AS anger mounts over the “money grab” that saw the Crown Estate sell off a prime Scottish asset for £167 million with nothing coming to Scotland, The National can reveal UK Government ministers played a crucial role in what SNP MSPs have called a “con” by simply refusing to come to Holyrood and answer questions.
The Treasury ministers at the time disrespected Scotland’s Parliament by refusing to come before the Rural Affairs Committee and be questioned by MSPs looking into a deal that has now become a massive “cash grab” according to senior SNP MSPs.
The National reported on Thursday how money raised from the sale of Fort Kinnaird Retail Park in Edinburgh to M&G Real Estate will enrich the Crown Estate by £167m.
Fort Kinnaird was the biggest single asset of the Crown Estate in Scotland, and its sale comes less than two years after the Scotland Act 2016 which devolved the Crown Estate to the control of the Scottish Government.
The Crown Estate’s 50% holding in Fort Kinnaird was not included in the devolution, however, meaning that the Scottish Government will not receive a single penny from the sale of a Scottish asset.
In its statement to The National, the Crown Estate said that both Holyrood and the UK Parliament in the Scotland Act 2016 “agreed that assets held in joint venture structures, rather than by the Crown Estate alone, were not included in the transfer to Scottish minister”.
The word “agreed” is contentious, however, for The National can reveal that SNP MSPs in particular were demanding that the Fort Kinnaird investment be part of the devolved package and that the UK Government simply refused it. Furthermore the Treasury ministers blocked any discussion on the issue.
On September 16, 2015, Rob Gibson, then convener of Holyrood’s Rural Affairs Committee wrote to his SNP colleague Bruce Crawford, then convener of the Committee looking into the devolution of powers including the Transfer Scheme that exempted Fort Kinnaird from the devolution arrangements despite the Scottish Government’s strong position that it should be included.
Gibson wrote that his committee had “invited a Treasury Minister to appear before the Committee to give evidence on the Crown Estate and specifically on the Transfer Scheme, however that invitation was declined”.
Crawford said: “It was deeply disappointing that when we raised these issues in 2015, the Treasury went into hiding.
“No UK Government minister paid Holyrood the courtesy of coming to explain why Westminster insisted on keeping a grip on the most valuable Crown Estate asset in Scotland. And now I think we’re beginning to discover why – they’ve sold off, cashed in and conned Scotland out of £167m.”
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