The Bank of England (BoE) operates the Real-Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS) underpins UK payment systems including BACS and Visa. It enables high-value sterling payment transfers between financial institutions, processing around £750bn a day. As part of its response to developments such as the establishment of new banks, payment providers, and payment technologies, the BoE laid out in 2017 how it would be updating the service with the Real-Time Gross Settlement Renewal Programme (RTSRP).
The RTGS is critical national infrastructure, and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has a longstanding interest in scrutinising resilience in key national systems, and will be exploring how the BoE will take lessons from the RTSRP as part of its broader modernisation ambitions. It first examined the operations of the BoE in 2019 as part of its inquiry into BoE central services, which found that the Bank lacked a clear vision of the significant changes needed to modernise its ways of working.
The National Audit Office (NAO) in 2025 publishes its study on whether the Bank has managed the RTSRP effectively and efficiently. Proceeding from the NAO’s report, the PAC will take evidence from senior BoE figures on topics including the Bank’s vision and strategy in relation to the RTSRP, and its wider digital transformation plans.
If you have evidence on these issues, please submit here by 23:59 on Monday 16 February 2026.
Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. The Committee decides what information to publish and how. You can request anonymity or confidentiality when you send evidence, but it is for the Committee to say whether it will agree.It may treat submissions confidentially, even where you have not requested this.
Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues.