Ahead of the Senedd debate on the Crown Estate (25 March), we are setting out some relevant background as well as highlighting our previous articles in this InBrief article on the Crown Estate.
The Crown Estate is a collection of marine and land assets and holdings that belong to the monarch. It includes the seabed out to 12 nautical miles, which is around 65% of the Welsh foreshore and riverbed, and a number of ports and marinas. Inland the Crown Estates owns 50,000 acres of common land in Wales.
The term “Crown Estate” is also used for the body that administers the estate, established by the Crown Estate Act 1961 headed by the Crown Estate Commissioners. It's independent of government and the monarch with a public function to:
- invest in and manage certain property assets belonging to the Monarch; and
- remit its revenue surplus each year to the UK consolidated fund.
Unlike Wales, the responsibility for management of the Crown Estate’s assets in Scotland is devolved.
The Scotland Crown Estate Act 2019 formally established Crown Estate Scotland to manage Crown Estate Assets in Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers.
It places specific duties on Crown Estate Scotland to manage the assets in accordance with Scottish Government policy and principles such as sustainable development.
The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales recommended that a new expert group should be created to (among other things) advise on options for devolving the Crown Estate to Wales.
The Welsh Government welcomed the recommendation for the expert group, saying the Crown Estate should be devolved to Wales in line with the position in Scotland.
The Welsh Government’s Programme for Government makes a commitment to “pursue devolution of powers needed to help reach net zero, including management of the Crown Estate in Wales”.
The latest figures for the Crown Estate in Wales showed it generated a revenue of £8.7m in 2020-21. The UK Crown Estate revenue was £1.6 billion in 2023-24, up from £738.7 million in 2022-23 and its underlying profit was £1.5 billion up from £643.1 million in 2022-23.
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government recently noted the Welsh Government’s position that management of the Crown Estate should be devolved to Wales and the “importance of creating a stable environment to ensure we capture the opportunities for offshore wind” as a potential benefit of devolving responsibility.
In February 2024, the Crown Estate launched the Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5, which is expected to build 260 wind turbines in the Celtic Sea off the coast of South Wales and South West England. This is projected to deliver 4.5GW of capacity, enough to power more than 4 million homes.
In July 2024, the UK Government introduced the Crown Estate Bill, which aims to modernise the operation of the Crown Estate.
The Bill will create “commissioners with special responsibility”, which must include a commissioner responsible for giving advice about Wales in relation to the operation of the Crown Estate.
The UK Government must consult Welsh Government Ministers before the commissioner is appointed.
An amendment to the Crown Estate Bill seeking to devolve control over the Crown Estate in Wales to Wales was rejected in the House of Commons.
A Private Members’ Bill, the Crown Estate (Wales) Bill has been introduced and is currently at the Committee stage of scrutiny by the House of Lords.
The Bill’s aim is to transfer responsibility for the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government and for connected purposes.
Since the 2024 general election, there have been further discussions in the Senedd about the potential devolution of the management of the Crown Estate to Wales. However, the UK Government does not support the devolution of the Crown Estate , citing instead that its focus is on “taking maximum advantage of the opportunities that floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea presents for Wales”.
To find out more about the Crown Estate read our research article from 2021, you can also watch the debate on senedd.tv.
In Brief by Božo Lugonja, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
