The government has set aside £8 million to offer every public body a free portrait of the King.
Oliver Dowden, the Cabinet Office minister, said the move was part of plans to celebrate the new reign but one critic said ministers were “losing the plot” amid the cost of living crisis and shrinking Whitehall budgets.
Dowden, who co-ordinated the response to public sector strikes over pay, said councils, courts, schools and police forces would be among those eligible for a free portrait before the coronation on May 6. “They will help us turn a page in our history together and pay a fitting tribute to our new sovereign,” he said.
“Now, as we unite in preparing for the splendour of the King’s coronation, these