The immediate priority for the Scottish Government is increasing Scotland's powers through changes to the Scotland Bill. Scottish Ministers are calling for the Bill to devolve management and revenues of the Crown Estate in Scotland. A paper setting out the case for change was published on 22 June 2011; this is one of a suite of 6 papers outlining proposed changes to the Bill (papers on borrowing powers and broadcasting have been published, those on excise duty, an enhanced role in Europe and corporation tax will be published in due course).
The Scottish Government believes that control over the revenues and management of the Crown Estate in Scotland should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament in order to maximise the benefit to Scotland from our enormous offshore renewable energy resources.
The 22 June paper supplements previous material published by the Scottish Government on this issue. This includes:
- A paper provided to the Secretary of State for Scotland by Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment on 2 February 2011
- Evidence submitted to the Scottish Parliament's Scotland Bill Committee and the Scottish Affairs Committee on 31 January 2011
- A Public consultation on maximising community benefit from renewable energy published on 30 November 2010.