Steve Reed wants to get rid of 10 per cent of farmland in England for net zero schemes

Shadow DEFRA Secretary, Victoria Atkins MP said:

“It's taken City Steve six long months to launch a list of questions. 

"In that time, he has supported the vindictive Family Farm Tax, cut direct payments to farmers, stopped capital grants, ramped up business rates and NICs on rural businesses and overseen job losses and falling investment.

“This framework will have no legal weight, meaning Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner can ram through net zero and development whatever the grade of land. In fact, Ed's already doing it. The left hand doesn't know what the far left hand is doing.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• Steve Reed has launched a consultation into the Land Use Framework. REED: ‘But I do want to hear your views and draw from your expertise on what a Land Use Framework for England should look like and – importantly - how we get there. Today we are launching a 12-week consultation, that will be supported by workshops and roundtables around the country' (Steve Reed, Royal Geographical Society Speech, 31 January 2025, link).

• Steve Reed's consultation into the Land Use Framework proposes diverting ten per cent of farmland in England towards net zero uses. The consultation proposes changing 10 per cent of farmland in England to net zero uses and protecting wildlife by 2050. This would include switching land use to solar farms, planting trees and developing habitats for animals (The Telegraph, 31 January 2025, link).

• The 2024 Autumn Budget introduced the Family Farm Tax, impacting up to 102,041 farms. The 2024 Autumn Budget cuts the 100 per cent rate of relief to 50 per cent after the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business assets from April 2026. Analysis has found that 102,041 farms in England could be affected – a significant difference from the Treasury's estimate, that it will affect less than 500 farms a year, which was used to justify the policy (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2024, p. 48, 30 October 2024, link).

• Tesco, Sainsburys Morrisons, Asda, the Co-op, Lidl, Ocado, Aldi and Marks & Spencer have all expressed their concerns about the Family Farm Tax and how it will impact farmers. Tesco has called on the Labour Government to pause and consult the sector on the changes while other supermarkets have said the same (Farmers Guardian, 23 January 2025, link).

• The OBR has warned that the Family Tax will leave elderly farmers exposed with no time to manage their affairs to pass on their farms. The OBR warned that it will be more difficult for elderly farmers to get their affairs in order to respond to the measure. It also warned that it is ‘highly uncertain' whether it will raise the £500 million the treasury claim it will (NFU, 23 January 2025, link).

• The National Farmers Union (NFU) claim Labour's Family Farm Tax could increase food prices. Responding to the Budget, the NFU said: ‘The Budget will add to the cost of producing food at a time when hard-pressed British farmers cannot absorb it, meaning either the supply chain or consumers will end up bearing the brunt' (NFU, Press Release, 30 October 2024, link).