable farming incentive scheme that will hopefully be more available to smaller farmers, easier to engage with, and much simpler than the mess delivered by the Government of which he was a part. Let us face it: 25% of the money in the SFI scheme goes to the top 4% of farmers. I want to see a different distribution.

[Katie Lam]

Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker.

The cost of food in this country increased by 4.2% year on year last month, yet farming profitability is on the floor and has been hit repeatedly by this Government, whether that is in national insurance contribution increases, the family farm tax or energy taxes. Will the Government consider easing their terrible tax burden on farmers to solve both the cost of living crisis for food and the farming profitability crisis at the same time?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I am puzzled by the hon. Lady’s view that the issues she talks about are somehow having a bad effect on food prices, since yesterday’s figures demonstrate that there has been a 0.7% decline in food price inflation, and estimates assume that inflation will gradually come down over the next two years.