Budget cheer for the rural communities

Described by many political commentators as a ‘populist’ budget, the economic measures revealed by George Osborne this week provided some reasons for cheer for people living in rural parts of York- shire.

With petrol and diesel prices surging again last month, the decision to scrap a 3p fuel duty rise planned for September is a welcome U-turn, says National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Peter Kendall.

“The cancellation of the fuel duty rise in September will help businesses across the economy, including food and farming industries that have been struggling to absorb rising fuel costs,” he said.

Details examined over the coming days will give a much clearer picture of how the budget will help farming become more profitable and productive, he said.

Dorothy Fairburn, regional director of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), also welcomed the ditched fuel duty rise.

She said: “People in the countryside are more reliant on their vehicles than city dwellers, so the fuel duty rise would have been a bitter blow for rural communities. It is great it has been scrapped.”

According to the AA, the cost of petrol and diesel is starting to fall but pump prices are still around 3p adrift of where they started the year. Its monthly report, published in mid-March, shows that Yorkshire and Humberside recorded the lowest price for unleaded petrol and diesel in the UK.

Another budget measure will see every UK company given an allowance of £2,000 against its Employer’s National Insurance (NI) bill from April 2014.

Miss Fairburn said: “Many of our members are running small or medium-sized firms in the countryside and this measure could prove a big boost to the rural economy. Clearly, it will help smaller companies much more than big corporations.”

Miss Fairburn said it was also good news that the Chancellor had signalled that the Government will launch a consultation on change of use of “certain agricultural buildings” to homes.

“This potentially is great news for rural communities, providing much-needed homes for people wanting to live and work in the countryside as well as turning disused farm buildings into something useful,” she said.

Mr Kendall welcomed the decision to scrap the unpopular duty escalator on beer, as well as the 1p duty cut to the cost of a pint, as Yorkshire is a hotspot for thriving micro-breweries. Every one job in brewing supports a further job in agriculture, said Mr Kendall.

He added that he was however disappointed to have heard so little from the Chancellor that will give farmers and growers the confidence they need to invest in their businesses.

Also, Defra’s spending will be reduced by £37m over the next two years in line with departmental budget cuts.

Call for bigger tax concessions

The CLA believes the Government has missed a trick by failing to do more to support rural tourism.

A VAT cut from 20 per cent to seven per cent on the supply of rural tourism services would have been the tonic according to the CLA’s ‘Wish You Were Here?’ policy report published this week.

“Tourism is a major source of diversification for farmers as well as being the primary business for many who live in the rural North,” said the organisation’s regional director Dorothy Fairburn.