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HM Treasury

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His Majesty's Treasury
HM Treasury logo.svg
Logo of HM Treasury
HM Treasury flag.svg
Flag of HM Treasury
Government Offices Great George Street.jpg
Government Offices, Great George Street
Department overview
FormedBefore 1086
JurisdictionGovernment of the United Kingdom
Headquarters1 Horse Guards Road
Westminster, London
Employees1169 FTE (+113 in DMO)[1]
Annual budget£3.8 billion (current) & £300 million (capital) for Chancellor's Departments in 2011–12[2]
Ministers responsible
Department executive
Child Department
Websitewww.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-treasury Edit this at Wikidata

His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and economic policy.[3] The Treasury maintains the Online System for Central Accounting and Reporting (OSCAR), the replacement for the Combined Online Information System (COINS), which itemises departmental spending under thousands of category headings,[4] and from which the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) annual financial statements are produced.

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Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom

Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom

The Government of the United Kingdom is divided up into departments. These, according to the government, are responsible for putting government policy into practice. There are currently 24 ministerial departments, 20 non-ministerial departments and 422 agencies and other public bodies, for a total of 465 departments.

Government of the United Kingdom

Government of the United Kingdom

The Government of the United Kingdom, officially His Majesty's Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The government is led by the prime minister who selects all the other ministers. The country has had a Conservative-led government since 2010, with successive prime ministers being the then leader of the Conservative Party. The prime minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Cabinet.

Public finance

Public finance

Public finance is the study of the role of the government in the economy. It is the branch of economics that assesses the government revenue and government expenditure of the public authorities and the adjustment of one or the other to achieve desirable effects and avoid undesirable ones. The purview of public finance is considered to be threefold, consisting of governmental effects on:The efficient allocation of available resources; The distribution of income among citizens; and The stability of the economy.

Economic policy

Economic policy

The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the economy.

Combined Online Information System

Combined Online Information System

The Combined Online Information System (COINS) is a database containing HM Treasury's detailed analysis of departmental spending under thousands of category headings. The database contains around 24 million lines of data. The database has codes for more than 1,700 public bodies in the United Kingdom including central government departments, local authorities, NHS trusts and public corporations. COINS is used by the Office for National Statistics for statistical purposes.

Whole of Government Accounts

Whole of Government Accounts

Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) is the annual publication by the United Kingdom Government of the consolidated financial statements of over 5,500 organisations across the public sector. It aims to provide more complete data for fiscal planning by producing consolidated financial statements which are produced in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the system of accounts used internationally by the private sector.

History

The origins of the Treasury of England have been traced by some to an individual known as Henry the Treasurer, a servant to King William the Conqueror.[5] This claim is based on an entry in the Domesday Book showing the individual Henry "the treasurer" as a landowner in Winchester, where the royal treasure was stored.[6]

The Treasury of the United Kingdom thus traces its origins to the Treasury of the Kingdom of England, which had come into existence by 1126, in the reign of King Henry I. The Treasury emerged from the Royal Household. It was 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, King Charles II was responsible for appointing George Downing, the builder of Downing Street, to radically reform the Treasury and the collection of taxes.

The Treasury was first put in commission (placed under the control of several people instead of only one) in May or June 1660.[7] The first commissioners were the Duke of Albemarle, Lord Ashley, (Sir) W. Coventry, (Sir) J. Duncomb, and (Sir) T. Clifford.[8] After 1714, the Treasury was always in commission. The commissioners were referred to as the Lords of the Treasury and were given a number based on their seniority. Eventually the First Lord of the Treasury came to be seen as the natural head of government, and from Robert Walpole on, the holder of the office began to be known, unofficially, as the Prime Minister. Until 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 usually served as Chancellor. Since 1827, however, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has always been Second Lord of the Treasury.

During the time when the Treasury was under commission, the junior Lords were each paid £1,600 a year.[9]

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William the Conqueror

William the Conqueror

William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose.

Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by the Latin name Liber de Wintonia, meaning "Book of Winchester", where it was originally kept in the royal treasury. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 1085 the king sent his agents to survey every shire in England, to list his holdings and dues owed to him.

Kingdom of England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England existed on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it unified from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Henry I of England

Henry I of England

Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, but Henry was left landless. He purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but his brothers deposed him in 1091. He gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William Rufus against Robert.

Lord Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The lord chancellor is appointed by the sovereign on the advice of the prime minister. Prior to their Union into the Kingdom of Great Britain, there were separate lord chancellors for the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland; there were lord chancellors of Ireland until 1922.

Charles II of England

Charles II of England

Charles II was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685.

Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet

Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet

Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet, c. 1623 to c. 19 July 1684, was an Anglo-Irish diplomat and financial reformer, who held office first under the Commonwealth of England, then Charles II. As Teller of the Exchequer, he carried out major reforms in public finance, including securing passage of the Navigation Acts, intended to protect English maritime commerce, especially from the Dutch Republic.

Downing Street

Downing Street

Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is 200-metre (660 ft) long, and a few minutes' walk from the Houses of Parliament. Downing Street was built in the 1680s by Sir George Downing.

First Lord of the Treasury

First Lord of the Treasury

The first lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is a position held by the prime minister. This office is not equivalent to the usual position of the "treasurer" in other governments; the closer equivalent of a treasurer in the United Kingdom is Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is the second lord of the Treasury.

Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford,, known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader of the House of Commons, is generally regarded as the de facto first Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is a high-ranking member of the British Cabinet.

Ministers

As of February 2023, the Treasury Ministers are as follows:

Minister Title Portfolio
Rt Hon. Rishi Sunak First Lord of the Treasury Formal head of the Treasury, concurrently serves as the Prime Minister.
Rt Hon. Jeremy Hunt Chancellor of the Exchequer
Second Lord of the Treasury
Overall responsibility for the department; fiscal policy (including the presenting of the annual Budget); monetary policy, setting inflation targets; ministerial arrangements (in his role as Second Lord of the Treasury).
Rt Hon. John Glen Chief Secretary to the Treasury Spending reviews and strategic planning; in-year spending control; public sector pay and pensions; Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) and welfare reform; efficiency and value for money in public service; procurement; capital investment; infrastructure spending; housing and planning; spending issues related to trade; transport policy, including HS2, Crossrail 2, Roads, Network Rail, Oxford/Cambridge corridor; Treasury interest in devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; women in the economy; skills, labour market policy and childcare policy, including tax free childcare; tax credits policy; housing and planning; legislative strategy; state pensions/ pensioner benefits; freeports – with support from FST on customs aspects.
Simon Hart Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Government Chief Whip, formally a junior minister in the Treasury
Victoria Atkins Financial Secretary to the Treasury Leading on the UK tax system including direct, indirect, business, property and personal taxation; corporate and small business taxation; Value Added Tax (VAT); European and international tax issues; overall responsibility for the Finance Bill; National Insurance Bill; customs policy; HMRC planning and delivery of our future partnership with the EU; departmental Minister for HM Revenue and Customs and the Valuation Office Agency and the Government Actuary's Department; tariffs policy; trade policy; freeports (CST policy lead – FST support on customs); infrastructure policy:

National Infrastructure Strategy, National Infrastructure Commission; Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA, joint with Cabinet Office); Public - Private Partnerships; (PPPs) and Private Finance Initiatives (PFI/PFI2); parliamentary deputy on public spending issues.

Andrew Griffith Economic Secretary to the Treasury Banking and financial services reform and regulation; financial stability, including relationship with the PRA; financial conduct, including relationship with the FCA; financial services including all banking, insurance, asset management; retail financial services, including banking competition, consumer finance, financial advice and capability; bank lending and access to finance; financial Inclusion (lead on the government's financial inclusion agenda); access to affordable; credit, including credit unions; women in finance agenda; EU financial services including EU exit and decisions as a member state; city competitiveness, including global financial markets, Global Financial Partnerships and financial services trade; green finance, Islamic finance, and Fintech; financial services taxation, including bank levy, bank corp. tax surcharge, IPT; personal savings tax and pensions tax policy; sponsorship of UKGI and State owned financial assets – RBS, UKAR; financial sanctions and countering economic crime and illicit finance; foreign exchange reserves and debt management policy, National Savings and Investments and the Debt Management Office; cash and payments including, Royal Mint

Parliamentary deputy on economy issues.

James Cartlidge Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury UK growth and productivity; regional devolution, City deals, Northern Powerhouse, Midlands Engine, Ox-Cam Arc; place based economic strategy; better regulation and competition policy; R&D and science policy; skills, migration, National Retraining Scheme and apprenticeship levy; digital, fibre and mobile; patient Capital Review; implementation; promoting UK as a destination for FDI (non-FS); energy infrastructure, energy, environment and climate policy; the HMT review (net zero) into the costs of decarbonisation; new nuclear; roll out of green infrastructure; consumer bills vs tax; energy and environment taxes, including plastics taxation and carbon taxes; transport taxation including vehicle taxes and future strategy and air passenger duty; North Sea oil, gas and shipping; Small Business Policy (including prompt payments and FSB stakeholder engagement).

The following indirect taxes:

Excise duties (alcohol, tobacco and gambling), including excise fraud and law enforcement; soft drink industry levy; charities, the voluntary sector and gift aid corporate governance; supporting tax legislation in Parliament; implementation of the Rose Review; Crown Estate and the Royal Household; overseas territories and Crown dependencies; departmental minister for HM Treasury Group

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First Lord of the Treasury

First Lord of the Treasury

The first lord of the Treasury is the head of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury exercising the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer in the United Kingdom, and is a position held by the prime minister. This office is not equivalent to the usual position of the "treasurer" in other governments; the closer equivalent of a treasurer in the United Kingdom is Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is the second lord of the Treasury.

Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Hunt

Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2012, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2012 to 2018 and Foreign Secretary from 2018 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Surrey since 2005.

Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is a high-ranking member of the British Cabinet.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom who ranks as the second highest in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden of representing the Treasury with the chancellor.

Chief Whip

Chief Whip

The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury

Financial Secretary to the Treasury

The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequer, the chief secretary to the Treasury, and the paymaster general. However, the role of First Lord of the Treasury is always held by the prime minister who is not a Treasury minister, and the position of Paymaster General is a sinecure often held by the Minister for the Cabinet Office to allow the holder of that office to draw a government salary. In practice it is, therefore, the third most senior Treasury minister and has attended Cabinet in the past.

Andrew Griffith

Andrew Griffith

Andrew John Griffith is a British politician and former senior media executive who, since 2019, has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arundel and South Downs.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury

Economic Secretary to the Treasury

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the sixth-most senior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, after the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster-General and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury. It is not a cabinet-level post.

James Cartlidge

James Cartlidge

James Roger Cartlidge is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Suffolk since 2015, and has been serving as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury since October 2022. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice between 2021 and 2022.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and alongside the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. It ranks at Parliamentary Secretary level and is not a Cabinet office. Unlike the other posts of Secretary to the Treasury, it is only used occasionally, normally when the post of Paymaster General is allocated to a minister outside the Treasury.

Carbon neutrality

Carbon neutrality

Carbon neutrality is a state of net zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide by eliminating emissions from society or carbon dioxide removal. The term is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transport, energy production, agriculture, and industry.

Green infrastructure

Green infrastructure

Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature. The main components of this approach include stormwater management, climate adaptation, the reduction of heat stress, increasing biodiversity, food production, better air quality, sustainable energy production, clean water, and healthy soils, as well as more anthropocentric functions, such as increased quality of life through recreation and the provision of shade and shelter in and around towns and cities. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings. More recently scholars and activists have also called for green infrastructure that promotes social inclusion and equality rather than reinforcing pre-existing structures of unequal access to nature-based services.

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 Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, though they are all members of the House of Commons. Being a whip is a party, rather than a government, position; the appointments to the Treasury are sinecure positions which allow the whips to be paid ministerial salaries. This has led to the Government front bench in the Commons being known as the Treasury Bench. However, since the whips no longer have any effective ministerial roles in the Treasury, they are usually not listed as Treasury ministers.

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Whip (politics)

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They try to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.

Chief Whip

Chief Whip

The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is the official title of the most senior whip of the governing party in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Today, any official links between the Treasury and this office are nominal and the title of the office can be seen as a sinecure that allows the incumbent to draw a Government salary, attend Cabinet, and use a Downing Street residence, traditionally 12 Downing Street.

12 Downing Street

12 Downing Street

12 Downing Street is one of the buildings situated on Downing Street in the City of Westminster in London, England. It has been traditionally used as the office of the Chief Whip although the upper floor forms part of the residential apartment for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It has been owned and used by the Crown since 1803, first housing the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces and then the Colonial Office, before the office of the Chief Whip moved into the premises in 1879 until 2001. It is a Grade II listed building.

Lords Commissioners of the Treasury

Lords Commissioners of the Treasury

In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the Treasury, and four or more junior lords acting as assistant whips in the House of Commons to whom this title is usually applied.

House of Commons of the United Kingdom

House of Commons of the United Kingdom

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs). MPs are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved.

Sinecure

Sinecure

A sinecure is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, where it signified a post without any responsibility for the "cure [care] of souls", the regular liturgical and pastoral functions of a cleric, but came to be applied to any post, secular or ecclesiastical, that involved little or no actual work. Sinecures have historically provided a potent tool for governments or monarchs to distribute patronage, while recipients are able to store up titles and easy salaries.

Permanent secretaries

The position of Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is generally regarded as the second most influential in the British Civil Service; two recent incumbents have gone on to be Cabinet Secretary, the only post outranking it.

As of October 2022 the Second Permanent Secretaries are Cat Little and Beth Russell.[10] Between 2007 and 2010, the post of Head of the Government Economic Service (GES) was 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, Innovation and Skills. Ramsden is now sole Head of the GES. The previous Head of the GES was Sir Nick Stern. Management support for GES members is provided by the Economists in Government team, which is located in HM Treasury's building.

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Permanent Secretary to the Treasury

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury

The UK Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is the most senior civil servant at HM Treasury. The post originated as that of Assistant Secretary to the Treasury in 1805; that office was given new duties and renamed in 1867 as a Permanent Secretaryship.

Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)

Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)

The Cabinet Secretary is the most senior civil servant in the United Kingdom, and is based in the Cabinet Office. The person in this role acts as the senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as the Secretary to the Cabinet, is responsible to all ministers for the efficient running of government. The role is currently occupied by Simon Case.

Government Economic Service

Government Economic Service

The Government Economic Service (GES) is a professional grouping of public sector economists who work across some 40 departments and agencies of His Majesty's Government (HMG). The GES Board is chaired by the Head of the GES and consists of government chief economists and directors of analysis. GES was founded in 1964 by Sir Alec Cairncross. The GES recruits economists on behalf of the departments and is the largest recruiter of economists in the UK.

Dave Ramsden

Dave Ramsden

Sir David Edward John Ramsden CBE is a British economist and has been Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking at the Bank of England since 4 September 2017. He was previously Chief Economic Adviser to HM Treasury and Head of the Government Economic Service, having previously served as Joint Head of the Service with Vicky Pryce, formerly Chief Economic Adviser and Director-General at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Vicky Pryce

Vicky Pryce

Vasiliki "Vicky" Pryce is a Greek-born British economist and a former Joint Head of the United Kingdom's Government Economic Service.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). It was disbanded on the creation of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 14 July 2016.

Guidance

The Treasury publishes cross-government guidance including Managing Public Money [11] and The Green Book: Central Government Guidance on appraisal and evaluation, current version dated 2020.[12] Managing Public Money includes a definition of "value for money":

Value for money ... means securing the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought. It is not about minimising up front prices.[13]

The Green Book includes the historic five case model, which requires consideration of the policy, economic, commercial, financial and management dimensions of a proposed project.[12]: 19 

Banknote issue

A 10-shilling HM Treasury note depicting George V.
A 10-shilling HM Treasury note depicting George V.

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, giving the Treasury temporary powers to issue banknotes in two denominations, one at £1 and another at 10 shillings, in the UK. Treasury notes had full legal tender status and were not convertible for gold through the Bank of England. They replaced the gold coin in circulation to prevent a run on sterling and to enable purchases of raw materials for armaments production. 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 IRELAND — Currency notes are Legal Tender for the payment of any amount — Issued by the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury under the Authority of Act of Parliament (4 & 5 Geo. V c.14). Notes issued after the partition of Ireland from 1922 had the wording changed to read "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

The promise (never adhered to) was that they would be removed from circulation after the war had ended. In fact, the notes were issued until 1928, when the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 returned note-issuing powers to the banks.[14]

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George V

George V

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.

Bank of England note issues

Bank of England note issues

The Bank of England, which is now the central bank of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories, has issued banknotes since 1694. In 1921 the Bank of England gained a legal monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, a process that started with the Bank Charter Act of 1844 when the ability of other banks to issue notes was restricted.

Bank of England

Bank of England

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of the United Kingdom, it is the world's eighth-oldest bank. It was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until it was nationalised in 1946 by the Attlee ministry.

Banknotes of the pound sterling

Banknotes of the pound sterling

Sterling banknotes are the banknotes in circulation in the United Kingdom and its related territories, denominated in pounds sterling.

Partition of Ireland

Partition of Ireland

The partition of Ireland was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. It was enacted on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The Act intended both territories to remain within the United Kingdom and contained provisions for their eventual reunification. The smaller Northern Ireland was duly created with a devolved government and remained part of the UK. The larger Southern Ireland was not recognised by most of its citizens, who instead recognised the self-declared 32-county Irish Republic. On 6 December 1922, a year after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the territory of Southern Ireland left the UK and became the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland.

Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928

Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928

The Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom relating to banknotes. Among other things, it makes it a criminal offence to deface a banknote.

Associated public bodies

Executive agencies of HM Treasury

Other bodies reporting to Treasury ministers

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National Savings and Investments

National Savings and Investments

National Savings and Investments (NS&I), formerly called the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings, is a state-owned savings bank in the United Kingdom. It is both a non-ministerial government department and an executive agency of HM Treasury. The aim of NS&I has been to attract funds from individual savers in the UK for the purpose of funding the government's deficit. NS&I attracts savers through offering savings products with tax-free elements on some products, and a 100% guarantee from HM Treasury on all deposits. As of 2017, approximately 9% of the government's debt is met by funds raised through NS&I, around half of which is from the Premium Bond offering.

Non-ministerial government department

Non-ministerial government department

Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil servants. Some fulfil a regulatory or inspection function, and their status is therefore intended to protect them from political interference. Some are headed by a permanent office holder, such as a Permanent Secretary or Second Permanent Secretary.

Valuation Office Agency

Valuation Office Agency

The Valuation Office Agency is a government body in England and Wales. It is an executive agency of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

Executive agency

Executive agency

An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. Executive agencies are "machinery of government" devices distinct both from non-ministerial government departments and non-departmental public bodies, each of which enjoy legal and constitutional separation from ministerial control. The model has been applied in several other countries.

Office for Budget Responsibility

Office for Budget Responsibility

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formally created in May 2010 following the general election and was placed on a statutory footing by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. It is one of a growing number of official independent fiscal watchdogs around the world.

Non-departmental public body

Non-departmental public body

In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of national government but are not part of a government department. NDPBs carry out their work largely independently from ministers and are accountable to the public through Parliament; however, ministers are responsible for the independence, effectiveness and efficiency of non-departmental public bodies in their portfolio.

Office of Tax Simplification

Office of Tax Simplification

The Office of Tax Simplification was closed by the Government of the United Kingdom in March 2023. The decision was announced on 23 September 2022 in the Growth Plan 2022, and came into effect when the Spring 2023 Finance Bill received Royal Assent. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/update-on-the-closure-of-the-office-of-tax-simplification The Office of Tax Simplification was an independent office of HM Treasury, part of the Government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 20 July 2010 to identify areas where complexities in the tax system for both businesses and individual taxpayers can be reduced, and then to publish their findings for the Chancellor to consider ahead of his budget.

Royal Mint

Royal Mint

The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.

UK Government Investments

UK Government Investments

UK Government Investments (UKGI) is a company owned by the Government of the United Kingdom which combines the former functions of the Shareholder Executive and UK Financial Investments based in London, England.

History of the Treasury Main Building

The Treasury Main Building at 1 Horse Guards Road, often referred to as the Government Offices, Great George Street (GOGGS), was designed by John Brydon following a competition.[15] Construction took place in two phases. The West end was completed in 1908 and the East end was completed in 1917.[15] It was originally built as offices for the Board of Education, the Local Government Board, and the Ministry of Works Office; HM Treasury moved into the building in 1940.[15] A major refurbishment of the building was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract in 2000. The works, which were designed by Foster and Partners together with Feilden and Mawson and carried out by Bovis Lend Lease at a cost of £140 million, were completed in 2002.[16]

Discover more about History of the Treasury Main Building related topics

Government Offices Great George Street

Government Offices Great George Street

Government Offices Great George Street (GOGGS) is a large UK government office building situated in Westminster between Horse Guards Road, Great George Street, Parliament Street, King Charles Street and Parliament Square. The western end of the building, on Horse Guards Road, is known as 1 Horse Guards Road (1HGR). The Parliament Street end is referred to as 100 Parliament Street (100PS).

Horse Guards Road

Horse Guards Road

Horse Guards Road is a road in the City of Westminster, London. Located in post code SW1A 2HQ, it runs south from The Mall down to Birdcage Walk, roughly parallel with Whitehall and Parliament Street.

J. M. Brydon

J. M. Brydon

Local Government Board

Local Government Board

The Local Government Board (LGB) was a British Government supervisory body overseeing local administration in England and Wales from 1871 to 1919.

Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)

Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Works was a department of the UK Government formed in 1940, during the Second World War, to organise the requisitioning of property for wartime use. After the war, the ministry retained responsibility for government building projects.

Foster and Partners

Foster and Partners

Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,800 employees in 16 locations worldwide.

Source: "HM Treasury", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 22nd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Treasury.

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References
  1. ^ "HMT workforce management information: February 2015". GOV.UK. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  2. ^ Budget 2011 (PDF). London: HM Treasury. 2011. p. 48. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  3. ^ Her Majesty's Treasury. devex.com. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  4. ^ Rosenbaum, Martin. "BBC - Open Secrets: How big is the Coins database?". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  5. ^ Hollister, C. Warren (1978). "The Origins of the English Treasury". The English Historical Review. 93 (367): 262–275. doi:10.1093/ehr/XCIII.CCCLXVII.262. JSTOR 567061.; Open Domesday Retrieved 2012-06-25; HM Treasury:History
  6. ^ D C Douglas - William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England University of California Press, 1 May 1967 ISBN 0520003500 Retrieved 2012-06-25
  7. ^ W Lowndes and D M Gill - The Treasury, 1660-1714 Vol. 46, No. 184 (Oct., 1931) Retrieved 2012-06-25
  8. ^ Samuel Pepys (R Latham) - The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F.R.S. From 1659 to 1669 with Memoir, Echo Library, 30 May 2006 ISBN 1847028926 sourced - "Downing, George (1623?-1684)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. p. 400.; Secondary - [1] from Cambridge Dictionaries
  9. ^ (Baron) T B Macaulay - History of England, Volume 1 CUP Archive, 18 January 2012 Retrieved 2012-06-25
  10. ^ "New Permanent Secretary Treasury Team Announced". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  11. ^ H M Treasury, Managing Public Money, last updated 3 June 2021, accessed 19 December 2021
  12. ^ a b H M Treasury, The Green Book: Central Government Guidance on appraisal and evaluation, current version dated 2020, accessed 19 December 2021
  13. ^ H M Treasury, Managing Public Money, Annex 4.6: Procurement], p. 94, accessed 3 January 2022
  14. ^ Trevor R Howard. "Treasury notes". Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
  15. ^ a b c HM Treasury: About GOGGS
  16. ^ "Lend Lease - Commercial Office". Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
External links

Coordinates: 51°30′06.1″N 0°07′40.3″W / 51.501694°N 0.127861°W / 51.501694; -0.127861

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