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Accounts for the Sovereign Grant show the monarchy costs the taxpayer £87.5million during 2020/21. The cost equates to £1.27 per person in the UK and is also an increase of £18.1million on the previous financial year.
Royal activity had been curtailed by the pandemic and most of the major expenditure areas has fallen.
Payroll down £300,000 to £24.1million and travel dropping more than £2million to £3.2million, but property maintenance soared by £11.2million to £49.5million as the 10-year project to renovate Buckingham Palace continued.
A subsequent poll of more than 3,500 Express.co.uk readers has found the vast majority of respondents support the funding and believe the Royal Family is worth the financial outlay.
The online survey took place on June 24 and asked 3,698 Express.co.uk readers: Does the Royal Family offer value for money to the British taxpayer?
A huge 82 percent (3,067) believe the royals are worth the money voted “yes”.
Just, 17 percent (594) thought the Royal Family were not offering value for money and voted “no”.
Meanwhile, the other one percent (37) remained unsure and said they did not know.
A number of Express.co.uk readers let their opinions known in the comments section of the poll story.
The overspend of £2.3million was met from funds drawn from the Sovereign Grant reserve.
The £369 million reservicing programme is updating the electrical cabling, plumbing and heating at Buckingham Palace over 10 years and is running to time and budget.
Graham Smith, chief executive officer of the organisation Republic – which campaigns for an elected head of state, said: “Once again the Sovereign Grant goes up, once again the royals cost the taxpayer more year on year while the country faces unprecedented pressures on public spending.”
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