Plaid Cymru leader slams First Minister for failing to win battle with UK Government on Crown Estate powers

Emily Price 

Plaid Cymru’s leader Rhun ap Iorworth has slammed the First Minster for failing to win “a battle with her party” to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales.

Devolving Crown Estate powers has been the official stance of Labour ministers in Wales for some time.

But last week, their colleagues in Westminster blocked the transfer of Crown Estate management to the Welsh Government by voting down an amendment Plaid had tabled to the Crown Estate Bill.

Plaid Cymru argued that the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales within two years of the commencement of the Act would have been a vital step to ensure that profits generated from Welsh land and seabeds benefit people in Wales directly.

Blocked

The Liberal Democrats also tabled an amendment calling for Crown Estate assets to be handed to Wales – but this too was blocked by Labour MPs.

The stance contradicted recent comments from Baroness Eluned Morgan, who said she was “fighting very hard” for more control.

In the Senedd of Tuesday (February 11), Rhun ap Iorwerth said questions needed to be asked about how much influence the First Minister actually has over UK Labour.

He accused her of “warm words” that were not winning a battle among her own elected members in Wales.

Labour MP for Llanelli Nia Griffith told Golwg last week that devolving the Crown Estate to Wales was a “waste of time”.

The Crown Estate is a huge collection of assets owned by the British monarchy, which includes vast swathes of urban, coastal and maritime land worth £16 billion.

It is run as a business, independent of government, but its profits are delivered to the UK Treasury each year.

An annual payment is also made to the monarch in the form of the Sovereign Grant, currently set at 12% of the total.

In 2016, Scotland secured devolution of its Crown Estate, allowing its revenues to be reinvested directly in Scottish communities.

Plaid Cymru argues that Wales has been treated unfairly by the Crown Estate with struggling councils forced to fork out for access to coastline and public footpaths whilst Crown Estate profits skyrocket amid investment in renewable energy projects, such as offshore wind.

Waste

Mr ap Iorwerth told the Senedd that the latest annual report showed that the Scottish Crown Estate generated £103m for the Scottish public purse last year – whilst Wales missed out on millions.

He said: “We hear that devolving the Crown Estate is the policy of the Labour Party in Wales – but we need to get it done.

“The MP for Llanelli Nia Griffith thinks devolving the Crown Estate is a waste of time.

“So when the First Minister says she is fighting on the Crown Estate, it sounds great, it is what we need, but she is not even winning the battle among her own elected members in Wales let alone the wider party.”

The First Minister said she wanted to make it clear that it was “nation before party” and that the position of the Welsh Government remains that the Crown Estate should be devolved.

Discussions

She told Plaid’s leader that there had been “discussions” on the matter between the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Welsh Government officials and ministers.

Baroness Morgan said: “We have made it very clear our position on this issue, but the whole point of this is to make sure that we get our fair share.

“In Wales what we’re looking for is an uplift that will help us to contribute to improve the lives of the people in this nation.”