Parliament approves Scottish Crown Estate Bill | Crown Estate Scotland

Parliament approves Scottish Crown Estate Bill

The Scottish Parliament today passed the Scottish Crown Estate Bill.

The Bill will now be submitted for Royal Assent. Once this has been secured, it will become the key legislation that sets out the rules and guidelines by which a range of land and property – comprising the Scottish Crown Estate – is managed.

This follows devolution of the Estate - agricultural and forestry land, most of the seabed, just under half of the foreshore and some commercial property - from The Crown Estate to Scottish Ministers in 2017. They in turn tasked us at Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management) with management of the assets.

Through working with others, we innovate with land and property to create prosperity for Scotland and its communities. This includes ensuring families, businesses and communities can live, work and thrive on the assets. The business pays all revenue profit to the Scottish Government.

The Bill, when enacted, will make various changes including:

Providing for other bodies to take on management of assets to enable local control
Requiring Scottish Ministers to approve sales of any seabed, recognising the strategic national importance of this asset
Removing ’Interim Management’ from our title, giving us permanence and helping us plan for long-term success

Commenting on the passing of the Bill, Simon Hodge, Crown Estate Scotland Chief Executive said: “We’re really pleased that this new legislation has been approved by The Scottish Parliament. It helps give our tenants clarity and certainty about how the land and property they depend on may be managed in the future.

“Since starting operation in April 2017, we’ve worked hard to deliver wider economic, social and environmental value for Scotland, as well as returning profits to the Scottish Government. This includes ambitious proposals for new offshore wind leasing, a scheme to devolve management of land and property to local bodies, a £4.5m rural investment plan and much more.

“This new legislation will enable us to focus even more on managing the assets in ways that benefits Scotland’s economy, people and environment.”

ENDS

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