Friday, September 01, 2023
Give unto Caesar
I am not one of those people who cry foul at every perceived slight to Wales, especially where money is involved. We are part of the United Kingdowm and we are dependent on their government for the funding that enables us to provide important services. The Welsh Government also has limited taxation powers and is able to borrow to invest in important infrastructure.
Nevertheless, there are instances when the rules by which we are financed are deliberately broken by UK Ministers, to avoid having to provide us with valuable resources.
Nevertheless, there are instances when the rules by which we are financed are deliberately broken by UK Ministers, to avoid having to provide us with valuable resources.
One such instance is the failure to allow a Barnett consequential for HS2, effectively depriving Wales of £5bn of capital money that could be used to transform our own transport network.
Another example is the Crown Estates income, a leftover from feudal times that yields significant income for the state.
As this Nation Cymru article reports, the asset value of Crown Estate holdings in Wales amounted to a staggering £853m last year. These generate a significant income for the crown:
The Crown Estate is an independent company which belongs to the monarch for the duration of their reign, though the revenue from its £16bn property portfolio flows directly to the Treasury.
Nation Cymru was able to obtain a copy of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request which revealed a breakdown of the value of the property and asset groups that made up the Crown Estate in Wales for the 2022 – 2023 financial year.
The breakdown for the property group values were as follows:
Offshore Wind and Marine Energy £793,146,428 Coastal £21,208,350 Minerals £21,841,276 Cables and Interconnectors £14,400,000 Rural agriculture and others £2,434,400 The group values amounted to a combined worth of £853,030,454.
In addition, the FOI response also provided a full 50 page list of all the assets broken down by location as well as property group.
The Crown Estate owns the UK seabed out to 12 nautical miles and calls have been made previously by the Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts to form an arrangement similar to Scotland which would give Wales a direct say in how the profits from new floating wind farms planned off the Welsh coast would be spent.
The estate’s Scottish assets were devolved to Scotland in 2016, and its revenue now goes to the Scottish Government.
The Sovereign Grant, which is taken from public spending to cover the expenses of the royal household, is determined as a proportion of Crown Estate profits.
In July this year, following record breaking profits raked in by offshore leasing of wind farms it was announced by the Treasury that The Sovereign Grant will now be set at 12% of the Crown Estate’s net profits next year, down from 25% on previous years.
Arfon Jones from Cymru Republic, who initiated the FOI also requested the details of Crown Estate profits specifically for assets / property in Wales but this information was not provided.
The FOI response from the Crown Estate stated: “We run a single set of accounts at an enterprise level and expenditure is incurred for the benefit of the whole portfolio and cannot be attributed to individual assets.
“It is therefore not possible to calculate the value of net revenue profit generated from The Crown Estate’s assets in Wales, and we do not hold this information.”
Arfon Jones said: “We were prompted to make this Freedom of Information request when we heard that the system for allocating the profits from the Crown Estate to the Monarchy had changed.
“We were surprised by the extent of the Crown Estates in Wales, which could be put to better use by alleviating child poverty, improving the wellbeing of the people of Wales, as well as shaping and expanding our renewable future in consultation with the people of our nation.
“A share of £853 million could make a massive difference to Wales, and like Scotland, it should be devolved now.
It might well be possible for the UK government to argue that they do not wish to disturb the status quo by devolving these assets and their income to Wales, except that they have already created that precedent by giving Scotland control of the Crown Estate north of the border.
As this Nation Cymru article reports, the asset value of Crown Estate holdings in Wales amounted to a staggering £853m last year. These generate a significant income for the crown:
The Crown Estate is an independent company which belongs to the monarch for the duration of their reign, though the revenue from its £16bn property portfolio flows directly to the Treasury.
Nation Cymru was able to obtain a copy of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request which revealed a breakdown of the value of the property and asset groups that made up the Crown Estate in Wales for the 2022 – 2023 financial year.
The breakdown for the property group values were as follows:
Offshore Wind and Marine Energy £793,146,428 Coastal £21,208,350 Minerals £21,841,276 Cables and Interconnectors £14,400,000 Rural agriculture and others £2,434,400 The group values amounted to a combined worth of £853,030,454.
In addition, the FOI response also provided a full 50 page list of all the assets broken down by location as well as property group.
The Crown Estate owns the UK seabed out to 12 nautical miles and calls have been made previously by the Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts to form an arrangement similar to Scotland which would give Wales a direct say in how the profits from new floating wind farms planned off the Welsh coast would be spent.
The estate’s Scottish assets were devolved to Scotland in 2016, and its revenue now goes to the Scottish Government.
The Sovereign Grant, which is taken from public spending to cover the expenses of the royal household, is determined as a proportion of Crown Estate profits.
In July this year, following record breaking profits raked in by offshore leasing of wind farms it was announced by the Treasury that The Sovereign Grant will now be set at 12% of the Crown Estate’s net profits next year, down from 25% on previous years.
Arfon Jones from Cymru Republic, who initiated the FOI also requested the details of Crown Estate profits specifically for assets / property in Wales but this information was not provided.
The FOI response from the Crown Estate stated: “We run a single set of accounts at an enterprise level and expenditure is incurred for the benefit of the whole portfolio and cannot be attributed to individual assets.
“It is therefore not possible to calculate the value of net revenue profit generated from The Crown Estate’s assets in Wales, and we do not hold this information.”
Arfon Jones said: “We were prompted to make this Freedom of Information request when we heard that the system for allocating the profits from the Crown Estate to the Monarchy had changed.
“We were surprised by the extent of the Crown Estates in Wales, which could be put to better use by alleviating child poverty, improving the wellbeing of the people of Wales, as well as shaping and expanding our renewable future in consultation with the people of our nation.
“A share of £853 million could make a massive difference to Wales, and like Scotland, it should be devolved now.
It might well be possible for the UK government to argue that they do not wish to disturb the status quo by devolving these assets and their income to Wales, except that they have already created that precedent by giving Scotland control of the Crown Estate north of the border.
What is good enough for Scotland should be good enough for Wales.
Isn't it about time there was some consistency in the way the UK nations are treated?
Isn't it about time there was some consistency in the way the UK nations are treated?
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It may be that they deprive Wales cos it is controlled by Labour.The main opposition to the Conservatives.It would not do to be lavish in handing out money for that cou;d put them in a bad light re running a country.So they have to have somebody to critisise.
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