PLAID DEMANDS THAT WELSH CROWN ESTATES PROFITS SHOULD BE SPENT IN WALES

Plaid Cymru councillors in Carmarthenshire will be asking a full meeting of the County Council (Notice of Motion on Wednesday 13 November) to support the growing call for devolving the management of Crown Estate assets in Wales, so that their substantial profits can be invested in the economy and communities of Wales, as is the case in Scotland since 2017.

They point out that a poll in 2023 indicated that 75% of the Welsh population were in favour of Welsh Government taking control of the assets of the Crown Estate rather than the profits going to the Treasury. At a time when councils are under huge financial pressure they say that placing the Crown Estate in Welsh hands would be a significant step towards addressing the years of lack of investment in Local Government.

Motion proposer Cllr Betsan Jones said:

‘The Crown Estate owns more than £600m worth of land in Wales, including 50,000 acres and 65% of the seabed around the Welsh coastline, stretching out to a distance of 12 nautical miles. It also owns tidal estuaries, including the Loughor estuary as far as Llangennech, and the River Tywi, which flows below County Hall in Carmarthen, as far as Felin Wen.

‘Since this Notice of Motion was submitted, the Crown Estate has responded to pressure from Plaid Cymru and others by appointing a commissioner to represent Wales on the Crown Estate. The Labour UK government claims this will “ensure Wales benefits” from income paid to the Treasury from Crown Estates. But Plaid says that this isn’t good enough. It should be fully devolved.’

Motion seconder Cllr Meinir James said:

‘The Crown Estate benefits hugely from leasing seabed for off-shore wind turbine developments, including the massive proposed Floating Offshore Wind projects in the sea off south-west Wales, with power being carried into the National Grid through Carmarthenshire. These developments will be a huge money spinner – no pun intended – and if the Crown Estate was devolved to Wales, the tens of millions of pounds raised could be used to address the poverty and inequality across our country.

‘In Scotland the proceeds of the Crown Estate are given to the Scottish government. This amounted to over £100million last year. The Welsh Government gets nothing. Plaid wants the Crown Estate fully devolved to Wales, and it should need consent from the Welsh government before exercising any powers in Wales. Plaid says that profits generated from the Welsh Crown Estate should be invested directly in Welsh communities – not swallowed up by Westminster.’

The Welsh Government has reaffirmed its longstanding position that the Crown Estate should be devolved to Wales in line with the position in Scotland. Both Labour-led Swansea County Council and Monmouthshire, as well as Plaid-led Gwynedd, have already expressed their support for devolving the Crown Estate as a matter of urgency.

Background Note: The Crown Estate has assets worth almost £15.8 billion in the UK and its net revenue profit in 2023-24 was over £1.1billion. Although officially owned by the monarchy, the sovereign has no control over its affairs since an agreement made in 1760, under which profits are delivered to the UK Treasury, who then decide the annual payment to the King (the Sovereign Grant) – currently £86m.