Select committee: Welsh Affairs Committee
Conclusion 23
2nd Report - Farming in Wales in 2025: Challenges and Opportunities
Published 12 Nov 2025
Addressed to Wales Office
Welsh Affairs Committee Farming in Wales in 2025: Challenges and Opportunities All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The UK’s food security is dependent upon sustainable domestic production, and by that measure the trends in Wales should be cause for concern. The number of people employed in the industry in Wales has declined, trade with key European markets has declined and livestock numbers in Wales have declined. We are concerned that a continuation of these trends might be seen as inevitable and policy makers in Cardiff and Westminster should focus on strengthening and growing the industry as part of a strategy to support domestic production and maintain UK food security. (Conclusion, Paragraph 117)
From: Welsh Affairs Committee, 2nd Report - Farming in Wales in 2025: Challenges and Opportunities (HC 785), 12 November 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 30 January 2026 (deadline 12 January 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out its reasons for maintaining the inheritance tax reforms, does not say it will publish a Wales-specific impact assessment, and sets a target of 2027 for SPS arrangements, "subject to agreement with the EU".
- On inheritance tax, it does not commit to delay. It announced in December 2025 that the allowance for 100 per cent relief will rise from £1 million to £2.5 million, and says the reforms from 6 April 2026 "get the balance right".
- It says claims data is not recorded in a way that enables regional breakdowns, so a Wales figure is not readily available, and that a tax information and impact note has been published for UK-wide changes.
- On funding, it states that agriculture funding has been added to baseline funding and "will be maintained in cash terms", is "no longer ringfenced", and that the Welsh Government decides how to use it.
- On trade, it does not commit to the Committee's May 2026 roadmap or the May 2028 action plan. It says there is "no evidence" the Australia and New Zealand agreements have affected Welsh beef or lamb production.