Oral Answers to Questions

Joanna Cherry Excerpts

Wednesday 9th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[David T. C. Davies]

I am not sure whether my hon. Friend wants to declare a particular interest. Obviously we support Openreach in delivering fibre to the hardest-to-reach areas, but I take him back to the whole purpose of Project Gigabit—to deliver to the hardest-to-reach 20%. The figures already show that we are being very successful in achieving that greater connectivity in rural Wales.

[Joanna Cherry (Edinburgh South West) (SNP)]

5. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of devolving control of the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government.

[Allan Dorans (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (SNP)]

6. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of devolving control of the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government.

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[The Secretary of State for Wales (Simon Hart)]

There is no public appetite at all in Wales to devolve the Crown Estate, which would serve merely to fragment the market and delay the further development of key projects.

[Joanna Cherry]

The Scottish Government have awarded 25 GW of offshore wind development rights through Crown Estate Scotland to 17 projects, which has put Scotland at the forefront of global offshore wind development. It is more than double the UK’s existing offshore wind capacity and it will create high-quality jobs and significant local investment. Why does the Secretary of State not think that devolving the Crown Estate to Wales would benefit the people of Wales in the way that it is benefitting the people of Scotland?

[Simon Hart]

I have spoken on this subject recently to port authorities, investors, councils, employees and, most importantly, the public. Not a single person—not one—has suggested to me that the future of floating offshore or, indeed, any other renewables will benefit from the devolution of the Crown Estate. This is an international opportunity for Wales. The supply chain benefits are huge and, actually, the Scottish National party’s ambitions are far too modest in this respect.