​Crown Estate revenues need to be seen locally

​Ronan O’Hara was in the islands to discuss ways in which the organisation, as owner of the seabed, “can help support a long-term sustainable future for the islands”.

However, he was told that existing Crown Estate “funds” are failing to reach communities they were intended for and promised when Crown Estate Scotland was devolved in 2017.

Crown Estate Scotland are obliged to hand over their surplus to the Scottish Government which then retains 90 per cent for its own purposes, with only a small amount distributed to local authorities – £11.2 million in the last financial year.

Of this, £1.6 million came to the Western Isles but most of it has been used to plug gaps in the Comhairle’s normal budget, to fund night bus services, the inter-island air link and other mainstream services.

Last week, councillors were told that Crown Estate money has even been used to employ an additional staff member for the planning department to help cope with demand led by renewable energy developments.

During his visit, Mr O’Hara met Torcuil Crichton MP to discuss the issue of community benefit from offshore wind. He met members of the West Coast Estate Group to hear about progress they have made in securing community funding from the Northland offshore wind project.

Mr O’Hara also had meetings with the leadership of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, representatives from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and other stakeholders.

He told the Gazette: “The aim of the trip was to spend time listening to some of our key partners and customers, finding out what is working for the benefit of the islands and what more can be done.

“It has been a fascinating and thought-provoking trip. I now know that the Western Isles has the ambition to make the renewables revolution work for the islanders and the leadership to ensure the right processes are put in place to make this happen.”

However, it was also made clear that powers for the Crown Estate Scotland to direct money towards coastal communities do not exist without it going through two filters, the Scottish Government and the local authority.

Mr O’Hara recently expressed frustration about the lack of powers over the £755 million raised from ScotWind licences (which includes £16.2 million for Spiorad na Mara): He wrote: “All this money passes to the Scottish Government to support public spending - it is not the role of Crown Estate Scotland to decide how to spend it.

“In an ideal world, we would like to retain more of that money so we can use it for long-term wealth creation in communities across Scotland – to provide a tangible legacy for future generations”

Crown Estate Scotland’s other major interest in the Western Isles is in aquaculture leases but, again, there is little or no financial return to host communities from the revenue raised.