WineGB responds to chancellor Reeves’ Spending Review

According to chancellor Reeves, DEFRA has been allocated £7.4 billion, which matches previous budgets.

The government has also announced a £2.7 billion boost for farming and nature recovery, however, within this, there will be a £100 million cut to farming and countryside programmes.

This comes after the agriculture budget has already been eroded over the past decade by inflation, significantly reducing its spending power.

WineGB CEO Nicola Bates called the cuts a “disappointment”.

“Our farmers and wine businesses are fed up. Despite contributing millions to the Treasury in duty and other business payments, our industry gets very little in return.

“This needs to change. We require the support of our government to further cement our position as an increasingly renowned producer of world-class wines, bringing money and skilled jobs into our countryside.

“We welcome the commitments to delivering an agile, productive and digitally enabled state. However, this appears more aspirational than grounded in reality, as it is not clear where the actual cuts will come from.

“There are large assumptions of efficiencies that can be achieved in this Spending Review. If these are not achieved, we need to be assured that support for food and drinks businesses will not be targeted instead to fulfil the cuts committed to today,” she continued.

‘Barely any support for vineyards and wine businesses’

Ms Bates added that WineGB welcomes the indication that there will be more funding for training and upskilling and for seeking to make the UK the best place in the world to do business.

“But, overall, there is barely any support for vineyards and wine businesses.

“We need the government to make sure that the Comprehensive Spending Review does not risk the growth of a successful, homegrown industry,” the expert concluded.

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