All eyes will be on the Chancellor when she addresses Parliament to announce her future spending plans. Cuts are expected but where, when and how deep is still to be set out.
Health and defence are expected to be protected but all other budgets, including Defra鈥檚, are expected to be under considerable threat.
That means a range of sectors, from schools, courts, transport providers, roads, prisons, housing and beyond will be watching carefully along with farmers and growers.
Farming budget needs protecting
The Chancellor has already confirmed that departments will need to cut civil service running costs by 15% by 2029, largely by reducing staff numbers.
At stake for our industry is Defra鈥檚 funding for areas such as ELMs (Environmental Land Management schemes), flooding, research and development, biosecurity, and agri-tech.
However, as this announcement addresses spending, rather than tax, it is unlikely that we will see any announcements on the family farm tax. That crucial issue is more likely to be relevant to the Autumn Budget.
We will be working quickly to unpick the announcements to communicate what it means for you. While we expect some of the headlines to be included in the speech itself, it may be that we don鈥檛 know the detail of some funding decisions and their implications until the following days.
But in the lead up to this announcement we鈥檝e been clear that the farming budget needs protecting.
Key asks
皇家华人has continued to make a strong case for continued investment in the farming sector, highlighting the financial investment needed to increase productivity and support resilient, sustainable farming businesses.聽
In February, the NFU made a formal submission to the Treasury which showcased how that investment can drive progress towards government goals and commitments across economic growth, food security and the environment.
Since then we have continued to raise the profile of our asks, focussing on several main areas which need the largest portions of Defra鈥檚 budget:
- At least maintaining the 拢5bn farming budget over the past two years invested in ELMs, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive, and grants.
- A cross-government biosecurity plan that makes use of all mechanics of government to protect farmers and growers from threats.
- End-to-end investment in agri-technologies and research and development from lab to farm.
- The flooding budget, continuing investment in rural protections including the maintenance of existing assets.
Representing you
In April, we held a successful press briefing on the biosecurity risks faced by farmers and growers and how investment at the border, on farm and in between is vital. We were joined by Lord Rooker, former chair of the Food Standards Agency and previously a Labour minister during a foot-and-mouth outbreak.聽Alongside the NFU President and National Pig Association Chair Rob Mutimer, we secured coverage in all major news outlets.
Following this, we began conversations with environmental and other farming groups about working together to strengthen our call to protect the farming budget. This led to a joint letter to the Chancellor and a briefing meeting for MPs in Westminster, who raised how unusual it was for us to be working together and that it was one of the reasons they stopped by to talk to us.
This was amplified in meetings between officeholders and government officials, parliamentarians and ministers at all levels across Whitehall and No. 10. This includes NFU Cymru colleagues reaching out to the Welsh Government, given Spending Review announcements will have implications for devolved budgets.
Having a strong collective voice behind a clear ask was a strategic move to make sure we were heard loudly and clearly.
We also landed broad coverage around a joint interview with NFU President Tom Bradshaw and RSPB Chief Beccy Speight, on how the dry weather conditions underline the importance of continued investment to support farming resilience.
We saw further coverage following the Climate Change Committee鈥檚 adaptation report on investment in flooding, on NFU members sharing their personal stories engaging with SFI, and continue to land cases where agri-tech has driven great progress towards government commitments.
Unseen, underpinning all of this action, the cogs of the NFU machine continue to power on to ensure NFU members鈥� interests are represented at the highest levels.
