There is an addition to the political insult to our Scottish Government, noted by Iain Mann (Letters, July 23), in relation to Danny Alexander's latest big idea to transfer Crown Estate revenues to coastal communities via big lottery grants.
This will set coastal against inland communities. There is actually a shared interest across the country in the abolition of the Crown Estates in Scotland, with responsibility for its £183m Scottish holdings being passed to the Holyrood.
The Westminster Coalition and the UK Labour Party have previously argued that territorial rights to North Sea oil revenues, including the recent £2 billion levy, should be held by the UK as a whole. They are both now pursuing a contradictory argument that Scottish coastal communities should have territorial rights to 50% of the £7.8m offshore energy revenues generated by the Crown Commissioners.
We have a need for strategic thinking to reindustrialise Scotland and to direct investment towards the infrastructure which will support offshore marine energy development. On the west coast, there is a need to improve port facilities from Stornoway to Stranraer, to develop better communication and transport links, and to promote renewables business development from the lower and upper Clyde and beyond.
Significantly, the Crown Estate’s most important development this year on the Clyde has been to invest £1.4m on improving Rhu Marina. And what is the big idea from the Westminster parties – big lottery grants
The UK Treasury Select Committee addressed these issues in a March 2010 report which was scathing about Crown Estate neglect of its public service remit, including its monopoly over the marine environment, and its focus on collecting revenues rather than acting in the long-term public interest around ports and harbours.
The response from Westminster? In July last year, the UK Government announced that 15% of the Crown Estates revenues would be paid annually to the royal family.
The Calman Commission did recognise the call for control over Crown Estate properties and revenues to be held by democratically elected national and local institutions in Scotland, and there is a consensus in the Scottish Parliament that accountability should be to the people through Scottish public bodies.
But the Coalition has decided the unelected Crown Estates, which provides 15% of its profits to the unelected head of state, should distribute 50% of its Scottish profits through the unelected Big Lottery Committee.
We need to support whatever moves are necessary to gain full democratic control, through our elected bodies, of our land and offshore resources.
Andrew Reid,
‘Armadale’, Shore Road,
Cove, by Helensburgh,
Argyll.
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