Luke Fletcher MS argues that despite Labour’s claims, Westminster still controls the Crown Estate, keeping Wales locked out of decisions on its own resources.
This article was originally published by NewsHubGroup on Tuesday 25th February 2025.
While the Welsh Labour Government has placed great stock in a “partnership of power” — two governments working together either side of the M4 — this has yet to bear any fruit.
It’s a rhetorical sleight of hand that has been deployed time and time again in relation to the impact of two pieces of legislation with wide-reaching implications for Wales: the Great British Energy Bill and the Crown Estate Bill.
Indeed, despite promises of a clean break from years of Tory austerity, Wales still remains in the dark when it comes to energy policy.
Central to the UK Labour Government’s climate agenda has been creation of Great British Energy, a state-owned energy company tasked with driving the shift to renewables and £8.3 billion to back it up.
But serious questions remain about who sets to benefit.
Indeed, given that many Welsh renewables projects are owned by other European state-owned companies and a variety of private actors, the “success” of GB Energy will hinge on partnerships with these entities, further sidelining Welsh communities from which the assets and wealth will be extracted.
The rhetoric surrounding community energy only deepens these contradictions.
Recently, the chairman of Great British Energy emphasised at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference that new clean power projects must “demonstrate benefits” to local groups and “bring communities along” during the green energy transition.
However, such phrases have become increasingly hollow, and communities across the country recognise that the financial benefits of this transition often elude them.
The Great British Energy Bill, currently progressing through the Houses of Westminster, will soon undergo the legislative consent process in the Senedd. Although the Cabinet Secretary for Economy recently said that the Bill primarily establishes Great British Energy as a publicly owned company, its tangible, material impact on Wales remains completely unknown.
Moreover, the partnership between Great British Energy and the Crown Estate has done little to allay concerns around the extractive framework within which energy policy in Wales largely operates. In fact, matters look set to worsen.
For readers who may be unfamiliar, the Crown Estate comprises a diverse portfolio of marine and land assets, as well as a number of rights and interests held by the reigning monarch. Its assets include the Welsh seabed out to 12 nautical miles, over 50,000 acres of land, approximately 65% of the Welsh foreshore and riverbed, as well as several ports and marinas.
The Crown Estate’s financial records for Wales date back to 2006/07. The initial report from that year revealed that the Crown Estate’s assets in Wales were valued at £21.1 million, yielding a net revenue of £2.5 million. However, in recent years, the value of these assets has surged dramatically. For the financial year 2023/24, the Crown Estate reported a profit of £1.1 billion, representing an increase of £658 million compared to the previous year.
A recent Freedom of Information Request provided a detailed breakdown of the value of Welsh assets, revealing a total worth of £853,030,454 of which £793,146,428 was generated from offshore wind and marine energy.
Considering these figures and the projects currently in the development pipeline or anticipated to come online in the coming years, it is entirely conceivable that the asset value of the Crown Estate’s holdings in Wales will surpass several billion pounds, resulting in hundreds of millions in annual revenue.
As it currently operates, all of this wealth goes to the UK Government.
In conjunction with the Great British Energy Bill, the Crown Estate Bill is also progressing through Westminster. At Committee stage, my Plaid Cymru colleague Llinos Medi MP tabled an amendment to transfer management of the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government – this was voted down.
Once again, on Monday night, Labour MPs blocked Plaid Cymru’s bid to give Wales the same powers as Scotland over the Crown Estate.
And despite the stated policy of the Welsh Government proclaiming its support for the devolution of the Crown Estate, its actions have raised serious questions about its commitment to meaningful change.
For example, the Welsh Government’s inexplicable refusal to act on Plaid Cymru’s request to submit written evidence to the Crown Estate Bill committee casts doubt on their public declarations of support. Indeed, First Minister Eluned Morgan very recently stated that she was “fighting very hard” for greater control over Wales’s Crown Estate assets – this has translated into very little demonstrable action, it seems.
So, as Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson on the economy and energy, I did submit evidence. Plaid Cymru is committed to working in the best interests of the people of Wales, always advocating for the positive steps that drive real, material change.
That’s why I have also tabled a Senedd motion urging the UK Government to include a provision in the Crown Estate Bill that devolves the Crown Estate to Wales and ensures the Senedd has the opportunity to debate and give its consent.
As it stands the Bill is not subject to a Legislative Consent Motion, meaning the Senedd has no formal say.
Fundamentally, the Senedd should have the right to debate and approve any legislation that directly affects Wales – it is a matter of principle and democratic accountability. The management of Welsh natural resources – especially offshore wind and marine energy – is of strategic importance. Decisions about these assets should be made in Wales.
Key pieces of energy legislation threaten to overlook Wales, and as the First Minister struggles to unite her colleagues around the call to devolve the Crown Estate, Westminster counterparts seem content to leave Wales in the dark.
Wales’ story of natural resource management has historically been marked by extraction and exploitation, from coal to water, and now to renewable energy. The devolution of the Crown Estate would represent a significant step towards rectifying this historic injustice, ensuring that Wales can harness its renewable energy potential for the benefit of its own people rather than for distant shareholders and government coffers in Westminster.
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