Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 1 February, what is the total rent received from the accommodation of the occupied royal palaces listed in his answer; what is the range of rentals; and how many of the rented units have(a) four bedrooms and (b) five bedrooms.
§ Mr. SproatOf the 54 properties listed rent is paid by those occupying 11. The rent amounts in aggregate to 401W £22,704 per annum. The rent is set at 6 per cent. of the occupant's after-tax salary, which is equivalent to a deduction of 8.5 per cent. of pre-tax salary. Of the 11 apartments in respect of which rent is paid, five have four bedrooms, one has five bedrooms and one has six bedrooms. A further £46,000 per annum is paid in respect of other residential properties not included in the 54 referred to above, making a total rent deduction of £69,000 per annum. In addition to this the benefit of housing taken into account in determining wage and salary levels in the household's new grading structure amounts to approximately £480,000 per annum.
Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) what records are kept of the official use of the official reception rooms at the accommodation for members of the royal family in the occupied royal palaces;
(2) by what criteria residents are selected for the grace and favour accommodation at the occupied royal palaces.
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 7 February 1994]: My Department has overall responsibility for the maintenance of the properties within the occupied royal palaces estate. How these properties should best be used, either by members of the royal family or by employees and pensioners, in fulfilling the requirements and functions of the head of state is however a matter for Her Majesty the Queen.
Grace and favour accommodation is provided to members of the royal family in accordance with long-established practice. It is in keeping with the style and dignity of the monarchy and national prestige that the more immediate members of the royal family should be appropriately housed and a London residence is needed to entertain and undertake official duties on behalf of the Queen. How members of the royal family use the apartments allocated to them in fulfilling their duties in support of the Queen as head of state, including the use of official receptions rooms, are also matters for Her Majesty the Queen.
The criteria adopted when allocating residential accommodation to employees and pensioners are summarised below.
As regards employees, accommodation is provided to facilitate the better performance of the person's duties and recruitment and retention, in line with long-established practice. Apartments are allocated to employees by broad category of post and by location—for example, mews stable staff in London are housed in the flats above the London mews stables—or according to the post which they hold—for example, there are apartments in St. James's palace which have been occupied by successive masters of the household, marshals of the diplomatic corps and keepers of the privy purse—or according to need and availability, with available accommodation being allocated to staff whom the household most requires to be housed. There are approximately 500 official employees in the royal households and accommodation is not therefore available to all staff.
Official staff may be provided with accommodation on retirement if they have been housed as employees for 20 years or more and if finding their own accommodation after such a long period would cause difficulties and be a poor reward for long and loyal service. It is accordingly generally only the more junior employees who are provided with pensioner accommodation.
402WThere are in addition to the 23 pensioners who were previously official employees and who are provided with accommodation, four grace and favour pensioners, all of whom were provided with accommodation some time ago. There are unlikely to be grace and favour pensioners in the future. Grace and favour pension accommodation is provided at the Queen's discretion. The military knights are retired Army officers who have some ceremonial duties to perform at Windsor castle and are required to live there. Nominations are submitted by the Defence Secretary for approval by the Queen.
Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 3 February,Official Report, columns 846–47, to the right hon. Member for Swansea, West on the costs of refurbishment at occupied royal palaces, what information is available on refurbishment costs in 1989–90 and 1990–91.
§ Mr. Sproat[holding answer 8 February 1994]: In 1990–91 information on recorded expenditure is not readily available. However, the following sums were included in budgets:
£000s Kensington palace Apartment 1A (HRH The Princess Margaret) 25 Apartment 1 (TRH The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester) 8 Apartment 10 (TRH The Prince and Princess Michael of Kent) 11 St. James palace Clarence House Apartment in the occupation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother 35 Total 79 In 1989–90, the expenditure was: Kensington palace Apartment 1A 19 Apartment 1 13 Apartment 10 23 Total 55 St. James's palace No recorded expenditure