After the Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP, revealed the government's 2026 Budget in the House of Commons yesterday, the Countryside Alliance has shared a briefing note on its implications for rural communities.
The Budget offered the Chancellor the chance to reset the government’s relationship with the countryside. As part of the Campaign for the Countryside, we wrote to him making ten specific requests for measures that we believed would help him do so. The Chancellor, however, showed little interest in seizing that opportunity.
The full briefing note can be downloaded here, with the key background points summarised below.
- On 14 September the Countryside Alliance launched the Campaign for the Countryside,
calling for a ‘rural reset’ in the relationship between the government and the countryside
in light of 27 policies we had identified as having been announced or implemented since
the general election that we believe have the potential to affect rural communities
adversely.
- The Campaign’s latest intervention involved a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
ahead of the Budget making ten specific requests that we believe could help redress the
imbalance and ease the burden on rural communities, extending to them the “breathing
space” the Chancellor has promised.
- With few exceptions, the Budget fails to address the issues we raised in our letter. It will
inevitably prove disappointing to rural Britain. The Budget offers little of the breathing
space the Chancellor speaks of to rural Britain. Of the ten measures the Countryside
Alliance called for ahead of the Budget, most have been ignored. Some temporary relief
has been extended and a handful of other measures may help, but key pressures on family
farms, rural hospitality, fuel and heating costs remain.
- In some areas, the position has worsened. The increase in tax on property income will
affect people letting holiday cottages, land and farm buildings as part of a diversified rural
business. If the government is serious about growth in every postcode, it must recognise
that rural businesses face distinct pressures and ensure that rural communities are not left
behind.
Photo credit: House of Commons