The Countryside Alliance has written to the Chancellor with ten practical measures for the Autumn Budget, covering farming, local enterprise and winter fuel costs, as Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces the first test of his pledge to deliver "good growth in every postcode".
With one in four postcodes being rural, the organisation argues the Budget offers the government an important opportunity to reset its relationship with the countryside. Over the past two years, rural communities have faced 27 damaging policies, including inheritance tax on farmers and agricultural businesses, plans to ban trail hunting and restrictions on game shooting.
Farming and business pressures
Rural Britain contributes over £300 billion annually to the economy and supports four million jobs. The Countryside Alliance is calling for the inheritance tax threshold to be raised beyond the current £2.5 million partial concession, which it says still leaves many farmers unable to make vital decisions about their livelihoods.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme ran out of funds within six hours of opening, leaving countless farmers stranded. The Chancellor is urged to revisit both issues to restore confidence across agricultural communities.
Fuel and heating costs
One in ten farmers have added holiday lets to their businesses to make ends meet. Reported plans to tax holiday lets as second homes would make the properties liable for council tax, adding thousands of pounds to running costs and wiping out almost all profits.
For rural families and businesses, a car is a necessity, and the temporary 5p fuel duty cut is no longer enough. The Countryside Alliance wants the cut made permanent alongside a temporary VAT reduction on fuel. It also calls for VAT on heating oil to be scrapped entirely to support off-grid homes.
Support for rural employers and sport
Village pubs, farm shops and country hotels face immense challenges. The Alliance proposes restoring the Secondary Threshold to £9,100 if lowering the 15 per cent Employers' National Insurance rate is impossible, extending business rate relief to rural hospitality, cutting VAT to offset new visitor levies and restoring commercial vehicle status for double cab pickups.
Horseracing, Britain's second most popular spectator sport, supports over 85,000 jobs. Reforming the Horserace Betting Levy and removing friction from affordability checks would safeguard the sport and the wider rural economy.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs at the Countryside Alliance, said the Budget will reveal whether the government is ready to support rural communities.
