Prime Minister and First Minister of Wales Meetings

Lord Anderson of Swansea Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

We won the last one and we will win the next one. The noble Baroness raises a genuine issue about the Crown Estate, which we have discussed in your Lordships’ House in great detail. That is why, thanks to the work of my noble friend Lord Hain, we brought forward an amendment in this House to appoint a commissioner for Wales. We need to look at what the Crown Estate is actually delivering: 5,000 jobs and a £1.4 billion boost in investment for the people of Wales. It delivers real things on the ground for the people of Wales, and it is important that we celebrate what we are achieving.

[Lord Anderson of Swansea (Lab)]

My Lords, if devolution is a process, what further steps along that road do the Government aspire to over the lifetime of this Parliament?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

My Lords, I am proud that, in 1998, the previous Labour Government delivered the devolution Acts and what is now the Senedd in Wales and the Scottish Parliament. We are committed to devolution and to seeing devolution in action. We were very clear on that in our manifesto, which we remain committed to. We will deliver on the ongoing conversations we are having about further devolution.