Civil list

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government.

1 United Kingdom
2 Canada
3 New Zealand
4 External links

[edit] United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the Civil List is the sum that covers most expenses associated with the Sovereign performing of his or her state duties, including those for staffing, state visits, public engagements, official entertainment, and upkeep of the Royal Households.

Formerly, the monarch met all official expenses from hereditary revenues, including the profits of the Crown Estate and the Royal Mail. It was created in 1660, but during 1760 the new King, George III, agreed to surrender the hereditary revenues of the Crown in exchange for the Civil List, funded by taxation.

This Civil List was originally intended to meet all of the expenses of civil government, including the Civil Service and pensions paid by the State, as well as the expenses of the Royal Household. These had earlier been paid by the monarch from their own non-tax sources of income, as had the expenses of running the Court system. Non-civil expenses, such as the costs of the Army and Navy, and interest on the National Debt, were paid from taxation.

On the accession of William IV in 1830, Parliament removed all civil government expenses from the Civil List, leaving only the expense of the royal household.

The Crown Estate is not owned by the monarch personally, but is an inalienable possession of the Crown, and passes from one Sovereign to the next. During modern times, the profits surrendered from the Crown Estate have greatly exceeded the Civil List and Grants-in-Aid provided to the monarch. For example, surplus from the Crown Estate produced approximately £184.8 million for the Treasury during the financial year 2003/04, whereas parliamentary funding for the Monarchy was approximately £36.8 million during the same period. These funds include the Civil List, Annuities, Grants in Aid, and funding paid directly by government departments.

In 2000, a £35.3 million reserve was carried over from the 1990-2000 Civil List. The reserve was created from surpluses caused by low inflation and the efforts of the Queen and her staff to make the palace more efficient. For the period of 2000 - 2010, the Civil List has continued to be fixed at £7,900,000 (GBP) annually, the same as was established during 1990.

Only the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh receive funding from the Civil List. The Duke receives £359,000 per year. The state duties and staff of other members of the Royal Family are funded from a Parliamentary Annuity, the amount of which is repaid by the Queen from the monies put into the Privy Purse from income from the Duchy of Lancaster. The money repaid by the Queen can be claimed against her personal tax bill however, meaning she makes profit of over £500,000 annually due to this arrangement. Money from the Privy Purse also goes towards royal charities, including the Chapel Royal.

Private personal expenditure is met from private sources of income.

[edit] Canada

In Canada the civil list was a common term during the pre-confederation period 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 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-Lafontaine government a compromise was reached with Lord Elgin.

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