Since the general election, there has been much speculation about what the new British Labour government might mean for Wales, with the same party now in power in both Cardiff and London.
These debates include whether Westminster will be vested with the Crown Estate, a collection of property, rights and interests owned by His Majesty “in the name of the Crown”. This should not be confused with the Crown Estate working for the King. Rather, it means that while the monarch is the legal owner, it is not the King’s private property and cannot be sold by him. The income from the estate does not belong to the King but goes to the Exchequer.
The transfer of Crown property would bring Wales into line with Scotland. The Welsh Labour Party has repeatedly stressed its firm commitment to this. But the new British government recently confirmed that it has not had any discussions with the Welsh government about the transfer of Crown property to Wales.
The estate’s assets are managed by commissioners and boards under the Crown Estate Act 1961. It is a unique business with a history dating back to 1760, when George III granted crown lands to Parliament in return for an annual payment, with the estate’s profits later going to the Treasury. Since 2011, the estate’s profits have also been used by the British government to determine the monarch’s funding, under the Sovereign Grant Act.
Read more: Did the King just get a raise? This is how the Crown Estate and the Royal Family’s income work
Generally, the Crown Estate prioritises environmental projects. These include cumulative offshore wind projects with a capacity of around 11.8GW to generate clean energy. The Estate has also committed £10 million to plant 1,000 acres of new woodland and 200 miles of hedgerows.
In the 2023-24 financial year, the company reported record net profits of £1.1 billion, up £658.1 million on the previous year, with the increase mainly due to offshore wind leasing.
The Crown Estate in Scotland
Management of the Crown Estate was transferred to Scotland in 2017, meaning that revenues flow back to Edinburgh rather than Westminster. The estate includes leasehold of the seabed up to 12 nautical miles offshore, 37,000 hectares of farmland, rights to most of Scotland’s naturally occurring gold and silver, and around half of Scotland’s coastal resources. This includes 5,800 licensed berths, 750 aquaculture sites and salmon fishing rights.
According to its latest annual report at the end of 2023, the Scottish Crown Estate generated £103.6 million for the Scottish Government. The value of the Scottish estate increased from £568.2 million to £653.1 million last year through its various initiatives and investments.
As a public body, the Scottish Crown Estate is accountable to Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Parliament. Crucially, the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019 provides that the Scottish Crown Estate must act in a way that promotes the sustainable development of Scotland and contributes to promoting or enhancing regeneration, social and economic wellbeing.
Steven May/StockimoNews/Alamy
In Wales, the estate is estimated to own 65% of the country’s coastline and riverbeds, as well as more than 20,000 hectares of land.
Various interest groups and politicians have been calling for the transfer of Crown sovereignty for several years so that Wales is placed on a par with Scotland. A petition calling for the transfer of Crown sovereignty was launched in early 2022. At the time, then Conservative Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart told Parliament there was no “public interest or desire” for reform, adding that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
In 2023, a YouGov poll found that a majority of Welsh people were in favour of devolving housing to Wales. And in January this year, Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts, then Labour MP Beth Winter and Welsh Charter for Housing Justice campaigner Siarter Cartrefi launched a campaign to focus on the issue, supported by actor and activist Michael Sheen.
The campaign argues that Wales should directly benefit from the profits from renewable energy, as they play a role in initiatives such as offshore wind. It argues that this money could be used to tackle poverty and inequality in communities across Wales.
Given the political commitment of the Welsh Labour Party and the change of government, one might have expected the two to move closer to serious talks about the future of a Crown Estate in Wales. But Labour’s new Financial Secretary to the Treasury in Westminster, Lord Livermore, said in late July: “The introduction of a new entity would fragment the market, complicate existing processes and would likely delay further development offshore and undermine investment in Welsh waters.”
In terms of devolved responsibilities, Wales has lagged behind Scotland for decades. And devolution of the Crown Estates currently seems to be on hold, perhaps in part due to the UK’s current financial situation. It will be interesting to see whether the Welsh Labour Party resists.
However, given the work of the Scottish Crown lands, it is difficult to understand why Wales should not be given the same opportunities – particularly at a time when the Crown lands are making record net profits and economic inequality continues to prevail in Wales.
