The Crown Estate Bill [HL] is a government bill introduced in the House of Lords on 25 July 2024. It is scheduled to have its second reading on 2 September 2024. The Crown Estate manages land and property held “in right of the crown”, including the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Crown Estate’s net revenue profits are paid to the Treasury. The amount of profit is used to determine the size of the sovereign grant paid to the King, although it is the Treasury that pays the grant. It is governed by the Crown Estate Act 1961. The bill would amend this legislation to:
- clarify the Crown Estate commissioners’ powers to invest and remove existing restrictions on what they can invest in
- enable the Crown Estate commissioners to borrow from the Treasury or with its consent (currently they are restricted to borrowing only to discharge or redeem “incumbrances” affecting the Crown Estate)
- increase the maximum number of Crown Estate commissioners from eight to 12 and remove a requirement for the second Crown Estate commissioner to serve as deputy chair
- pay the salaries and expenses of the commissioners and Crown Estate staff from the Crown Estate’s income (currently they are paid from monies voted for by Parliament)
The government believes that widening the Crown Estate’s investment and borrowing powers will unlock significant investment in public infrastructure for the benefit of the nation. On the day the bill was introduced, the government announced a partnership between the Crown Estate and Great British Energy to bring forward new offshore wind developments. It said this could lead to up to 20–30 gigawatts (GW) of new offshore wind projects reaching the seabed lease stage by 2030. The Conservative government had announced plans in the 2023 autumn statement to legislate to increase the Crown Estate’s borrowing and investment powers but did not introduce this legislation in the 2023–24 parliamentary session. The Crown Estate itself has welcomed the legislation. However, commentators have suggested that the success of new offshore wind developments will require increasing capacity on the electricity grid.
