In reply to Saor Alba:
> I agree with you about not going for change for change's sake but tackling the large estates and Crown estate will have to be done at some point so let's just get on with it.
Re. the Crown Estate, a few facts that people may not be aware of (much of this is lifted from
The Poor Had No Lawyers):
The Crown lands of Scotland have historically been administered by 3 bodies:
- The Crown Estate Commission (CEC), created in 1961 by the Crown Estates Act); it manages the seabed, most of the foreshore, agricultural estates, salmon fishings, rural agricultural estates, urban property, gold and silver;
- The Queen's & Lord Treasurer's Remembrancers(!!), under the direction of Scottish Ministers, which administers treasure trove, ownerless goods and 'ultimate heir';
- Scottish Ministers (accountable to the Scottish Parliament), which manages castles, palaces, etc.
The Crown Estate is an estate of property, rights and interests which comprises the Crown lands of Scotland. It is a type of public property and has always been so. The CEC is a statutory body charged under the Crown Estate Act (1961) with the administration and management of this estate and the associated revenues. It has since changed its name to, confusingly, The Crown Estate (more on this below).
(Incidentally, The Crown Estate Act contains the following passage (which I think most reasonable people would find quite incredible):
"
The validity of transactions entered into by the Commissioners shall not be called into question on any suggestion of their not having acted in accordance with the provisions of this Act regulating the exercise of their powers, or having otherwise acted in excess of their authority, nor shall any person dealing with the Commission be concerned to inquire as to the extent of their authority or the observance of any restriction on the exercise in their powers."
In other words - it's none of your business!)
Since the CEC changed its name to 'The Crown Estate', it is often confused with 'the Crown Estate' (it might have been simpler if they had left the name as it was but perhaps the intention was for people to confuse the two). This confusion is then compounded by frequent statements from The Crown Estate (the organisation) that it owns, for example, the seabed. These claims are incorrect (as was admitted by the Chief Executive of The Crown Estate in evidence to the Treasury Cttee of the UK Parliament in Mar 2010: "The Act gives us all the powers of ownership, although we are not owners in our own right".
To save confusion in the rest I'll refer to The Crown Estate as the CEC.
In 2007, Highland Council, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Shetland Islands Council, Orkney Islands Council, Argyll & Bute Council, Moray Council and COSLA published a report calling for the wholesale review of the CEC in Scotland.
In 2010, the Treasury Select Committee launched an enquiry into the administration and expenditure of the CEC. In its final report it recommended a review of the powers and functions of the CEC and expressed concerned over its monopoly position over the seabed. The report devoted a chapter exclusively to Scotland in which it recommended better relations with the Scottish Government and highlighted the frustration felt by many over how the operates in Scotland. Above all, the report criticised the CEC for putting commercial interests ahead of the wider public interests.
The Scottish Law Commission ruled in 2003 that the CEC does not own the seabed in Scotland. Crown rights to the seabed could easily be administered by Scottish Ministers or by local authorities. Instead, the CEC is playing a significant role in the development of marine renewable energy but has no accountability to either the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Ministers or the local authority in whose area the seabed is situated. The Scottish Parliament could change this situation but seems disinclined to do so.
Here's what Brian Wilson has had to say on the matter (from The West Highland Free Press, 27/05/11):
http://www.brianwilsonwrites.com/docs/WHFP_20110527.pdf
"Has Scotland been ill or well served by the fact that this vast resource is administered by an organisation which owes its origins to an agreement between monarch and government in 1760 that crown property would be run for the benefit of the Exchequer, in return for the establishment of a Civil List to fund the monarch? This anachronism results in some of our most valuable natural resources — most of the foreshore and all of the seabed within 12 miles from land — being within the control of entirely unelected and unaccountable people, with no tangible benefits accruing to the communities which look out on to these self-same resources. How many would recognise the name of Sir Stuart Hampson, First Commissioner, or Gareth Baird, supposedly the Scottish Commissioner? Who voted for them?
People can decide for themselves as to whether the current situation needs to be reformed.