Written evidence submitted by Brian Wilson
CROWN ESTATE COMMISSIONERS
The Crown Estate Commissioners (CEC) administer and
collect rents from a wide range of Crown property rights in Scotland
including much of the foreshore and the seabed. They are unaccountable
to anyone in the areas most affected by their activities—indeed,
the assertion of such non-accountability is a remarkable feature
of the Crown Estate Act of 1961—and they have for years
been the focus of much justified criticism.
The Crown Estate played a crucial role, for example,
in the evolution of the aquaculture industry in Scotland by making
the initial decision to allocate rights over sea lochs to multinational
companies, without consultation with local communities. This action
shaped the way the industry developed and largely precluded the
possibility of smaller, more locally-controlled companies participating
within it. The point is not, however, to muse over the "ifs"
and "buts" of Scottish aquaculture but to make the point
of principle that it is entirely wrong for an unelected, unaccountable
body to have such control over a significant matter of public
policy.
Since then, the Crown Estate has made some efforts
to improve its consultation procedures; however, this merely ameliorates
the source of complaint rather than removing it and there is plenty
evidence that the Crown Estate's willingness to consult in any
meaningful way ebbs and flows according to the personnel in situ
at any given time. What they have never conceded is the RIGHT
of affected communities to be involved in such decision-making
or to benefit financially even where substantial royalties accrue.
There are numerous examples of how the Crown Estate
has exercised its role within matters of economic development
in a manner which is controversial and requires to be called to
account. However, the most serious and urgent issue at present
is the development of offshore renewable energy where there is
a real and urgent danger that the interests of coastal communities
will be marginalised or ignored. This is not something that should
be stitched up between Government departments, either in Whitehall
or Edinburgh, without a statutory need to take regard of the community
interest.
At present, it is taken for granted that community
benefit will flow from land-based renewable energy developments,
particularly if the land on which they are built is community-owned
(which is the case as far as more than half the land of the Western
Isles is concerned). The waters surrounding these islands are
touted as the best in Europe for future renewable energy developments.
Yet it is perfectly feasible under current arrangements, whereby
licensing of the seabed is in the hands of the Crown Estate, will
go directly to the most adjacent communities even if these developments
are ten or a hundred times the size of what is happening on land.
This cannot be right, either in principle or practice.
Since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament,
virtually all of the planning and environmental regulation of
Crown property rights has been devolved. In addition, the property
rights themselves are devolved and a wide range of Crown property
rights are also already administered by the Scottish Government.
I have argued for many years that control of these
resources should be in the hands of those whose livelihoods and
community interests depend upon them. In this context, that means
Local Authorities and local communities.
However, the unelected Crown Estate Commissioners
stand in the way of such local decision-making and potential benefit
by acting as gatekeepers and guardians to the Crown Estate. The
Scotland Bill provides a rare legislative opportunity to take
the first step in reforming the way the Crown Estate is administered
by passing the responsibilities of the CEC to the Scottish Parliament.
A debate can then be had as to how best to devolve these powers
to local communities. For my own part, I should make clear that
the objective should not be for devolution of these powers—or
the revenues associated with them—to stop in Edinburgh,
and I very much hope that if the Committee endorses the general
sentiments of this submission, it should also be quite specific
on that point. It is the proper recognition of coastal communities'
role and interests that should be the objective; not the swelling
of Holyrood's centralised coffers.
The Calman Commission made two recommendations for
reform concerning a Scottish Crown Estate Commissioner and the
exercise of the power of direction. Only one of these—the
appointment of a Scottish Commissioner—is dealt with in
the Bill. This is a wholly unsatisfactory solution—or avoidance
of a solution—to a long standing issue and I would urge
the Committee to consider ending the involvement of the CEC in
the administration of Scotland's public Crown lands and in collecting
the revenue that flows from them.
I therefore suggest that an amendment be considered
either to the Crown Estate Act 1961 (to the effect that it does
not apply to Scotland) in Section 18 of the Bill or to the Scotland
Act 1998 to remove the reserved powers over the management of
the Crown Estate contained in Schedule 5 paragraphs 2(3) and 3(3)(a).
January 2011
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