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Civil List

As I have already said, security is a big element of spending on the royal family, but other elements need to put into the mix, and the Chancellor's announcement of the merger of the three separate funding pots will help with transparency and with looking at everything in the round. So, we very much welcome the agreement that the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee will audit royal household funding, but as the Bill goes through the House, we will seek clarity on when and how often those audits will be carried out, clarity on what disclosure there will be of the information and evidence used in the process and, indeed, clarity on the Committee's remit to look at issues such as those that my hon. Friend has just raised. In conclusion, we support the Chancellor's initiative, but we will seek clarity on the level at which the new grant is set, on the arrangements for uprating it each year and on whether there will be flexibility on that and on the level of parliamentary oversight. We hope that by the time the Bill reaches its financial stages there will be cross-party consensus on the new arrangements.