| Synopsis: |
The Committee welcomes the consolidation of the Civil List and Grants-in-Aid into the single Sovereign Grant that happened on 1 April 2012. The purpose of the Grant is to provide resources for the Household to support The Queen's programme of official duties. However, The Queen has not been served well by the Household and by the Treasury, which is responsible for effective scrutiny of the Household's financial planning and management. The Treasury has a duty to be actively involved in reviewing the Household's financial planning and management - and it has failed to do so. There are three areas in particular where the Household and the Treasury have fallen short. First, the Household spent more than it took in. Net expenditure (GBP33.3m) was greater than the Grant (GBP31 million) in 2012-13. The Household had to draw down GBP2.3 million from its GBP3.3 million Reserve Fund, leaving a balance of only GBP1.0 million at 31 March 2013, a historically low level of contingency. Second, the Household is not looking after nationally important heritage properties adequately.Back in March 2012, 39% of the Royal estate was assessed as below what the Household deemed to be an acceptable condition. The Household must get a much firmer grip on how it plans to address its maintenance backlog. It has not even costed the repair works needed to bring the estate back to an acceptable condition, and the Treasury did not require an estimate. Finally, there is scope for the Household to generate more income and reduce its costs further |