Member

Amendment 13, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, would require one commissioner to have responsibility for ensuring that the Crown Estate abides by public undertakings given on its behalf. I know that this is an important issue for the noble Lord, and I thank him for raising it. Under the Crown Estate Act 1961 and specifically the duty to have due regard to the requirements of good management, the commissioners are already required to ensure that they comply with their public undertakings. Placing such responsibility on one individual would, in the Government’s view, undermine the Crown Estate’s long-held principle that all commissioners have equal responsibility for the actions, purpose, risk appetite, strategy and values of the Crown Estate. In respect of the interaction between escheat and public undertakings given by the Crown, raised by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, the 20 September letter from the ombudsman that he refers to has not been seen by the Treasury or the Crown Estate. I hope he will allow me to look into the matters he raises further and come back to him. I am of course very happy to meet with him if he would find that helpful.