Wednesday, August 13, 2025
UK Government digs its heels in
They say that 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. On land the Crown Estates owns 50,000 acres of common land in Wales. The value of the estate in Wales is more than £603m of land.
Since 2019 responsibility for management of the Crown Estate’s assets in Scotland has been devolved but that is not the case in Wales. The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, the Welsh Government and all twenty-two Welsh councils want the estate devolved to Wales. However, the UK Government has ruled it out:
In response to a letter sent by campaigners Yes Cymru to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Welsh secretary Jo Stevens has said that is not the position of her party colleagues in London.
In it, she writes: "It is this government's view that devolving the Crown Estate and introducing a new entity would risk market fragmentation, complicate existing processes, and delay further development offshore.
"Furthermore, devolution would mean Wales losing access to Crown Estate investment that comes from its revenues in England. It would also risk undermining investment in floating offshore wind, which is needed to provide lower bills, cleaner energy, and better jobs. This government is focussed on delivering these objectives and so does not support the devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales," the Cardiff East MP says.
"Even if devolution could be done without risking the revenues the Crown Estate generates, this would not automatically lead to an increase in the funding available to the Welsh Government. This is because any revenues retained by the Welsh Government in a devolved system would likely be offset through reductions to their block grant as is currently the case in Scotland.
"Creating an artificial border through the Celtic Sea would also complicate crucially important work to develop the floating offshore wind industry, particularly as floating offshore wind lease areas straddle the Wales/England border."
YesCymru has pledged to intensify the campaign in response to Westminster’s refusal, which started with a protest at the Eisteddfod.
Chair Phyl Griffiths said: "The Crown Estate proves that the practice of extraction is still alive in 21st century Wales and has resulted in all 22 authorities speaking with one voice, underlining the fact we're a nation.
"The London government's response to our call to transfer control of the Crown Estate to Wales, however, only proves that they see us as nothing more than a region of the UK."
So much for two Labour governments working together for the common good.
