Six new offshore wind farms on the Crown Estate are expected to generate $1 billion in earnings, and King Charles has requested that these funds be used to the wider public good as opposed to the Royal Family. The public funding for the Royal Household is based on 25percentage points of Crown Estate earnings.
However, King Charles wishes to lower this proportion so that the Treasury has more funds available for public expenditure. In his Christmas speech, the King discussed the strains of rising living expenses.
King Charles mentioned the challenges of the cost-of-living crisis in his Christmas address, and he appears to be taking steps to avoid what might have been an embarrassing increase in royal revenue.
The Crown Estate is a privately owned, for-profit company whose revenues go to the Treasury; nonetheless, these revenues serve as a baseline for the amount of taxpayer money given to the Royal Family each year, referred as the Sovereign Grant, which was worth £86.3 million in 2017.
Deals to build six new offshore wind farms, with a total value of £1 billion annually for at least three years in fees from companies purchasing the rights to erect wind farms on Crown Estate offshore sites, are now anticipated to dramatically increase these revenues.
Due to public financial demands, this would have resulted in a very big rise in the amount going into to the Sovereign Grant, which may have been embarrassing.
According to Buckingham Palace, the King wants to lower the percentage of revenues used to determine the grant due to the offshore energy windfall.
Currently, the Sovereign Grant is centred on 25% of Crown Estate income, which is a temporary increase from the regular 15%. The additional money is utilised for Buckingham Palace’s repairs and upgrades.
The stipend is used to cover the expenses associated with functioning as a royal, such as travel for official engagements and royal palace maintenance. With a decision anticipated within the next few months, the Treasury is now reviewing the amount of Crown Estate income that go into royal funding.
The chancellor and prime minister have received a letter from Sir Michael Stevens, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, proposing a acceptable reduction.
Republic, an anti-monarchy advocacy group, has scorned the action as cynical PR to foreshadow a governmental choice to reduce the proportion.
The King’s comments reflected an arrangement he had no power to change, according to Graham Smith, the group’s chief executive.
Three of the new offshore wind farm locations are in the North Sea, off the coasts of North Wales, Cumbria, and Lancashire, while three are in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coasts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It is hoped that once developed, they will be able to produce sufficient electricity for 7 million houses.
The 36 offshore wind farms that are now in operation off the shores of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland will be increased by this.
The Crown Estate’s CEO, Dan Labbad, praised the advantages of this next generation of projects.
He said that they demonstrate the far-reaching value that our world-class offshore wind sector can deliver for the nation including homegrown energy for everyone, jobs and asset for societies, revenue for the taxpayer, clean energy for the benefit of the environment, and a considerate, sustainable approach which honours our rich biodiversity.
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