Queen Given Five Per Cent Pay Rise - The Day After £11.5bn Spending Cuts

Five Per Cent Pay Rise For The Queen..
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The Queen has been handed an inflation-busting five per cent pay rise - the day after £11.5bn of spending cuts were announced.

The Treasury will pay out a Sovereign Grant of £37.89m, up from £36.1m the previous year.

The grant, which funds the Queen's activities, comes from the £8.6bn Crown Estate, which includes most of Britain's coastline and royal properties like Windsor Castle.

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All in this together?

Last year it made record profits - triggering a corresponding increase in the Queen's income.

Under the 2011 Sovereign Grant Act, the Crown Estate profits are paid to the Treasury, which then pays 15% of them back to the Queen.

Crown Estate chairman Sir Stuart Hampson said: "We are proud that another record Crown Estate performance will again make a strong contribution to the nation's finances."

On Thursday, Chancellor George Osborne announced a further £11.5bn of spending cuts, including a public sector pay freeze and delays to unemployment benefit that charities fear will drive people into the arms of payday loan companies and force them to turn to food banks.