Scottish government acquiesced to Queen’s request for exemption from carbon initiative

Scottish government acquiesced to Queen’s request for exemption from carbon initiative

The Queen’s lawyers lobbied Scottish ministers to amend a bill in order to exempt her private land from an initiative to cut carbon emissions, documents show. 

The exemption means that the Queen is the only landowner in Scotland who does not have to facilitate the construction of pipelines to heat buildings using renewable energy.

Her lawyers obtained the dispensation five months ago by means of Queen’s consent, which allows the monarch advance sight of legislation.

The documents were uncovered in a freedom of information request made by Lily Humphreys, a researcher for the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The documents also indicate that the SNP government failed to disclose the Queen’s lobbying when it was asked at Holyrood why she was securing an exemption from a green energy law.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “The royal household can be consulted on bills in order to ensure the technical accuracy and consistency of the application of the bill to the crown, a complex legal principle governed by statute and common law. This process does not change the nature of any such bill.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish government said: “Scottish government policy is that the crown should be subject to regulatory requirements on the same basis as everyone else, unless there is a legitimate reason for an exemption or variation.

“However, crown consent is required by law if a bill impacts the private property or interests of the sovereign – and that is what happened in this case.”

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