Ahead of a discussion in the House of Lords, the Countryside Alliance has shared a briefing note about the rural economy and support for rural areas.
The full briefing note can be downloaded here, with the key points summarised below.
- Rural communities offer significant untapped potential for contributing to the national economy, but they need clear support from the government with policies that support the countryside to thrive.
- The Rural Premium – the added costs people face by virtue of living in the countryside – and issues with local service closures underscore the need for a more joined-up approach within government to rural policy.
- Partial changes announced in December 2025 to the family farm tax are a step in the right direction, but the government must re-focus on working with the rural community, not legislating against it.
- The Countryside Alliance welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement of a business rates reduction for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector as it improves the position for businesses compared to what it would have been had it not been made.
- We remain, however, deeply concerned about the cumulative impact of a range of pressures, including taxation and market conditions, on the continued viability of rural pubs, which often serve as the backbone of their communities.
- Full alignment of shotguns with Section 1 firearms would be hugely damaging for the shooting sector, and the rural economy more widely.
- The proposed ban on trail hunting also runs contrary to the government’s ‘mission’ to promote economic growth. The British Hound Sports Association’s recent socioeconomic survey states that hunting contributes £100 million to the rural economy each year.
