Buckingham Palace should
be opened to more paying visitors when the Queen is not in residence to
fund improvements to the royal estate, MPs have said.
The Public Accounts Committee criticised the Royal Household for mismanaging its finances.Chairwoman Margaret Hodge said there was "huge scope for savings" on the annual £31m of taxpayer funds given to the Queen to spend on official duties.
But a spokeswoman for the royals said spending was now more transparent.
The Sovereign Grant replaced the old Civil List and grants-in-aid system in 2012 and is used to fund royal duties, pay staff and maintain palaces.
The report said Buckingham Palace had overspent on the grant by £2.3m last year and had to dip into its reserves, "leaving a balance of only £1m at 31 March 2013 - a historically low level of contingency"
'Dangerous condition' "I don't think we'd accuse anybody of profligacy but, what we are saying, is that we don't think the Queen is served well either by the Royal Household or, indeed, by the Treasury," Mrs Hodge told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. visit here to continue reading http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25922896
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