The Royal Household’s net expenditure (the money spent to fund The Queen’s official duties and maintain the Household) was £35.7m for the year 2014-15, Buckingham Palace say, as the official Sovereign Grant report is released – highlighting how The Queen’s Household has used its fixed public funding in the year.
According to officials, a surplus was again run this year, with £2.2m being put in to the Sovereign Grant reserve fund for use on additional expenditure incurred by the Household, such as for repairs.
This year, the Sovereign Grant was set at £37.9m – worked out from 15% of the Crown Estates’ surpluses.
The Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Alan Reid, said, “The Queen, The Royal Family and the Household continue to provide excellent value for money: at 56p per person annually
Sir Alan noted, “we’ve worked hard this year to bear down on costs, to maintain revenue and to ensure that the additional funding in the 2014/15 Sovereign Grant has been placed into the reserve.
“Over the coming years, the maintenance of the Estate and in particular Buckingham Palace will present a significant financial challenge. We will continue to work closely with the Royal Trustees to ensure that the funding for the Royal Household reflects that challenge.”
For 2015-16, the Sovereign Grant has been set at £40.1m, an increase down to the success of the Crown Estates. The formula (of 15%) is set to be reviewed next year but the Royal Trustees, which could see the percentage reduced to compensate for the relative prosperity of the Crown Estates.
The Sovereign Grant is set aside to cover The Queen’s official expenditure, introduced in 2011 to replace the system of the Civil List along with grants-in-aid to fund Her Majesty’s expenditure. The new Sovereign Grant allows greater Parliamentary scrutiny of the Royal Household’s expenditure.
Her Majesty also receives the profits from the Duchy of Lancaster – a personal estate held by Her Majesty as Sovereign (though technically separate from the Crown).
Other members of the Royal Family other than The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are funded privately by The Queen. The Prince of Wales personally funds his own engagements and the work of his wife and that of the Cambridges and Prince Harry from the Duchy of Cornwall, his private estate held by virtue of being heir to the throne.
The Queen funds other royals from the Duchy of Lancaster, however overseas engagements – and those performed on behalf of the Government – are funded by the relevant departments.
The full report, breaking down the Royal Household’s expenditure for the last year, is published on the official royal website.
photo credit: shining.darkness
