Call for Evidence

2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the Bank of England Act 1998. This Act gave the Bank of England its independence and reformed the structure, responsibilities and functions of the Bank.

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee is launching an inquiry to examine how operational independence is working.

It will focus on the Bank’s role and remit; whether the governance structures of the Bank are appropriate; and how the Bank is being held accountable for its actions.

It will not look at individual policy decisions that the Bank has taken.

The Committee seeks evidence on the following questions. Respondents are not obliged to address all of them.

Role and remit

1. Is the Bank of England’s statutory framework still defined appropriately? If not, how should it be defined?

2. What should be the role of secondary objectives in the remit of the Bank?

3. Have revisions to the Bank’s role, statutory objectives and remits since it was made independent affected the Bank’s performance and operations; if so, how?

4. How has the relationship between the Bank and the Treasury, as provided in the Bank of England Act 1998, worked in practice; and is that relationship still appropriate?

5. Is the Bank of England’s mission to maintain monetary and financial stability affected by its Prudential Regulation Authority responsibilities; if so, how?

Governance and culture

6. Do the Bank’s structures provide for a broad range of views in carrying out its functions?

7. Is the role of the Court of Directors of the Bank adequately defined and understood? Does the Court function appropriately; if not, how should it change?

8. Are the appointments processes to the Bank’s three policy committees, and the Court of Directors of the Bank, providing appropriate degrees of expertise, challenge and range of thought?

Accountability

9. Has the right balance been struck between accountability and independence?

10. Is there effective scrutiny and accountability with regards to the delivery of the objectives that the Bank of England is set; and are the Bank’s communications sufficiently clear and complete to ensure effective scrutiny?

This is a public call for written evidence to be submitted to the Committee. The deadline for submissions is midday on 27 April 2023.

The Committee is looking to hear from as diverse a range of views as possible. Diversity comes in many forms and hearing from a range of different perspectives means that Committees are better informed and can more effectively scrutinise public policy and legislation. Committees can undertake their role most effectively when they hear from a wide range of individuals, sectors or groups in society affected by a particular policy or piece of legislation. We encourage anyone with experience or expertise of the issues under investigation to share their views with the Committee, with the full knowledge that their views have value and are welcome.

Short, concise submissions are preferred. Responses should ideally not be longer than five sides of A4.

The Committee cannot accept anything that has not been prepared specifically in response to this call for evidence, or that has been published elsewhere.

Guide for submissions

Written submissions should be submitted online, as a Word document, using the written submission form available at https://committees.parliament.uk/submission/#/evidence/3070/preamble . This page also provides guidance on submitting evidence.

If you have difficulty submitting online, please contact Committee staff by email at economicaffairs@parliament.uk or by telephoning 0207 219 5358. The deadline for written evidence is midday on 27 April 2023.

Short submissions are preferred. Paragraphs should be numbered. All submissions made through the written submission form will be acknowledged automatically by email.

Evidence which is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is so published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. Submissions which have been previously published elsewhere will not be accepted as evidence.

Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been accepted you will receive a further email, and at this point you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee, and you should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege.

Personal contact details will be removed from evidence before publication, but will be retained by the Committee Office and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work, for instance to seek additional information.

Persons who submit written evidence, and others, may be invited to give oral evidence. Oral evidence is usually given in public at Westminster and broadcast online; transcripts are produced and published online. Persons invited to give oral evidence will be notified separately of the procedure to be followed and the topics likely to be discussed.

Substantive communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed through the Clerk to the Committee, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee.

This is a public call for evidence. Please bring it to the attention of other groups or individuals who may not have received a copy directly.

You may follow the progress of the inquiry at: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7356/bank-of-englandhow-is-independence-working/