Ann Davies MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Feb 2025 · Groceries Code Adjudicator · Hansard source

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  As the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) mentioned, Welsh Government figures show that income fell for Welsh farmers by 34% between April 2023 and March 2024 and the dairy income by 59%. Does he believe we should safeguard all future food production in Wales? Welsh farmers should be able to rely on a fair deal for the products and, as Elfyn Llwyd called for 10 years ago, the regulatory bodies should be made to support that.

• 25 Feb 2025 · Warm Home Discount · Hansard source

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  Extending the warm home discount to all households that receive means-tested benefits could make a difference to many, especially those who have not received their winter fuel payment this winter. However, £150 off will not go far enough to help the 56% of adults in Wales likely to ration their energy over the next three months, according to National Energy Action Cymru. With the energy price cap rising again in April, will the Minister admit that we need long-term solutions that ensure energy affordability, such as the social energy tariff, which I have asked for since I came to this House last July, in order to support—

• 12 Feb 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  Wales’s creative industry is a cornerstone of our culture and economy. It generated £3.8 billion in the last financial year—5.3% of our GDP—and much of that success relies on strong copyright protections. Creatives must be paid when their work is used, including for AI training. Too often creative data is being scraped without permission, undermining livelihoods. Does the hon. Member agree that clauses 95 and 135 to 139 of this Bill are a vital step in safeguarding our creative industries?

• 11 Feb 2025 · Youth Provision: Universal and Targeted Support · Hansard source

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  DrMz, a youth organisation in Caerfyrddin, provides a safe space for diverse young people. The young farmers’ clubs also provide life skills that are used in public office, including public speaking, the arts and chairing meetings, for young people in our rural communities. Children’s services are devolved in Wales, but all those things are supported by our local authority. Does the hon. Member agree that adequate local authority funding is essential to safeguard these services for all our young people?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Closure of High Street Services: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Carmarthenshire county council secured half a million pounds through the UK shared prosperity fund in August 2024 to carry out improvement works in Carmarthen town centre, along with match funding improvements in ten of our rural market towns. That money is being used to repair pavements, improve car park entrances and improve the attractiveness of the town centre—improvements that we hope will improve the footfall and tourism within these towns. As we know, however, SPF is due to end at the end of 2026. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Government should set out their plans for the replacement of the shared prosperity fund, to ensure that our high streets and town centres continue to receive the investment they need to improve and increase footfall?

• 4 Feb 2025 · Six Nations Rugby Championship: Viewing Access · Hansard source

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  In Wales, rugby is of course a part of our culture and national identity, and international tournaments such as the Six Nations are an integral part of our national calendar. Caerfyrddin, my constituency, has produced a plethora of first-class players. There are far too many to name, although perhaps I should drop in one or two such as, in the past glory days, Roy Bergiers and Delme Thomas, and more recently, Shane Williams—a phenomenal player—Mike Phillips and, to come up to date, Gareth Davies. There are many more. Does the hon. Member agree that, win or lose—as is our case at the moment—rugby brings us all together in Wales and should be included in group A? Of course, the free-to-view aspect is also so important for S4C, which produces our Welsh-language-medium coverage of sport. This tournament needs to be included in group A.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I totally agree. Indeed, I will give further details about that issue later in my speech. It is also clear that industry experts were not consulted on the changes prior to the announcement, even though consultation could have led to a fairer and more appropriate solution that is not detrimental to family farms or the wider industry.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  Diolch yn fawr. I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. I should add that the wider economy will lose another vital source of food production. If that land is taken, it will never go back into food production. My hon. Friend mentioned the effect on Wales, and there is a knock-on effect on the Welsh language: 43% of those involved in agriculture in Wales speak Welsh. Keeping our farming communities alive is key to moving towards the Welsh Labour Government’s target of achieving 1 million Welsh speakers in 2050. There is real worry—farming constituents have told me, with an eye on what it means for their own children, that they are concerned about the impact of the changes on future food production by Welsh-speaking families in areas of Wales already facing depopulation. The families behind farming businesses are important to this debate. They are not just figures; they are people—people such as Richard Twose of Maenhir, who runs a 700-acre farm of 400 Holstein dairy cows and 300 pedigree Lleyn ewes with his parents, brother and children. APR and BPR changes have blown apart the family’s succession plans. They may now be forced to transfer the parents’ share in the farm and hope that they live for another seven years, or else the family will face a big tax burden on top of their business debt. Just yesterday I heard that, to add to the family’s worries and concerns, Richard’s father had passed away suddenly over Christmas. The APR and BPR changes do not appear proportionate, in many ways. Inflation has already eroded the nil rate tax band of £325,000, which has been frozen since 2009 and is set to remain frozen until 2030. When APR and BPR were introduced, the nil rate band covered 56 acres of farmland; today, it covers 29 acres. How the changes apply is not fair because the particularities—who someone shares the farm with, which tools or machinery they own or have hired, how much business debt they have—have a direct impact on their inheritance tax bill. Although the Government have said that married couples and their descendants can benefit from up to £3 million in tax relief, in reality tax experts are quoting figures that vary between £2 million and £4 million, based on different scenarios. We must remember that the Chancellor stated in October that the starting point for calculations is £1 million.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I do not know whether the Minister would like to do so now or at the end. It is up to him.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  Of the clients that Eirian mentioned, five of them will not come under the tax liability because they have very small farms with off-farm income, they have transferred their farms following ill health, or they have significant debt that offsets the value of their farms. It is clear that the assessments of the impact of the changes on working farms across the UK, on the wider economy and on the wider food supply chain are inadequate. The data that we have is deficient; it includes smallholdings and non-working farms. Data based on the basic payment scheme or on agricultural output would provide a fairer representation of the situation for genuine farmers.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  As someone who has lived and worked the land all my life, I totally agree with the hon. Member. It is something that is within our soul; it is not just a trading issue.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. I am coming to my solutions, so I hope the Treasury will listen. I have three solutions that I think would work, because there are alternatives to this policy. The first is that abolishing capital business asset rollover relief could have provided a more targeted measure to tackle wealthy individuals buying agricultural land to avoid tax. That is the big one. Secondly, taxing assets at the point of selling, rather than at the point of passing to another generation, would be a fairer measure to keep family farms. Thirdly, modifying existing proposals could double the zero-rate band and significantly increase the threshold, while allowing a shorter period than seven years for potentially exempt transfers. I have an additional comment on that. Do any of us have the right to live for seven years? That, my friends, is really not within our gift. Those are a few solutions from expert organisations in the sector, which could have proposed their solutions before the Government made their decision. That underlines again the importance of proper consultation with stakeholders. To sum up, the APR and BPR changes have come at an already difficult time for farmers, with high costs of production, adverse weather and marketplace volatility taking their toll. Working farms that have been at the heart of Welsh communities for generations will suffer. As a constituent told me, “Every farmer deserves the right to security of the farm they own or rent.” Farms are not businesses but family legacies, vital for our rural economy and key to preserving our Welsh-speaking culture. Plaid Cymru supports closing loopholes that allow billionaire landowners to avoid paying their fair share, but this one-size-fits-all approach ignores the unique challenges of Welsh farming. That is why it is so important that the UK Government implement a Wales-specific impact assessment that reflects the realities of agriculture in Wales. A petition calling for the UK Government not to change inheritance tax relief for working farms has reached more than 146,000 signatories, and is being debated here on 10 February—put that in the diary, folks! It is clear that the public agree that it is time for the Government to listen to farmers, conduct a proper analysis and rethink this damaging policy before it is too late.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention. I am coming on to solutions in a minute; I hope that the Minister will listen to my proposed options. Extending the existing scope of APR to land managed under environmental agreements with or on behalf of, for example, the Government or public bodies also suggests that foundations and large companies could buy up land sold to pay inheritance tax, without being subject to it in the same way. We have a train of people in west Wales who are already buying land for planting trees, carbon offsetting and solar and wind farms.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  Absolutely. We all know that is the case.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interest as a tenant dairy farmer. In Wales, 80% of our land is given over to farming, and our food foundation sector—including businesses that produce, process, manufacture and wholesale food and drink goods—is a vital part of our economy, hitting a turnover of £9.3 billion in 2023. In fact, Cabinet Ministers in the Labour Welsh Government have lauded Wales as a “food nation”, but the UK Government’s decision in the autumn Budget to change the agricultural property relief and business property relief will have a real effect on food, sustainable food production and food security in Wales. Business property relief and agricultural property relief were introduced in the 1970s and the 1980s respectively to ensure that a farm or family business could continue trading after the owner’s death, protecting it from being sold and broken up. However, on 30 October 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the Labour UK Government intend to change APR and BPR conditions from 6 April 2026. From that date, 100% relief from inheritance tax will be restricted to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property, and 50% thereafter. The proposals equate to landowners paying inheritance tax at a rate of 20% of estate value, with the threshold from which they pay being dependent on individual circumstances. That tax is payable in instalments over 10 years without interest. Combining APR and BPR under those changes means that the asset value of the tools and the machinery necessary to operate a farming business are affected, as well as the agricultural land and property, alongside any diversification activities that the UK Government have told farmers to explore to increase their income. The UK Government contend that those changes will affect around 500 estates a year, and that small family farms will not be affected, but organisations within the agricultural sector say otherwise. The National Farmers Union calculated that 75% of commercial family farms will fall above the £1 million threshold across the UK. The Farmers’ Union of Wales, using other figures, estimated that essentially all farms that produce nearly 90% of agricultural output in Wales could be liable under the changes. In fact, Eirian Humphreys of LHP Accountants, a large accountancy firm across south and west Wales, told me that of the 51 farming clients who have inquired about those changes so far, 46—around 90%—will have to pay inheritance tax if they die after 6 April 2026.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  Diolch yn fawr, Mr Stringer. First, I want to thank all hon. Members for their contributions today. I appreciate their words, interventions and speeches. This is so important for food security but for us in Wales it is also, as has been mentioned, about the Welsh language and our culture. As I mentioned in my speech, there are alternatives that could bring further taxation into the Treasury and, more importantly, secure our food-producing farms for future generations. I have to be honest, I am really disappointed with the response we have had from the Government and the Treasury today. It is not what I was hoping to hear. The issue affects my constituency of Caerfyrddin—I will say it again so Members can tune in to the pronunciation, although I thank everyone for trying—where 60% of residents live rurally. It affects all rural constituencies, of all political colours. We are here to represent our constituents and I ask kindly if we can do that with integrity, purpose and fairness. We need to have a Welsh impact assessment of the APR and BPR and I call again on the Government to do that. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered the impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I totally agree. Nobody understands those fields better than the farmer who has worked that land. They know where those wet corners are and they know where they should not tread during certain times. The sustainable farming scheme—the SFS—is coming out in Wales next year, and it is about nature restoration, so I absolutely agree. Estate agents in west Wales are already seeing increased investor interest in purchasing farms following the autumn Budget. Selling land to pay an inheritance tax bill will inevitably hit tenant farmers because the £1 million threshold will hit asset-rich estates. Around 30% of land in Wales is farmed under some sort of tenancy agreement and, although some is local authority-owned, much is owned by private landlords. The Tenant Farmers Association anticipates that more insecure agricultural tenancies will be terminated to allow land to be sold to avoid taxes on death. Other landlords are reducing the lengths of term offered to tenants, who were expecting longer leases, so that farms are more readily sellable in case of tax change.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Agricultural Property Relief · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady, and perhaps I should mention that Meadow Foods is the company that takes the milk from our farm—so we are that close to one another. I will say more about that issue as I move through my speech. The lack of any data on the particular effects of the changes in Wales is a genuine problem. The available data, especially the data used by the Treasury, is a combination of Wales data and England data, or is UK-level data; it is not Welsh data. That is why organisations in Wales have to make their own calculations about the impact in Wales. The Country Land and Business Association calculated that an average 250-acre dairy farm in Wales could be hit by a £119,000 inheritance tax charge, while the average 250-acre livestock farm would expect an £85,000 charge. However, those figures do not include the asset value of diversified enterprise, meaning, of course, that they could be higher still. It is crucial that farmers, policymakers and other stakeholders in Wales have accurate data to understand the real impacts of the changes within the specific context of Wales. The FUW called for the Wales-specific impact assessment to be modelled with working farms only, as the Welsh Government—the Welsh Labour Government—did during their 2023 sustainable farming scheme analysis. Today, I reiterate the call for the Government to implement that assessment, as my Plaid Cymru colleagues and I have continuously called for since October. The arguments have not changed. There is evidence that the changes will not make even an iota of difference to the Treasury. In fact, modelling from the Confederation of British Industry Economics found that the changes to BPR will actually cost the Exchequer £1.25 billion between 2026-27 and 2029-30. It is unclear how they work towards Labour’s mission of growth, as industry organisations have come across numerous cases of farms and businesses delaying investments, putting orders on hold and preparing to reduce staffing. Let us not forget that each £1 a farmer spends generates another £9 in that community. What other rural industry does that? Undermining local farmers and agricultural producers risks missing out on crucial opportunities to shorten our supply chains and to improve our food resilience. We currently produce 60% of the food that we need here in the UK and, when our food imports already outnumber exports by £33.2 billion, causing a reduction in the food that we produce will only increase our vulnerability to factors outside our control—the damaging consequences of which we have already felt in the energy market. There is also a consensus that the changes do not address the initial concerns about non-farmers investing in land to avoid inheritance tax. For those with new money from capital gains made in the non-agricultural economy, there will continue to be a huge incentive to buy agricultural land, given that the value of that land above the announced threshold will face inheritance tax charges at half the rate of other assets.

• 27 Jan 2025 · Creative Industries · Hansard source

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  In Wales, we have had an incredibly rich creative inheritance, and we still have that today. Even our rousing national anthem honours the Welsh poets and singers who came before us. One example of that is the Urdd Eisteddfod, where around 15,000 young people compete in creative competitions, spanning from singing to poetry to dancing, and anything in between. Young people in Wales have the ability to participate creatively in our society, but their talent is often extracted from our local communities. Professor Michael Woods from Aberystwyth University highlights that the creative industries could be an antidote to outward migration from Wales. He suggests that creative hubs in rural areas could retain young people in Wales, especially as his research showed that the creative arts were the main reason most would stay in my constituency of Caerfyrddin. A fabulous example of one of those creative hubs is Yr Egin in Carmarthen. It houses the S4C headquarters, provides employment and boosts the local economy. Recent research shows it contributed £7.6 million to Carmarthenshire’s economy alone between 2022 and 2023. Yr Egin plays a vital role in promoting our language and culture in Wales. It is not alone in that. Other creative organisations across Wales, including Cwmni Da, Fran Wen, and Aria Studios in Llangefni, also amplify the voice of our land and culture on both local and international stages. Individuals need access to opportunities and upskilling to participate in the creative industries. Teledwyr Annibynnol Cymru does great work in providing essential training for TV, film, radio and new media. Some 1,800 people have been trained over the past few years at over 125 different courses. The courses are Welsh medium or bilingual, thus providing specialist staff for the industry. I was really disappointed to hear about cuts at two prominent Welsh institutions: the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has cut its junior department and National Theatre Wales is closing due to financial constraints. Despite ongoing training efforts, those cuts, as well as others elsewhere in the sector, leave Welsh creatives at a disadvantage compared with others across the UK. We are very fortunate and appreciate that the wonderful Mr Michael Sheen is establishing a Welsh National Theatre, but the future of our creative industries should not lie solely on the shoulders of one individual. We have a collective responsibility to protect those industries. Creative industries in Wales generated a £3.8 billion turnover across 2022 and 2023, which accounted for 5.3% of the total Welsh GDP. A cornerstone of that success is S4C, which directly employed 1,900 people and generated £136 million for the Welsh economy. It is crucial that S4C is given equal standing with other British broadcasters during the royal charter review, ensuring that the voices of people across Wales are heard, our culture is represented and Wales does not miss out on financial opportunities. The current tax relief system disadvantages S4C, because according to current rules, only TV projects with production costs of at least £1 million per broadcast hour are eligible for a tax rebate of up to 25%. As S4C is very efficient, it spends less than £250,000 per broadcast hour so it does not meet the threshold to qualify for the support. I call on the Government to reconsider that to ensure our creative industries continue to thrive. Our Government must lead on protecting our creative industries, from local to global, because they drive the economy, employ millions of people and contribute in Wales to our culture, Welsh language and overall wellbeing. The creative arts are Wales. As a former peripatetic music teacher and as a singer—not in any big bands, as some hon. Members have been—I would like to read the first verse of “In Passing” by Brian Harris. “To be born in Wales, Not with a silver spoon in your mouth, But, with music in your blood And with poetry in your soul, Is a privilege indeed.” Indeed it is a privilege.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Support for Women Pensioners · Hansard source

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  9. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the adequacy of Government support for women pensioners in Scotland.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Support for Women Pensioners · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Mr Llefarydd. In 2021, the then Secretary of State called for a vote on redress for 1950s-born women, urging the UK Government to get on the front foot and offer serious compensation to those affected, but women in Scotland and Wales have seen the same broken promises from Labour. The now First Minister of Wales pledged in 2018 that a Labour Government would right that injustice. With the Secretary of State, the Welsh First Minister and Labour politicians across these isles turning their backs on 1950s women in Scotland, Wales and elsewhere, why should those women ever again believe a word they say?

• 20 Jan 2025 · Obesity: Food and Diet · Hansard source

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  I commend the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) on bringing forward this important debate. It is refreshing that Members on both sides of the Chamber are all agreeing, and trying to find a way forward. Figures show that more than a quarter of children aged four and five in Wales are measured as being overweight, with one in 10 being obese. While those figures are hugely concerning, the factors for obesity, as has been said, are incredibly complex. They include the impact of poverty, behaviours resulting from technological advances, and unhealthy foods, to name just a few. As hon. Members will know, health is a devolved matter in Wales. Obesity is rightly recognised as one of the most significant public health challenges, both in Cardiff and here in Westminster. At the start of this Senedd term, the then Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Eluned Morgan, said: “I can give you an absolute commitment…I’m absolutely determined that this is an area that we should focus on.” Four or five years on from that commitment, campaigners are raising the alarm. Obesity Alliance Cymru has said that without urgent action to combat rates of obesity in Wales, our NHS will likely face additional costs of £465 million in Wales by 2050. It is therefore vital that health policy on obesity is receptive to the link between the prevalence of poverty and physical and mental wellbeing. That means resources to promote physical activity and improve health education, and more time for physical education. Plaid Cymru is proud to have secured free school meals for all primary school children in Wales. At the heart of the policy is the belief that each and every child should have access to hot nutritious meals, especially when so many rely on their school lunch as their most substantial meal of the day. To that end, initiatives are already in place that can achieve the high standard of food produce that we all want for our constituents. Where I live in Llanarthne—it is a small rural village in the middle of nowhere, but it is the heart of Wales—the council-owned Bremenda Isaf farm has been taken over to produce vegetables for the public plate as part of the Bwyd Sir Gâr food partnership. The project proves not only that we can still achieve shorter food supply chains, which are useful for food security and resilience, but that local and Government-led farm to fork initiatives can work successfully both to support local farming and to ensure better quality, tasty food for our children and residents. The Bremenda Isaf project could be an example to emulate across the whole UK, using public land to produce public food. The UK Government’s shared prosperity fund, which is being cut to £900 million in 2025-26 before being scrapped, was influential in making that initiative happen. I reiterate my call for any wider funding reforms to consider the importance of need-based funding, and for all funding allocations for Wales to be decided in Wales. Research by Nesta, an innovation foundation, argues that we can reduce obesity and improve population health by improving our food environment. That means looking at the price of healthy options, portion sizes, advertising and promotions, and convenience. In other words, a holistic approach is the way forward. As hon. Members have set out, policy ideas have already been developed to put that in motion. New ideas and initiatives have challenges, but for more effective decision making, we desperately need a different mindset. Under-resourcing these initiatives will inevitably mean higher future spending on health. Now is the time to look at our local communities and learn from them.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Foot and Mouth Disease · Hansard source

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  I am a dairy farmer, and the devastating outbreak of foot and mouth more than 20 years ago was on my doorstep. We were lucky, as a family farm, but sadly others within my farming community in Wales were not. The outbreak was also a food security issue, as it was understood to have derived from food waste fed to pigs. What lessons have the UK Government learnt from that outbreak to enable them to secure our food chains better and keep our livestock and food supplies safe?

• 13 Jan 2025 · Gas Storage Levels · Hansard source

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  As well as improving energy storage, we should be improving energy efficiency in our homes. The average energy performance certificate rating for properties in Caerfyrddin is D; it comes fourth-lowest in Wales in that respect. The Government plan to increase the EPC rating for rented properties to C by 2030. If we are to meet that aim through insulation, what lessons can be learned from previous schemes, such as the ECO4 scheme, which has been beset with problems, including contractors carrying out poor work on the properties of older and vulnerable people?

• 17 Dec 2024 · Old Oak Common Station · Hansard source

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  Diolch yn fawr, Mr Efford. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. It is well documented that Wales is being robbed of £4 billion in consequential funding from HS2. Now we learn that Welsh passengers will be robbed of their time, as trains travelling along the Carmarthen—Caerfyrddin—to London line could be cut off from Paddington and diverted to Euston for at least seven years because of the construction of Old Oak Common. It is no wonder that HS2 is referred to as the Great Welsh Train Robbery. However, it may not be only the passengers in south Wales who will be affected. It is likely that those travelling from north Wales to Euston will have to deal with even more crowded trains and disrupted journey times. Can the Minister tell us what meetings she has had with the Welsh First Minister to set out the near decade of disruption facing Welsh passengers, or have the Welsh Government made any representation to the UK Government on this issue? I find it unlikely that the Welsh Government have been standing up firmly for Wales regarding fairness for our passengers and railways. Only recently the First Minister of Wales said that she felt sorry for the Prime Minister after asking him for money from HS2. It is not the Prime Minister but Welsh passengers I feel sorry for, given that we are the ones being denied the investment needed in our railways. Historically, Wales has had very low investment in our railways. Despite having 5% of the UK population and 11% of track miles, Wales has received only 1% to 2% of rail enhancement funding in recent years. The proportion of electrified route is 44% in England, 33% in Scotland and—wait for it—7% in Wales. That is shocking. Westminster Governments have broken promises for the electrification of the north Wales main line and for full electrification of the south Wales line up to Swansea. Can the Minister explain why the people of Wales should be denied a modern, fast and reliable railway like those of other European countries? Old Oak Common is yet another example of how unjust the current arrangements are for Wales. The Government must change course, deliver the billions of pounds that Wales is owed from HS2 and ensure that there is proper mitigation for Welsh passengers because of the disruption at Old Oak Common. Diolch, Mr Efford.