Fran Barnes, Chief Executive of the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), commented on the government's Spending Review announcement: "This Spending Review follows an Autumn Budget that hit our members – many of them SMEs and family businesses - particularly hard, with rising workforce costs, uncertainty around key Defra-led funding schemes, and proposed inheritance tax changes that our data shows would be a lose-lose for both the Treasury and industry.
"While today's announcements focus on the NHS and large-scale projects, Environmental Horticulture should not be overlooked. Our sector is ideally placed to deliver the essential green infrastructure that's vital alongside grey infrastructure - boosting UK-grown growth, supporting environmental goals, and building healthier, wealthier and more resilient communities. Green spaces must be factored into planning from day one.
"We await details on what funding schemes and innovation support will look like following today's announcements, and what that means for our members, and we call on the government to sustain momentum in removing trade friction through a new SPS arrangement with the EU. This cannot come soon enough and must avoid adding further costs to a sector already under pressure.
"A warm spring lifted the garden sector, but investment-driven growth has not been unlocked, and there is a danger that that this Spending Review will once again fall short of unlocking our full potential."
For more information:
Horticultural Trades Association
[email protected]
www.hta.org.uk