Crown Estate (Wales) Bill [HL]

1 The Crown Estate

(1)

In Part 2 of the Wales Act 2017 (legislative and executive competence: further
provision), after section 52 insert—

“The Crown Estate

52A The Crown Estate

(1)

The Treasury may make a scheme transferring on the transfer date all
the existing Welsh functions of the Crown Estate Commissioners (“the
Commissioners”) to the Welsh Ministers or a person nominated by
the Welsh Ministers (“the transferee”).

(2)

The existing Welsh functions are the Commissioners’ functions relating
to the part of the Crown Estate that, immediately before the transfer
date, consists of—

(a)

property, rights or interests in land in Wales, excluding
property, rights or interests mentioned in subsection (3), and

(b)

rights in relation to the Welsh zone.

(3)

Where immediately before the transfer date part of the Crown Estate
consists of property, rights or interests held by a limited partnership
registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 1907, subsection (2)(a)
excludes—

(a)

the property, rights or interests, and

(b)

any property, rights or interests in, or in a member of, a partner
in the limited partnership.

(4)

Functions relating to rights within subsection (2)(b) are to be treated
for the purposes of this Act as exercisable in or as regards Wales.

(5)

The property, rights and interests to which the existing Welsh functions
relate must continue to be managed on behalf of the Crown.

(6)

That does not prevent the disposal of property, rights or interests for
the purposes of that management.

(7)

Subsection (5) also applies to property, rights or interests acquired in
the course of that management (except revenues to which section 1(3)
of the Civil List Act 1952 applies).

(8)

The property, rights and interests to which subsection (5) applies must
be maintained as an estate in land or as estates in land managed
separately (with any proportion of cash or investments that seems to
the person managing the estate to be required for the discharge of
functions relating to its management).

(9)

The scheme may specify any property, rights or interests that appear
to the Treasury to fall within subsection (2)(a) or (b), without prejudice
to the functions transferred by the scheme.

(10)

The scheme must provide for the transfer to the transferee of
designated rights and liabilities of the Commissioners in connection
with the functions transferred.

(11)

The scheme must include provision to secure that the employment of
any person in Crown employment (within the meaning of section 191
of the Employment Rights Act 1996) is not adversely affected by the
transfer.

(12)

The scheme must include such provision as the Treasury consider
necessary or expedient—

(a)

in the interests of defence or national security,

(b)

in connection with access to land for the purposes of
telecommunications and wireless telegraphy,

(c)

for securing that the management of property, rights or interests
to which subsection (5) applies does not conﬂict with the
exploitation of oil and gas resources, or with other reserved
matters in connection with their exploitation, and

(d)

for securing consistency, in the interests of consumers, in the
management of property, rights or interests to which subsection
(5) applies and of property, rights or interests to which the
Commissioners’ functions other than the existing Welsh
functions relate, so far as it affects the transmission or
distribution of electricity or the provision or use of electricity
interconnectors.

(13)

Any transfer by the scheme is subject to any provision under subsection
(12).

(14)

The scheme may include—

(a)

incidental, supplemental and transitional provision;

(b)

consequential provision, including provision amending an
enactment, instrument or other document;

(c)

provision conferring or imposing a function on any person
including any successor of the transferee;

(d)

provision for the creation of new rights or liabilities in relation
to the functions transferred.

(15)

On the transfer date, the existing Welsh functions and the designated
rights and liabilities are transferred and vest in accordance with the
scheme.

(16)

A certiﬁcate by the Treasury that anything speciﬁed in the certiﬁcate
has vested in any person by virtue of the scheme is conclusive evidence
for all purposes.

(17)

The Treasury may make a scheme under this section only with the
agreement of the Welsh Ministers.

(18)

The power to make a scheme under this section is exercisable by
statutory instrument.

(19)

No scheme may be made under this section unless a draft of the
statutory instrument containing it has been laid before, and approved
by a resolution of, each House of Parliament and Senedd Cymru.

(20)

The power to amend the scheme is exercisable so as to provide for an
amendment to have effect from the transfer date.

(21)

In this section—

“
designated” means speciﬁed in or determined in accordance
with the scheme;

“
the transfer date” means a date speciﬁed by the scheme as the
date on which the scheme is to have effect.”

(2)

In Part 1 (general reservations) of Schedule 7A (reserved matters) to the
Government of Wales Act 2006, omit paragraph 2(2).

(3)

For the purposes of the exercise on and after the transfer date of functions
transferred by the scheme under section 52A of the Wales Act 2017, the Crown
Estate Act 1961 applies in relation to the transferee as it applied immediately
before that date to the Crown Estate Commissioners, with the following
modiﬁcations—

(a)

a reference to the Crown Estate is to be read as a reference to the
property, rights and interests to which section 52A applies;

(b)

a reference to the Treasury is to be read as a reference to the Welsh
Ministers;

(c)

a reference to the Comptroller and Auditor General is to be read as
a reference to the Auditor General for Wales;

(d)

a reference to Parliament or either House of Parliament is to be read
as a reference to Senedd Cymru;

(e)

the following do not apply—

(i)

in section 1, subsections (1), (4) and (7);

(ii)

in section 2, subsections (1) and (2) and, if the Welsh Ministers
are the transferee, the words in subsection (3) from “in relation
thereto” to the end;

(iii)

in section 4, the words “with the consent of His Majesty
signiﬁed under the Royal Sign Manual”;

(iv)

sections 5, 7 and 8 and Schedule 1.

(4)

Subsection (3) is subject to any provision made by Order in Council under
subsection (5) or by any other enactment, including an enactment comprised
in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of Senedd Cymru.

(5)

His Majesty may by Order in Council make such provision as He considers
appropriate for or in connection with the exercise by the transferee under the
scheme under section 52A of the Wales Act 2017 (subject to subsections (5)
to (8) of that section) of functions transferred by the scheme, including
provision taking effect on or before the transfer date.

(6)

An Order in Council under subsection (5) may in particular—

(a)

establish a body, including a body that may be nominated under that
section as the transferee;

(b)

amend, repeal, revoke or otherwise modify an enactment, an Act of
Senedd Cymru, or an instrument made under an enactment or Act of
Senedd Cymru.

(7)

The power to make an Order in Council under subsection (5) is exercisable
by statutory instrument.

(8)

A statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (5) may not be
made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by
a resolution of Senedd Cymru.

(9)

Section 1 of the Civil List Act 1952 (payment of hereditary revenues to the
Exchequer) is amended in accordance with subsections (10) and (11).

(10)

In subsection (1), for “subsection (2)” substitute “subsections (2) and (3)”.

(11)

After subsection (2) insert—

“(3)

In relation to Wales, the hereditary revenues of the Crown from the
property, rights and interests the management of which is transferred
by the scheme under section 52A of the Wales Act 2017 shall be paid
into the Welsh Consolidated Fund.”

2 Extent, commencement and short title

(1)

Any amendment or repeal made by this Act has the same extent as the
provision amended or repealed.

(2)

This Act comes into force on the day on which it is passed.

(3)

This Act may be cited as the Crown Estate (Wales) Act 2024.