Former county council leader calls on Staffordshire leaders to speak up against changes to inheritance tax for farms

A FORMER council chief has called on leaders in Staffordshire to speak out against plans to change inheritance tax for farms.

The move would see a 20% figure placed on agricultural assets worth more than £1million.

The proposals have seen protests by farmers – and now Cllr Philip Atkins says Staffordshire County Council’s senior figures need to speak out on the issue.

He has called on Cllr Alan White, who succeeded him as leader of the authority, to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to “outline Staffordshire County Council’s dismay at the Government’s changes to inheritance tax relief on agricultural and business property”.

He also urged council cabinet members to engage with the county’s farmers to see what campaigning assistance the authority could provide, and for all of Staffordshire’s MPs to act to support local farmers and consumers by “proactively opposing the Government’s damaging imposition of the Family Farm Tax”.

Cllr Atkins said:

“There are 70% of farmers who will be affected by this – not just a mere 500 a year. There were about 500 tractors that turned up in Whitehall recently.”

Cllr White responded:

“The commitment to farming shown by Staffordshire County Council has been demonstrated for many years.

“For decades the county council has supported numerous people to get into farming through our portfolio of smallholdings used as ‘starter farms’ and medium sized holdings allowing them to graduate to the next level of farm.

“More recently, the deputy leader of the council has delivered Staffordshire’s first Rural Economic Strategy, which sets out how we will work with our rural communities to secure jobs and growth in the communities that matter so much to the county of Staffordshire.

“The strategy is driven by five priorities, one of which is to support sustainable intensification in agriculture, whereby agricultural productivity is enhanced, while also creating environmental and social benefits through productivity investments and business support for improved viability, diversification, carbon reduction and succession.

“The highly damaging changes to inheritance tax relief on agricultural property delivered a huge blow to family farms across Staffordshire. We note the work being done by the National Farmers’ Union and others to raise the issues with ministers, and they have been highly effective in doing so.

“To support their efforts, I will ask the deputy leader to write to both the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to express Staffordshire County Council’s dismay at the changes imposed by the Government.”

Speaking at this month’s county council cabinet meeting, deputy leader Cllr Philip White gave details of the support the authority is offering to rural businesses.

He said:

“Many of our most well-renowned businesses and industries are located within rural parts of the county.

“This is why we felt it was important for us to set our priorities for this important part of the Staffordshire economy through our Rural Economic Strategy, which we agreed early last year.

“Since then we have developed an implementation plan which outlines the key projects and programmes of ourselves and our partners to deliver the strategy, with a great deal of progress already being made including the recent launch of the Succeed and Grow business support programme to help rural microbusinesses grow and thrive, and running Funding Hero events for businesses in rural areas to help them access external funding and ensure they are investment ready.”