3. What advice has the Counsel General provided regarding the compulsory purchase of Welsh Government-owned land by the UK Government? OAQ52277

This is a matter that my officials have considered. The position is that Welsh Government-owned land is classified as Crown land and, as such, cannot be acquired under compulsory powers by another Crown body without the consent of the Welsh Government.

Okay. Thank you for that. It is helpful, because we are given to understand that the current position in terms of Welsh Government-owned land is that you've made a decision not to allow Baglan Moors to be developed for a new prison. Of course, we welcome that. The legal advice that we've received as an office states that the UK Government could enforce compulsory purchase, but from my recollection, that advice didn't state that there needed to be Welsh Government approval for them to do so. Just to confirm, therefore, although it is Crown land, in law, there is a requirement on the UK Government to facilitate a process where there would be a dialogue, or so there would be something in statute, to ensure that you would have that discussion, just to ensure that, if this issue arises once again, we should understand that all processes are properly in place.

I try to answer the questions when I can, by the way. The powers available to the UK Government on compulsory purchase emanate from Acts, and there is nothing in the Act that's relevant here—there are no powers that extend to Crown land. But, ultimately, this kind of question arises in the courts frequently, and what's important to bear in mind is that, if there was a proposal for compulsory purchase, the ability of the UK Government to do it would be something for the court to decide upon. If a Crown body, such as the Welsh Government, objected to that, our clear view is that the law in that context would insist that that Order would have to be rescinded.