Summary
The Occupied Royal Palaces Estate is held in trust for the nation and is used to support the official duties of the Sovereign. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is ultimately responsible for the upkeep of the Estate but in 1991 delegated the responsibility for running and maintaining the Estate to the Royal Household.
This report, 'Maintaining the Occupied Royal Palaces' (HC 1043), examines how the Property Services Department, through which the Household runs and maintains the Estate, plans and delivers its maintenance work.
It also looks at the impact that the Property Section's running costs and income generated from the Estate had on the funding available to spend on maintenance.
The National Audit Office sets out a number of findings and recommendations, including:
- The Property Services Department receives grant-in-aid - £15 million in 2007-08 - broadly the same level of funding as in 2000-01, which represents a reduction of 19% in real terms.
- The DCMS does not currently have a clear basis for assessing the extent to which its aim of maintaining the Palaces to a standard consistent with their royal, architectural and historic status is being achieved.
- The Property Section has identified a backlog of maintenance work but there is not yet an agreement between the parties about how the backlog should be measured or how to manage it.
- The Property Section has recently strengthened its approach to planning maintenance work and put in place the key elements of a sound maintenance strategy.
- In 2007-08 the Property Section generated almost £3 million from visitors to Windsor Castle and from renting out accommodation on the estate.
- The Royal Household's approach to generating income could be strengthened by developing a formal Estate strategy.
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