Devon councillor and farmer blasts spending review for neglecting rural communities

A Devon farmer and county councillor has criticised the government’s latest Spending Review, warning that it offers “nothing for rural areas and no rural strategy.”

Councillor Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Rural Affairs and Broadband and a fifth-generation farmer in North Devon, said she was “really disappointed” by the Chancellor’s announcements during the review, which she felt focused heavily on urban areas in the North and Midlands.

“There’s nothing for rural areas and no rural strategy,” she said. 

“The loss of the £10 million Rural Services Delivery Grant at short notice was a terrific blow to the county, and although the government has committed to an average of £2.7 billion per year from 2026 to 2029 for sustainable farming and nature recovery, this represents a real-term cut of 2.3 per cent, and within this the NFU has identified a £100 million reduction in farming and countryside programmes including the Environmental schemes.”

Cllr Cottle-Hunkin expressed concern over the future of the Environmental Land Management schemes, which many farmers rely on. 

“It appears likely that the Environmental Land Management schemes will be reduced, especially considering that the current SFI applications (which were reopened following the NFU’s legal challenge over the abrupt closure of SFI applications) were capped at £9,300 per year per farm business.”

She warned the government does not seem to understand the importance of rural communities. 

“The Government does not appear to recognise the vital role our farming and rural communities play in caring for and improving the environment, and supporting jobs and the economy in rurally isolated places, and this concerns me greatly.”

However, she did welcome one U-turn, following pressure from local government. 

“I am pleased that the Government has listened to campaigners including Devon councillors in relation to the winter fuel U-turn after a motion by my fellow Liberal Democrat councillor Alan Connett in September condemned this proposal.”

She said this shows ministers can be swayed: “This suggests that they will listen and are prepared to change when they make unpopular and ill-judged decisions, so we can only hope they do the same and see sense on the farm inheritance tax issue.”

Cllr Cottle-Hunkin described the inheritance tax proposals as “devastating” for farming families, saying: “From the very outset this has caused overwhelming stress and worry within the farming sector with no time to plan for many. Farming is not a job but a way of life, and many farms have been farmed and passed down, along with their inherent knowledge of the land and associated farming practices, through many generations – myself included as a fifth-generation Devon farmer.”

She backed the EFRA Select Committee’s recent call to pause and rework the policy and praised the NFU’s alternative proposal: “The NFU has put forward an alternative ‘clawback’ mechanism which is used in other European countries and would allow working farms to continue as they are, but close loopholes on those purchasing farms simply for inheritance tax reasons.”

“Central Government needs to sit up and listen and understand the disaster they are creating both in terms of food security and the wider impact on our rural areas across the UK if they continue with this devastating policy. We are not backing down on this one – the farming community is united and we won’t give up.”

Cllr Cottle-Hunkin added that ministers should spend more time in Devon to better understand rural issues.

“Perhaps if they spent more time in our beautiful part of the world and had a better understanding of rural areas and food production, they would know that it is our resilient farming communities who have many of the solutions to problems such as Britain’s food security, sustainability and environmental improvements.

“Devon has huge potential and could do so much more with a modest amount of support in the right places, but we are being desperately misunderstood by those making the big decisions in Westminster.”

Earlier this week, Conservative MP for Central Devon and Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride echoed these concerns, saying that the Chancellor “has barely mentioned farming”.

“It’s not enough to hit farmers with the family farm tax,” Mr Stride said during the Spending Review debate on Wednesday, 11 June. 

“Today the choice is to make further cuts to vital grants on which many farmers rely.

“It is a huge betrayal of the farming communities, and some of the government’s MPs in rural constituencies will have to explain this [to voters].”

Labour, however, defended its record, claiming the funding package demonstrates its “steadfast commitment to farming, food security, and nature’s recovery.”

Spending Review documents stated: “The government will invest more than £2.7 billion per year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026–27 until 2028–29. Farmers will benefit from an average of £2.3 billion through the Farming and Countryside Programme and up to £400 million from additional nature schemes.”