With the celebrations now over, here’s a look at how much Scottish councils spent on the King’s Coronation.
The historic Coronation of King Charles III took place over the weekend as hundreds of get togethers marked the occasion hosted up and down the UK.
As well as local and community-run events such as street parties, there were a number of official events that took place over the three-day weekend.
Thousands of pounds were spent to mark the big occasion as official events were set up by local councils and some community events were partly funded by them.
However, according to independent media platform Open Democracy, many of Scotland’s councils did not give out any grants or spend money for the King’s Coronation celebrations.
According to the publication, some 21 councils had a spend of £0. The Daily Record confirmed that a further four councils had a spend of £0, bringing the total number of councils which did not spend money on the Coronation to 25.
There were also some official events which had no spend from councils.
For example, the big screen, where viewers could watch the Coronation in Edinburgh’s Princes Street screening was fully funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and so the City of Edinburgh Council confirmed to the Record that its net spend was £0.
Similarly, some councils were awarded money from the Government to put towards their Coronation celebrations, such as Glasgow City Council, which confirmed to the Record that it received “UK government funding of circa £15,000”.
he Coronation spend of Scottish councils
Below are the councils that have confirmed to the Record that they either ran events or allocated money to local groups to celebrate the King’s coronation:
- Argyll and Bute Council – £237.59
- Fife Council- £2,658
- Glasgow City Council – Approximately £20,000 (£15,000 UK Government funding)
- North Lanarkshire Council – £34,133 (council allocated £50,000 fund)
- Scottish Borders Council – Approximately £19,000
- South Ayrshire Council – £14,847
Aberdeen City Council, which ran a King’s Coronation Family Celebration, was unable to provide figures to the Daily Record.
The four notable spenders, dishing out more than five figures for celebration, was Glasgow City Council, North Lanarkshire Council, the Scottish Borders Council and South Ayrshire Council.
Both Lanarkshire and the Scottish Borders councils had no official events, but handed out grants to local groups to set up their own celebrations within their communities.
“The King’s Coronation Fund was open for applications from 9 February 2023 until 5 May 2023 and approximately £19,000 was awarded to 41 community councils,” states the Scottish Borders website.
A North Lanarkshire Council spokesperson told the Record: “A one-off £50,000 fund was allocated as part of the council’s budget setting for community groups to apply for grants to support their own Coronation celebrations.”
North Lanarkshire council confirmed to the Record that the remainder of the £50,000 allocation would go back into general funds.
A South Ayrshire spokesperson said: “South Ayrshire Council allocated £14,400 to support community events for the coronation. There were also a number of Council run activities in libraries and some public buildings which cost £447.70.”
A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman told the Record: “There were three events organised by the city to mark Their Majesties Coronation organised by the Lord Provost’s and International Office, in recognition of the First Citizen’s role as the city’s Lord Lieutenant and Royal representative here in Glasgow, and her responsibility to represent all Glaswegians during this historic weekend.
“A Coronation Concert in the City Chambers on Friday 5 May. A post-Coronation ceremony in George Square on 7 May. Followed by a service at Glasgow Cathedral led by the Lord Lieutenant.
“The estimated total spend is just over £20,000. The city will receive UK government funding of circa £15,000 to cover part of the Coronation costs it has incurred. It’s a fund made available to all local authorities who spent money to mark the King’s Coronation.
“Glasgow City Council will meet the remainder of the Coronation-related spending to cover costs associated with related civic receptions it catered for totalling around £5,800.”
Source: Daily Records
