Environment secretary to unveil farming reforms in attempt to ease tension over inheritance tax

Environment secretary to unveil farming reforms in attempt to ease tension over inheritance tax
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Environment secretary to unveil farming reforms in attempt to ease tension over inheritance tax
Published: Feb, 25 2025 00:01

Summary at a Glance

As well as extending the seasonal workers' visa programme - which the NFU welcomed as providing "much-needed certainty" for farmers - Mr Reed is also expected to announce new requirements for government catering contracts to back British produce, a multimillion-pound investment in technology strengthening controls on animal disease and protecting farmers in trade deals.

However, despite welcoming the extension to the seasonal workers' visa route, Mr Bradshaw will call for a "reset" of the government's relationship with farmers and urge Mr Reed to "do the right thing" and reverse the tax policy.

Government catering contracts will also be required to favour high-quality and high-welfare products from local farms under the new reforms, as the government aims for at least 50% of food supplied into the £5bn public sector catering industry to be from British producers or those certified to higher environmental standards.

"There were only 87 words in Labour's manifesto about farming, but some of those words gave us hope for the future; policies on imports, binding targets for British food for the public sector, a recognition that food security is national security," Mr Bradshaw is expected to say.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed will address the National Farmers' Union (NFU) conference on Tuesday where he will unveil a raft of measures - including a long-called-for extension of the seasonal worker visa programme - to boost profits for farmers.

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