SOVEREIGN GRANT REPORT 2018-19
The Royal Household today published its annual financial statement, the Sovereign Grant Report, for the financial year 2018-19. The Sovereign Grant is the funding provided to support the official duties of The Queen and maintain the Occupied Royal Palaces. It also includes a dedicated amount to fund the ten-year Reservicing of Buckingham Palace.
The key financial details reported today are:
- The total Sovereign Grant for 2018-19, including the dedicated amount for Reservicing, amounted to £82.2m (2017-18 £76.1m), equivalent to £1.24 per person in the UK.
- The £82.2m Grant is made up of a Core Grant of £49.3m and an additional dedicated amount for Reservicing of £32.9m.
- Additional income generated from facilities management charges and property rental increased to £17.8m (2017-18 £17.3m), up 3%.
- The official expenditure in the year met by the Sovereign Grant was £67million, up 41% (2017-18 £47.4m), primarily due to higher levels of spending on property, including £14.1m on Reservicing and £25.1m on maintenance from the Core Grant.
- £15.2m was transferred to the Sovereign Grant reserve (2017-18 £28.7m) to fund future phases of the Reservicing of Buckingham Palace.
Other key data for 2018-19:
- Over 3,200 official engagements across the UK and overseas undertaken by members of the Royal Family.
- Over 160,000 guests welcomed at Royal Palaces at events such as garden parties and investitures.
- Over 7.9m people saw items from the Royal Collection Trust in Royal Palaces.
Reflecting on the year 2018-19, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens, said:
“The year under review has been another busy period for the Royal Household with The Queen undertaking 140 official engagements in the United Kingdom, including the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting at Buckingham Palace and the visit of the President of the United States to Windsor. In addition, the programme of other Members of the Royal Family who support The Queen helped the Royal Family deliver over 3,200 official engagements across the UK and overseas.”
In 2018-19, the Sovereign Grant also included a dedicated amount to fund the Reservicing of Buckingham Palace; the second year of a major ten-year project to future proof the building’s essential services. This followed a report to HM Treasury identifying that the building’s infrastructure was in urgent need of an overhaul to avoid the very real danger of catastrophic failure.
Key Reservicing progress in 2018-19 included:
- Members of the Royal Family and all staff moving out of the East Wing, along with the decant of over 3,000 works of art, leaving this area of the building unoccupied – in preparation for reservicing, which will include the replacement of electrical and mechanical infrastructure, and the provision of new lifts to improve accessibility.
- The building of a compound for contractors working on the Reservicing project on the Palace forecourt.
- The strip-out of the Palace’s main boiler room to prepare for the installation of the new energy centre.
- Conversion of space on the upper floor of the West Wing to a new open plan office space for approximately 100 people.
- Authorised or contracted commitments for works over the next five years amounting to £85m.
Reflecting on the Reservicing programme, Sir Michael added:
“The ten year Reservicing programme presents a unique opportunity for innovation and investment in one of the world’s most prestigious and iconic historic buildings, thereby preserving it for future generations. The work is sequenced so as to enable the Palace to remain occupied and fully operational and The Queen’s programme to continue to be delivered without interruption.”
