Crown Estate Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)

Debate between Pippa Heylings and Llinos Medi

Committee stage
Thursday 6th February 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Llinos Medi (Ynys Môn) (PC)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship. Ms Furniss. I rise to speak to amendment 6, tabled in my name. The amendment would amend clause 3, which relates to the regard of sustainable development that the Crown Estate commissioners must have when undertaking their activities. It would require the commissioners to set sustainable development objectives for their activities and require them to have regard for UK-wide legislation, such as the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Environment Act 2021. I note that is also the intention of amendment 8.

In addition, amendment 6 would require regard for devolved legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. For Wales, that would include the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. Shockingly, child poverty in Wales is set to reach its highest rate in 30 years by the end of this decade, with more than 34% of children living in low-income families. That is 5% up on the current rate, and means that around 32,000 more children in Wales could be pushed into poverty.

The activities of the Welsh Crown Estate could be geared towards helping to address rising child poverty by having regard to the seven wellbeing goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, such as to develop a more equal, prosperous and resilient Wales. More broadly, this amendment draws inspiration from measures within the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019, which legislates to ensure that management of the Scottish Crown Estate’s assets is done so that it is likely to contribute to economic development, regeneration and social and environmental wellbeing.

The Crown Estate manages a huge amount of land and natural assets. It is only right that it works with existing devolved legislation across all nations to meet sustainable and wellbeing goals, and to do so by fulfilling clear objectives. I urge the Government to incorporate this aim into the Bill.

[Pippa Heylings]

I will speak to amendment 8, which is similar to amendment 6. It would strengthen clause 3 by ensuring that sustainable development is properly defined within the Crown Estate’s framework document and that this definition explicitly includes a climate and nature duty.

The Crown Estate plays a pivotal role in the management of our land, seas and natural resources. It is well known for its ambition around nature recovery. It is a key player in our offshore wind expansion, biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management, but in areas in which there are multiple competing uses and values, including fishing, marine protected areas, and even highly protected marine areas. Therefore we need reassurances, as were obtained in the other House, that clause 3 does not just require commissioners to keep under review their impact on sustainable development without clearly defining what that means in practice.

I must acknowledge where this amendment started in life, which is with Baroness Hayman’s work in the other House. After much debate, it was agreed that sustainable development must be kept under review by the commissioners, but with a reference to the framework document in which a definition would be provided. Baroness Hayman said:

“What matters is the impact we have and how much we have shifted the dial in terms of what the Crown Estate achieves in support of the Government’s climate and nature objectives.” —[Official Report, House of Lords, 5 November 2024; Vol. 840, c. 1448.]

This amendment seeks to provide clarity and accountability for what was agreed verbally in the other House—that the definition would not be on the face of the Bill, but would be in the updated framework agreement. We need that to ensure there is a consistent benchmark against which decisions can be assessed, in line with the public duty to our climate and nature targets. As the definition within the framework agreement would specifically refer to, those are the climate targets under the Climate Change Act 2008 and the nature restoration goals under the Environment Act 2021.

This would mean that the Crown Estate cannot simply pay lip service to sustainability; it must actively contribute to decarbonisation, biodiversity protection and the UK’s broader environmental goals. Climate change and nature loss are economic risks, as well as environmental ones. Embedding clear, enforceable sustainability duties in the Crown Estate’s framework, according to our existing legislation, will ensure that its investments and operations support long-term resilience and prosperity. This amendment strengthens the existing clause. It does not seek to define it on the face of the Bill, but assures us, as happened in the other House, that the definition is within the framework agreement.

Crown Estate Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting)

Debate between Pippa Heylings and Llinos Medi

Committee stage
Thursday 6th February 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Llinos Medi]

That is why we have asked for a two-year approach, so that we can work together. It has happened in Scotland and it is possible. I think it is only fair that we ask the new UK Government, who want to devolve local authorities and regions in England, for devolution of the Crown Estate in Wales as well. It was another Labour Secretary of State, Ron Davies, who said:

“Devolution is a process. It is not an event and neither is it a journey with a fixed end point. The devolution process is enabling us to make our own decisions and set our own priorities, that is the important point.”

I urge this Labour Government to heed those words and support my amendment to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales.

[Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)]

I will speak to new clause 5 and to new clause 12 which calls for the devolution of the Crown Estate to Wales. While Scotland has controlled its Crown Estate since 2017, Wales has been left without these powers, despite the fact that vast Crown Estate assets lie within its borders. It is time to correct that unbalance and bring Wales into line with Scotland. Devolving control of the Crown Estate would not only recognise Wales’s status as an equal nation, but deliver substantial economic benefits to communities across Wales. Under the current system, profits from the Crown Estate flow directly to the UK Government.