Crown Estate devolution would be fair, says Plaid MP

The estimated cost for the Coronation is widely reported to be between £50-100m

Wales should be given control of Crown Estate properties worth billions, a Plaid Cymru MP has said.

Liz Saville Roberts said doing so could help end a "begging bowl" culture and drive prosperity.

The Crown Estate belongs to the reigning monarch and the revenue from its £16bn property portfolio flows directly to the Treasury.

A Crown Estate spokesman said it works closely with the Welsh government to bring broader benefits to Wales.

Ms Saville Roberts said the time was right to discuss the matter after King Charles' Coronation over the weekend.

"People are considering how the royal family are funded," she said.

"In terms of the cost-of-living crisis and people making the comparison between a massive public expenditure on a coronation which is not constitutionally necessary, it does make people think about where priorities lie."

• King Charles to divert windfall to 'public good'

• Plaid politicians wanted Adam Price out, texts say

Liz Saville-Roberts says devolving powers to Wales could help ease cost of living pressures for people in Wales

The Welsh government has control over agriculture, forestry and fishing, education, environment and Health and social care, but devolving The Crown Estate to Wales is something the party - and others - have long called for.

The Crown Estate is an independent company which belongs to the monarch for the duration of their reign, though the revenue from its £16bn property portfolio flows directly to the Treasury.

A taxpayer-funded payment, known as the Sovereign Grant, pays for the royal family's official duties each year. It is currently set at 25% of the Crown Estate's annual profits, including a 10% uplift to pay for the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.

The estate's holdings north of the border were devolved to Scotland in 2016, and its revenue now goes to the Scottish government.

The Crown Estate owns the UK seabed out to 12 nautical miles.

Ms Saville Roberts said an arrangement similar to Scotland would give Wales a direct say in how the profits from new floating wind farms planned off the Welsh coast would be spent.

• Floating wind farms at sea 'to create 29,000 jobs'

• Official Coronation photos of King and Queen released

The Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP suggested that if the profits from this were in the hands of the devolved government in Cardiff Bay, it could be used to provide better energy security and lower heating costs for Welsh homes.

The Crown Estate is leasing the seabed under the Celtic Sea to floating wind farm developers

"One of the criticisms that any Welsh politician on the left will face is that we are forever asking for more money, that we are asking for the Barnett Formula to be revised," she said.

"I am very interested in what are the mechanisms that we could bring to Wales that would allow us to build our own economy more effectively, and not to be an adjunct."

The Plaid MP said previous attempts to raise the issue with the Conservative Westminster government had been a "non-starter" and that her party would be "certainly pushing" the cause if Sir Keir Starmer's Labour were to win the next general election.

Ms Saville-Roberts added: "I think the devolution of the Crown Estate feels fair, it feels equitable, and we could do so much with this.

"It could be one critical step that could make so much difference to the Welsh economy in the furthest westernmost regions of north and south Wales."

Ministers have previously said they are not in favour of Ms Saville-Roberts' proposals.

While serving as secretary of state for Wales, Simon Hart last year told the House of Commons there was "no public appetite at all in Wales to devolve the Crown Estate".

The Conservative MP, now government chief whip, also suggested at the time that devolving the estate would "fragment the market and delay the further development of key projects" in the floating offshore wind sector.

A Crown Estate spokesman said: "The Crown Estate works closely with the Welsh government and Natural Resources Wales to manage land and the seabed sustainably over the long term and to bring broader economic, social and environmental benefits to Wales."