Repairs backlog at Royal Palaces

Buckingham Palace is one of the buildings in need of repair

MPs have criticised the government over its management of Britain's Royal palaces, which have a maintenance backlog totalling �32m.

The Public Accounts Committee said it warned ministers to keep a "close eye" on the Queen's estate seven years ago.

The comments follow a report from the National Audit Office which found no comprehensive record of the condition of the occupied palaces.

The government said it faced "tough decisions" over public spending.

Accurate survey

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has overall responsibility for the maintenance of occupied Royal palaces but management and operating responsibility rests with the Royal Household's property services.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said the department and the Royal Household had not agreed a way of managing the repairs.

The Royal Household and Department for Culture, Media and Sport need to develop a way of measuring the condition of the estate over time

Tim Burr, NAO

The public spending watchdog said the government did not have a clear basis for assessing whether the buildings were being maintained to a standard consistent with their royal, architectural and historic status.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, said: "There is actually no comprehensive record of the condition of the estate.

"Without this, how can the department hold the Royal Household to account?

"And why has the department set objectives if it has no way of measuring whether they are achieved?"

Funding shortfall

The occupied Royal palaces are held in trust for the nation by the Queen but the cost of maintaining them falls on the government.

The whole estate encompasses about 360 buildings including Windsor Castle, Clarence House - the Prince of Wales' London home - St James Palace and parts of Kensington Palace.

All departments face tough decisions about where to direct public spending to ensure value for money for taxpayers

Government spokesman

Last financial year, the Royal Household received �15m grant-in-aid for the upkeep of the palaces but the NAO report said this had remained broadly the same since 2000 and represented a 19% drop in real terms.

In recent years, officials have asked the government for an increase of �1m a year for maintenance but the extra funding was not received.

The report, which looks at all aspects of palace maintenance work, stated that out of the �32m backlog, �26m of projects should have been completed already and a further �6m of work should be scheduled in the next 10 years.

Some jobs were brought forward for health and safety reasons - urgent repairs were needed to a crumbling wall in Buckingham Palace in 2007.

National assets

Tim Burr, head of the NAO, said: "The Royal Household is making efforts to be more efficient in how it uses its funds, but there is no measure of how effectively the palaces are being maintained.

"The Royal Household and Department for Culture, Media and Sport need to develop a way of measuring the condition of the estate over time, so that the department has confidence that the future of these national assets is secure."

A DCMS spokesman said it was working with the Royal Household's property services to form a "comprehensive picture" of the state of the palaces.

"All departments face tough decisions about where to direct public spending to ensure value for money for taxpayers," he said.

"We recognise the occupied Royal palaces are a unique collection of buildings of great architectural and historic importance and we work closely with the Palace to ensure they are protected for the nation."

The Royal Household did not want to comment on the report.