Crown Estate (Wales) Bill [HL]

Lord Harlech Excerpts

Friday 6th June 2025 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Harlech]

1: Clause 1, page 2, line 6, leave out from “management” to end of line 7
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would ensure that any revenues from the Welsh Crown Estate would still be paid into the Exchequer.

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[Lord Harlech (Con)]

My Lords, in opening this group of amendments in my name, I declare my farming and land management interests in Wales.

I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, for his long-standing service to Wales and his clear and consistent advocacy for greater Welsh autonomy. There is much that we agree on, and I like to think we work together in raising Welsh interests in your Lordships’ House, not least in hoping to see the Welsh rugby team resurgent in the not too distant future. The noble Lord’s passion is beyond question and his commitment to Welsh interests is evident in this Bill. However, while I respect its intent, I regret to say that it is the wrong Bill introduced at the wrong time with the wrong outcomes for the people of Wales.

Amendments 1 and 6 stand in my name and seek a straightforward but essential safeguard: that revenues from the Welsh Crown Estate should continue to be paid to the Exchequer. At a time when public finances are under enormous strain, diverting these vital funds away from the UK Exchequer is neither prudent nor responsible. These revenues are used not just in Wales but across the United Kingdom, for the benefit of all our citizens.

Let us ask plainly: will these funds be better managed by the Labour-run Welsh Government, whose track record is one of failure and misplaced priorities? Just look at the 20 mile per hour speed limit debacle, a policy that has stifled economic activity, hit small businesses and left the public exasperated—as I can see the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, is at the moment. What confidence can we possibly have that the same Ministers will not use Crown Estate revenues to fund yet more policies that the Welsh people do not support?

Without stealing his sandwiches, I note that Amendments 2 and 8, proposed by my noble friend Lord Moynihan, seek to retain the Crown Estate’s borrowing cap at 25% of its net asset value. This is not ideology but basic financial stewardship. The Crown Estate is not a plaything; it manages critical assets such as our seabeds and land. A financially secure estate is vital to its long-term success, and excessive borrowing puts that future at risk. Whether devolved or not, that principle must hold.

Amendment 3 introduces a necessary backstop: the power for HM Treasury to impose conditions if the devolved Crown Estate in Wales fails in its functions. Again, this is an act not of hostility but of responsibility. Sadly, we have seen time and again that, when left unchecked, the current Welsh Government do not always act in the public interest. This safeguard would ensure that the Crown Estate’s essential duties—environmental, economic and fiduciary—were upheld to the standards the public expect.

The Clause 1 stand part notice exists because the Bill, at its core, is premature. We have only just passed the new Crown Estate Act, and it is simply not wise to begin carving out individual devolved frameworks before we have seen how the new national reforms bed in. This is a constitutional experiment based more on politics than on policy.

Although I defer to my noble friend Lord Moynihan on the reporting amendment, I will say this: any serious consideration of devolving the Crown Estate must be preceded by rigorous evidence and not ideological aspiration. A report on the impact on finances, land management and environmental standards should be the starting point, not an afterthought.

To conclude, although I respect the ambition of the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, I must urge caution. The people of Wales deserve better than what the Bill contains. They deserve good governance, sound management and real accountability. Sadly, the Bill does not offer that. I beg to move.

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Baroness Garden of Frognal) (LD)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Harris of Richmond, is taking part remotely, and I invite her to speak.

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[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

My Lords, I rise briefly to speak on behalf of the Wales Green Party against all the amendments in this group. The noble Lord, Lord Harlech, perhaps misinterpreted my reaction: I was astonished that he is not taking seriously the statistics showing that 20 mile per hour speed limits stopped about 100 deaths and serious injuries on Welsh roads when they were in force. Those saved lives and people’s lives being transformed for the worse by serious injury should not be taken in any way lightly, and it is a great pity it is not continuing. Similar figures from TfL show a 34% decrease in serious deaths and injuries in London. A range of measures affect that —around 15% perhaps from other measures—but 20 miles per hour is a significant factor in reducing deaths and injuries on roads. Surely everyone wants that to happen.

It is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Harris of Richmond. She has far more personal connection with this than me, and the passion in her speech leaves me with little to add, except to say that the Crown Estate in Wales is drawing on Welsh resources. The resources surely should stay in Wales. This is a basic democratic principle. The concentration of power and resources here in Westminster is a problem all around the country, but particularly for the nation of Wales. There is a fast-growing interest in independence for Wales. Those who wish to maintain the union might like to think about what position they are taking on this Bill, because not being able to have the returns from their own resources is something about which there is increasing anger in Wales.

I spoke at Second Reading in favour of—

[Lord Harlech (Con)]

My Lords, what guarantee can the noble Baroness give that, were this Bill to pass, the revenue from it would be distributed equally throughout Wales and not just be concentrated in Cardiff and the surrounding area, as revenues currently are?

[Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (GP)]

In response to the noble Lord, Lord Harlech, I note that Wales has a democratic electoral and political system, unlike Westminster, where we have a Government who won the support of 34% of voters and are now in control. If he is looking for a democratic distribution of resources, he is a lot better off in the Senedd than in Westminster.

I was about to finish, so I repeat that the Wales Green Party strongly backs this Bill and opposes the amendments. More power to Lord Wigley’s elbow.