Queen’s property chief delays sale of Scottish seabed windfarm plots

Queen’s property chief delays sale of Scottish seabed windfarm plots

The Queen's property manager in Scotland has delayed the auction of Scottish seabed plots for windfarms after runaway bids for leases in England and Wales handed the Queen and the Treasury a multibillion-pound windfall.Crown Estate Scotland paused its auction in order to carry out a review of the process after the “unprecedented” bidding in an auction for England and Wales lease options last week reached new record highs.The Queen and the Treasury could receive a windfall of up to £9bn over the next decade after energy companies including BP offered to pay five times more than expected for the option to build new windfarms.Crown Estate Scotland decided with ministers in the Scottish parliament that it would be “sensible” to undertake a six-week review of the structure for its own auction to ensure that it secures “a fair price” for the seabed sites along the Scottish coast.Crown Estate Scotland manages the Queen's property, but unlike the Crown Estate – which manages property in the rest of the UK – it does not return its profits to the Treasury or the Queen. Instead, the revenues are handed to the Scottish Consolidated Fund which in turn finances the Scottish government.The review will conclude