Member

There is also the importance of consultation. The new clause mandates meaningful consultation with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, farmers and land-based businesses. This is about policy being made with people, rather than their having it done to them. Farmers must never again be an afterthought in Treasury decision making. The new clause requires the Chancellor to respond formally to the assessment, to set out what action will follow and to keep the policy under review with a further assessment within 18 months. That will create transparency, accountability and ongoing scrutiny, and it is particularly important and timely, given rising land values and ongoing uncertainty.