Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

The previous revaluation was based on property values during the Covid pandemic. Rateable values were much lower—perhaps artificially lower—at that point. I understand that pubs and other hospitality venues, such as hotels, are now seeing increases as a result of the latest revaluation. We have provided a £4.3 billion support package. Without that, pubs would have faced a 45% increase in total bills for next year. Because of the support that we have put in place, we have got that down to 4%. However, I acknowledge that the revaluation means that pubs and others will struggle with the business rates that are applicable to them. That is why we are working with the sector and will continue to do so. We are very open to discussions with it about other measures, such as more freedom for licensing and the freedom to open for longer.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

Farming is a very important part of the rural economy and the basis of the food and drink sector. The Treasury is to be congratulated on recognising the reality of asset values while maintaining the principle of inclusion for inheritance tax—that entrepreneurs more generally cannot use farmland to shelter their business assets. The emphasis must now be on rebuilding relationships with the farming sector, especially following the very poor trade deals that were done by the Conservative Governments, in which agriculture has been jeopardised in favour of industry. Can my noble friend the Minister update the House on better trade alignment with our European neighbours on standards more generally and SPS regulations in particular? I declare my interest on the register as having a farm in Cheshire.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for the support that he sets out for the measures that we have announced. He is right about the importance of the farming sector to our economy and our society. The Government have allocated a record £11.8 billion to sustainable farming and food production over the course of this Parliament. That includes the largest financial investment in nature-friendly farming that has ever been seen. My noble friend is also right to point to the importance of the EU reset to the farming sector. I was very pleased to see the commitment to an SPS agreement as part of that EU reset. I assure him that the UK Government are ready to move very quickly to secure that agreement and that the negotiations are ongoing.