FUW responds to Westminster Committee recommendations on APR changes
The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has responded to a report published by Westminster's Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Select Committee, which has called on the UK Government to delay changes to inheritance tax reforms.
The report by the cross-party group of MPs calls on the government to delay announcing its final agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) reforms until October 2026, to come into effect in April 2027.
The Committee say a pause in the implementation of the reforms would better protect vulnerable farmers by allowing them to seek professional advice, and provide the Government with an “opportunity to convey a positive long-term vision for farming”.
The publication of the report follows a recent meeting in Westminster between Farmers’ Union of Wales officers and Efra Committee Chair, Alistair Carmichael MP, which provided an opportunity to further discuss the impact the changes would have on Welsh family farms.
Despite the Prime Minister previously insisting that a “vast majority” of Welsh farmers would not be affected by the changes to APR, previous analysis by the Farmers Union of Wales suggests 48% of BPS recipients in Wales could be subject to the new inheritance tax proposals.
With the reform causing significant anger and anxiety within the farming sector, the Farmers’ Union of Wales has since lobbied politicians to favour alternative proposals put forward by the FUW to the APR changes, including advocating for transitional arrangements for those in these impossible circumstances and the establishment of a UK-wide working group to agree on a dataset that accurately represents the extent and impact of this change in policy.
Efra’s report also outlined concerns that the changes to APR and BPR announced in the 2024 Autumn Budget were made without adequate consultation, or impact assessments or affordability assessments.
These points have previously been made by the FUW on several occasions in correspondence and meetings with the UK Government with the union also pressing for Wales-specific analysis to be undertaken on the impact of the changes.
Commenting, FUW President, Ian Rickman, who met with HM Treasury earlier this year to discuss concerns over the APR reform, said: “Changes to APR have triggered significant anxiety within the farming sector in Wales during what is an incredibly difficult time for Welsh farmers, and the FUW has consistently called for the changes to be reviewed.
"We welcome the intense scrutiny this report by the Efra Committee has undertaken into these reforms, highlighting many of the FUW’s previous concerns regarding the lack of consultation and consideration over the far-reaching impact these changes could have on our family farms and future food production.
"While questions remain over how far delaying the implementation until 2027 would go in assisting farmers, the report’s conclusions regarding this ill-thought-out policy is clear. With the government now rethinking changes to its damaging cuts to the Winter Fuel allowance, now is the time for the take note of this report, as well as the wider condemnation the APR reform has drawn, and rethink the changes, safeguarding Welsh family farms.”
