UK Budget: Lack of tree planting support questioned by timber leader

Amid the UK's ongoing struggles to hit its planting targets, removing barriers to work and improvements to childcare provision in England were major themes to the Chancellor's announcement today. 

Mr Hunt also said a recession would be avoided and inflation would fall dramatically as the economy was “proving the doubters wrong”.

However, the Budget has been called "largely unambitious" in relation to the UK's net-zero targets, with one industry leader going so far as to question why £20 billion will be made available to carbon capture but nothing was set aside for tree planting. 

READ MORE: Fungi-tree planting could feed millions while capturing carbon

The UK didn't even plant half of its annual goal of 30,000 hectares of new woodland in the most recent period, but there is no mention of trees in the entire budget. The only reference of woodlands comes in the news woodlands relief from inheritance tax to property will be restricted as of next April. 

David Hopkins, chief executive of Timber Development UK, said: "The budget announcement was largely unambitious and does little to support the net-zero transition in construction. 

"Full expensing on capital investments is welcome as the industry attempts to shift to new, greener methods of construction, but it still represents a fall on the previous offer under the now-ending super deduction. 

David Hopkins

"This alone may not provide the stability necessary to keep the sector building, especially since funding support for housebuilding and green energy infrastructure seemed distinctly lacking in the chancellor’s statement. Announcements around HS2 last week will also make many investors nervous about the future pipeline of work in the UK, and little was said today to assuage these fears.

"Overall, whilst the UK may have narrowly avoided a recession, this budget will do little to change the construction environment. 

"Finally, we might highlight the £20 billion investment in early-stage carbon capture and storage technologies and ask whether the government has missed an opportunity to invest in an already existing technology in the form of 'trees'. Perhaps revisiting failed tree-planting targets could be considered next time.”

A major theme to the Budget was the Chancellor's bid to remove barriers to work. He promised up to 30 hours a week of free childcare for eligible households in England with children as young as nine months, instead of three and four-year-olds under the current policy.

The phased policy, which will be fully introduced by September 2025, will be worth up to £6,500 a year for working families.

The plan will cost £4.9 billion in 2027-28, raising employment by 60,000 that year, as well as increasing the hours worked by mothers already in work.

Mr Hunt resisted demands from Tory MPs, including Boris Johnson, to scrap April’s increase in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent, but he instead promised a generous set of reliefs to help firms reduce their bills.

A new policy of “full expensing” will mean that every single pound a company invests in IT equipment, plant or machinery can be deducted in full and immediately from taxable profit, a cut worth an average of £9 billion a year for every year it is in place.

It is “the most generous capital allowance regime of any advanced economy”, he told MPs.

Jeremy Hunt delivered his Budget today

Opening his Budget statement, Mr Hunt told MPs: “In the face of enormous challenges, I report today on a British economy which is proving the doubters wrong.”

A technical recession – two quarters of negative growth – will be avoided, the OBR said.

Mr Hunt added: “They forecast we will meet the Prime Minister’s priorities to halve inflation, reduce debt and get the economy growing. We are following the plan and the plan is working.”

He said improvements in the picture for the public finances meant “more money for our public services and a lower burden on future generations”.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “After 13 years of his Government, our economy needed major surgery, but like millions across our country, this Budget leaves us stuck in the waiting room with only a sticking plaster to hand."