United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the Royal Households

Royal Households of the United Kingdom

The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the organised offices and support systems for the British Royal Family, along with their immediate families...

. The cost of transport and security for the Royal Family

British Royal Family

The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...

, together with property maintenance and other sundry expenses, are covered by separate grants from individual Government Departments.

History

Following the "Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...

" of 1688, the expenses relating to the support of the monarch were largely separated from the ordinary expenses of the State managed by the Exchequer

Exchequer

The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...

. This was a reaction to the reigns of Charles II of England

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 and James II of England

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

 (also known as James VII of Scotland), whose large revenues had made them independent of Parliament.

In 1697 the parliament of William and Mary

William and Mary

The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...

 fixed the Crown's peacetime revenue at £1,200,000 per year; of this about £700,000 was appropriated towards the Civil List. The Sovereign was expected to use this to defray some of the costs of running the civil government (such as the Civil Service, judges' and ambassadors' salaries) and the payment of pensions, as well as the expenses of the Royal Household and the Sovereign's personal expenses. It was from this that the term "Civil List" arose, to distinguish it from the statement of military and naval expenses which were funded through special taxation.

The accession of George III in 1760 marked a significant change in royal finances. Because his predecessor had failed to meet all of the specific costs of the civil government in accordance with the previous arrangement, it was decided that in return for George III surrendering the hereditary revenues from the Crown Estate

Crown Estate

In the United Kingdom, the Crown Estate is a property portfolio owned by the Crown. Although still belonging to the monarch and inherent with the accession of the throne, it is no longer the private property of the reigning monarch and cannot be sold by him/her, nor do the revenues from it belong...

 to Parliament for the duration of his reign, Parliament would assume responsibility for most of the costs of the civil government. Parliament would continue to pay the Civil List, which would defray the expenses of the Royal Household and some of the costs of the civil government. George III also retained the income from the Duchy of Lancaster

Duchy of Lancaster

The Duchy of Lancaster is one of the two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Cornwall. It is held in trust for the Sovereign, and is used to provide income for the use of the British monarch...

.

On the accession of William IV

William IV of the United Kingdom

William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...

 in 1830, the sum voted for the Civil List was restricted to the expenses of the Royal Household, removing any residual responsibilities associated with the cost of the civil government. This finally removed any link between the Sovereign and the cost of the civil government. The name 'Civil List' remains, however.

On the accession of Queen Victoria, the Civil List Act 1837

Civil List Act 1837

The Civil List Act 1837 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on 23 December 1837.It reiterated the principles of the civil list system, stating that the newly-accessioned Queen Victoria undertook to transfer all hereditary revenues of the Crown to the Treasury during her...

 was passed which reiterated the principles of the civil list system and specified that all the prior Acts were to remain in force.

On the accession of each subsequent monarch, this constitutional arrangement is confirmed, but the historical term 'Civil List' remains, even though the grant has nothing to do with the expenses of the civil government or the fact that the original revenue source (the Crown Estate) fails to cover that cost.

Present day

The Crown Estate is now a statutory corporation

Statutory Corporation

A statutory corporation or public body is a corporation created by statute. While artificial legal personality is almost always the result of statutory intervention, a statutory corporation does not include corporations owned by shareholders whose legal personality derives from being registered...

, run on commercial lines by the Crown Estate Commissioners and generates revenue for HM Treasury

HM Treasury

HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...

 every year (an income surplus of £210.7 million for the year ended 31 March 2010). A misconception exists that this income belongs to the Sovereign, and is available for the Sovereign's personal use. It is actually received by the State as a result of the agreement reached in 1760 that has been renewed at the beginning of each subsequent reign, but is labelled as the 'Crown Estate' for historic reasons. (Under British constitutional practice, the Crown is the embodiment of the state. When it is said that "the Crown" has done something, it is the state - the Government - that has done it).

In late 2000, a £35.3 million reserve was established. The reserve was created from surpluses in the 1991-2000 Civil List caused by low inflation and the efforts of The Queen and her staff to make the Royal Household more efficient. For the period of 2001 - 2010, the Civil List continued to be fixed at £7,900,000 annually, the same amount since 1991.

Only The Queen officially receives direct funding from the Civil List. The Queen's consort (Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh) receives £359,000 per year. The Queen, as Head of State, receives £7,900,000 from the Civil List to defray some of the official expenditure of the Monarchy.

In the Spending Review statement to the House of Commons on 20 October 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced that from 2013 the Civil List would be abolished. In its place, "the Royal Household will receive a new Sovereign Support Grant linked to a portion of the revenue of the Crown Estate." On 18 October 2011 the Sovereign Grant Act 2011

Sovereign Grant Act 2011

The Sovereign Grant Act 2011 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is the biggest reform to the finances of the British Royal Family since the inception of the civil list in 1760....

 received Royal Assent

Royal Assent

The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

. Under this Act, the Sovereign Grant will fund all of the official expenditure of the Monarchy, not just the expenditure currently borne by the Civil List.

The state duties and staff of other members of the Royal Family (but not The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, The Duke of Cambridge or Prince Harry) are funded from a Parliamentary Annuity, the amount of which is fully refunded by The Queen to the Treasury. The Queen is permitted to claim this amount as a deduction against her gross income from personal investments and other sources - the net amount, after deductions, is subject to normal income tax.

Canada

In Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 the civil list was a common term during the pre-confederation period

Canada under British Imperial Control (1764-1867)

Territories, colonies and provinces that would become part of modern Canada were under control of the English, and later British, Empire from the sixteenth century, when France also had claims in the area. However, the most populous areas of Canada in the St...

 when it caused much controversy. The Canadian civil list referred to the payment for all officials on the government payroll. There was much controversy as to whether the list would be controlled by the Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 or by the Legislative Assembly. The Assembly demanded control of all money matters, while the Governors worried that if the Assembly was given this power then certain positions would be delisted. Eventually under the Baldwin

Robert Baldwin

Robert Baldwin was born at York . He, along with his political partner Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, led the first responsible ministry in Canada, regarded by some as the first truly Canadian government....

-Lafontaine

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine

Sir Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine , 1st Baronet, KCMG was the first Canadian to become Prime Minister of the United Province of Canada and the first head of a responsible government in Canada. He was born in Boucherville, Lower Canada in 1807...

 government a compromise was reached with Lord Elgin

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin

Sir James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT, GCB, PC , was a British colonial administrator and diplomat...

.

The term civil list is no longer commonly used to describe the payment of civil servants in Canada.

New Zealand

The Civil List Act 1979

Civil List Act 1979

The Civil List Act 1979 is a statute of the Parliament of New Zealand which defines the allowances, salaries and annuities of the Governor-General, Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament.-Part One: Governor-General:...

 describes the funds provided for the Governor-General

Governor-General of New Zealand

The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....

, Prime Minister

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

, Cabinet Ministers

New Zealand Cabinet

The Cabinet of New Zealand functions as the policy and decision-making body of the executive branch within the New Zealand government system...

 and Members of Parliament

Parliament of New Zealand

The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The House of Representatives is often referred to as "Parliament".The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 Members of...

.

Morocco

Article 22 of the 1996 Amended Moroccan Constitution guarantees that the King shall be entitled to a civil list.

External links

• BBC Royal Accounts 2002
• The price of monarchy: two pints of milk (Stephen Bates, Guardian, 25 June 2004)
• Royal financial reports 2003/2004 (royal.gov.uk)
• Civil List (royal.gov.uk)