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HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy.
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History
The English Treasury seems to have come into existence around 1126, in the reign of Henry I. The Treasury emerged out of the Royal Household, and served as the location where the king kept his treasures. The head of the Treasury was called the Lord Treasurer. Starting in Tudor times, the Lord Treasurer became one of the chief officers of state, and competed with the Lord Chancellor for the principal place. In 1667 Charles II of England was responsible for appointing George Downing (the builder of Downing Street) to radically reform the Treasury and the collection of taxes. Beginning in the 17th century, the Treasury was frequently entrusted to a commission, rather than to a single individual, and after 1714, it was always in commission. The commissioners were referred to as Lords of the Treasury, and given a number based on seniority. Eventually, the First Lord of the Treasury came to be seen as the natural head of any government, and from Robert Walpole on, began to be known, unofficially, as the prime minister. Before 1827, the First Lord of the Treasury, when a commoner, also held the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer, while if the First Lord was a peer, the Second Lord would usually serve as Chancellor. Since 1827, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has always been Second Lord of the Treasury.
Banknote issue
Banknotes in the UK are normally issued by the Bank of England and a number of commercial banks (see Banknotes of the pound sterling). At the start of the First World War, the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1914 was passed which gave the Treasury temporary powers for issuing banknotes to the value of £1 and 10/- (ten shillings) in the UK. Treasury notes had full legal tender status and were convertible for gold through the Bank of England. Unusually, these notes featured an image of King George V - Bank of England notes did not begin to display an image of the monarch until 1960. The wording on each note was "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Currency notes are legal tender for the payment of any amount". The notes were issued until 1928, when the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 returned note-issuing powers to the banks [1].
Whips
Some of the Government Whips are also associated in name with the Treasury: the Chief Whip is nominally Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and traditionally had an office in 12 Downing Street. Some of the other Whips are nominally a Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury though these are all members of the House of Commons. This led to the Government frontbench in the Commons being known as the Treasury Bench. However, since the Whips no longer have any effective ministerial role in the Treasury, they are usually not listed as Treasury ministers.
Ministers of HM Treasury
- Prime Minister and First Lord — The Rt Hon. Gordon Brown MP
- Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord — The Rt Hon. Alistair Darling MP
- Chief Secretary to the Treasury — Andy Burnham MP
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Whip — Geoff Hoon MP
- Paymaster General — Tessa Jowell MP
- Financial Secretary to the Treasury - Jane Kennedy MP
- Economic Secretary to the Treasury - Kitty Ussher MP
- Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury - Angela Eagle MP
Permanent Secretaries of HM Treasury
The position of Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury is generally regarded as the second most influential in the British Civil Service; the last two incumbents have gone on to be Cabinet Secretary, the only post out-ranking it.
- Nicholas Macpherson (2005–present)
- Sir Gus O'Donnell (2002–2005)
- Sir Andrew Turnbull (1998–2002)
- Sir Terence Burns (1991–1998)
- Sir Peter Middleton (1983–1991)
- Sir Douglas Wass (1974–1983)
- Sir Douglas Allen (1968–1974)
- Sir William Armstrong (1962–1968)
- Sir Laurence Helsby (1963–1968)
- Sir Norman Brook (1956–1963)
- Sir Frank Lee (1960–1962)
- Sir Roger Makins (1956–1959)
- Sir Edward Bridges (1945–1956)
- Sir Richard Hopkins (1942–1945)
- Sir Horace Wilson (1939–1942)
- Sir Warren Fisher (1919–1939)
- Sir Robert Chalmers (1916–1919)
- Sir George Murray (1903–1911)
- Sir Francis Mowatt (1894–1903)
The Second Permanent Secretary is John Kingman, the managing director of the Public Services and Growth division. With effect from June 2007, the post of Head of the Government Economic Service (GES) is held jointly by the Managing Director of Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policy in HM Treasury, Dave Ramsden, and Vicky Pryce, Chief Economist in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The previous Head of the GES was Sir Sir Nick Stern. Management support for GES members is provided by the Economists in Government team, which is located in HM Treasury's building.
Agencies of HM Treasury
- Office of Government Commerce (OGC) reporting to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury
- OGCBuying.Solutions an executive agency of OGC and reporting to the Financial Secretary
- National Savings and Investments reporting to the Economic Secretary
- Office for National Statistics reporting to the Exchequer Secretary (pending independence in March 2008)
- The Royal Mint reporting to the Financial Secretary
- UK Debt Management Office reporting to the Economic Secretary
- Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, for which the Minister is the Financial Secretary
- Valuation Office Agency, an agency of HM Revenue and Customs
See also
- First Lord of the Treasury
- List of Commissioners of the Treasury
- List of Lord Treasurers
- Lord High Treasurer
- United Kingdom budget
- UK topics
- Bank of England
External links
References
- ^ Trevor R Howard. Treasury notes. Retrieved on 2007-10-12.
