Crown Estate Bill [Lords] Report Stage: New Clause 1

What happened: The House of Commons voted on New Clause 1 of the Crown Estate Bill [Lords] at Report Stage on 24 February 2025. The new clause, tabled by Plaid Cymru, would have transferred management of the Crown Estate in Wales to the Welsh Government within two years of the Act coming into force. The motion was defeated by 316 votes to 59.

Why it matters: Had the new clause passed, it would have required the Crown Estate to hand over control of its Welsh assets, including offshore wind lease revenues in the Celtic sea, to the Welsh Government. Supporters argued this would have kept wealth generated from Welsh natural resources within Wales, potentially adding an estimated £50 million annually to the Welsh Government's budget. Opponents, including the UK government, argued that devolving the Crown Estate at this stage would disrupt ongoing offshore wind investment programmes straddling the English and Welsh administrative boundaries, delay progress toward net zero targets, and risk the commercial viability of floating offshore wind projects already in development.

The politics: The vote divided along clear lines. All 309 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted did so against the new clause, in line with the government whip. The 59 votes in favour came from the Liberal Democrats (53 votes), Plaid Cymru (4 votes), and the Green Party (4 votes), with one independent also voting in favour. The Democratic Unionist Party voted against, as did Reform UK and the Traditional Unionist Voice. The debate connected to broader tensions over devolution, Welsh economic inequality, and the pace of green energy development, with Plaid Cymru drawing parallels to the devolution of Crown Estate powers already carried out in Scotland.