SALISBURY MP John Glen has raised concerns in the House of Commons this week about how government policy is affecting farmers and rural communities.

The debate, held on Monday afternoon (January 5), followed the government’s announcement of reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief, which ministers say are designed to protect family-run farms and businesses from inheritance tax.

Setting out the government’s position, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Dan Tomlinson told MPs: “The allowance for the 100% rate of relief for agricultural property relief and business property relief will be increased from £1 million to £2.5 million when it is introduced in April.

“That means that a couple will now be able to pass on up to £5 million of agricultural or business assets tax-free between them, on top of the existing allowances such as the nil rate band.

“Taken together with the reform announced at the recent Budget, widows and widowers will benefit from up to £2.5 million of their spouse’s allowance, even if their spouse passed away many years ago.”

Responding to the proposals, Mr Glen welcomed what he described as a “partial U-turn” by the government but said uncertainty remains among farmers in his constituency.

“When I met a number of farmers on Boxing Day, all 400 of them were very concerned that the next phase of this government’s relationship with rural Britain would be a consultation on banning trail hunting,” he said.

Mr Glen also called for closer coordination between government departments when developing rural policy, arguing that tax measures and environmental objectives need to be aligned to give farmers greater certainty.

He said: “On the basis of this experience, I think that the Minister could go back to the Treasury and ask his officials to put together a team to work very closely with their counterparts in DEFRA to absolutely ensure that the farmers’ obligation, and indeed their true intent – to produce food and be good stewards of the environment – can be combined, and to ensure that never again in the course of this Parliament will such measures be undertaken as they were last year.”

Later in the debate, Mr Tomlinson defended the government’s intention to proceed with manifesto commitments on animal welfare, including trail hunting.

“The right hon. Gentleman has mentioned the issue of trail hunting,” he said. “That was in our manifesto, and it is part of our animal welfare strategy to continue with some important changes there.

“I think it right for governing parties to make progress on the commitments that they made when they stood before the country.”

As the Bill moves forward in Parliament, farmers and rural businesses across the Salisbury constituency will be watching closely to see how the proposed changes are implemented and whether ministers respond to calls for a more coordinated approach to countryside policy.