The UK Government is to appoint a Crown Estate Commissioner for the first time to provide advice at board level on conditions in Wales.
It says their advice will further support the Commissioners’ existing role in ensuring Wales benefits from the drive for clean energy, following an agreement brokered by the Welsh Secretary.
An amendment to the Crown Estate Bill was accepted by the Government at its Lords Report Stage, which enjoys cross-party support from Labour, Plaid Cymru, Liberal Democrats and crossbenchers.
The Commissioner will be appointed through the Public Appointments process and will include consultation with the Welsh Government.
The Commissioner will have “an additional responsibility” to provide advice on conditions in Wales, ensuring its voice is heard.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has worked closely with the Treasury, The Crown Estate, members of the House of Lords and the Welsh Government to ensure this issue is addressed as part of the passage of legislation through the House of Lords.
The Crown Estate plays a significant role in attracting international investment into Wales for energy projects such as Floating Offshore Wind in the Celtic Sea to deliver cleaner energy and better jobs.
The UK Government said the new Commissioner would strengthen The Crown Estate’s ability and mission to deliver benefit for the whole of the UK. It added that “devolution of the Estate would significantly risk fragmenting the energy market”, saying this would “undermine international investor confidence and delay the progress towards net zero, to the detriment of the whole of the UK”.
Great British Energy, the UK Government’s new publicly-owned energy company, recently announced a new partnership with The Crown Estate to accelerate the sustainable delivery of renewable energy and other technologies that the UK Government says could leverage up to £60 billion of private investment into the UK’s drive for energy independence.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said:
“This is a landmark step toward ensuring that Welsh prosperity is at the heart of the Government’s mission to become a clean energy superpower.
“Our nation stands to benefit hugely from investment in floating offshore wind and we now have the representation we need to help seize that moment.
“This is a demonstration of how Wales benefits directly from its two governments working together and I’m grateful to Lord Livermore and The Crown Estate others for helping to make this happen.”
Sir Robin Budenberg CBE, Chair of The Crown Estate, said:
“In seeking to increase the number of Commissioners from eight to 12, The Crown Estate welcomes the opportunity now presented by this amendment to bring even more direct knowledge and understanding of the areas in which we operate and further strengthen our ability to deliver benefit to the whole of the UK.”
The Crown Estate is an independent commercial business, set up by the Crown Estate Act 1961, to manage land and the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is a non-financial public corporation with a wide portfolio of investments managed on behalf of the Government. Profits from the Estate is paid every year to the Treasury for the benefit of all UK taxpayers.