§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the regulatory functions of the Bank of England; how many staff are employed in each case and at what cost to the Exchequer directly or indirectly; and what consideration has been given to creating executive agencies to do the work or to privatisation.
§ Mr. NelsonThe Bank of England regulatory functions consist of banking supervision and the supervision of the wholesale market. About 300 staff are employed in banking supervision and about 30 more on wholesale market. The costs of these functions are in effect met by the Bank's income from non-interest bearing deposits placed with the Bank by the banking sector. There is no cost to the Exchequer.
A move to create executive agencies would not be appropriate since such agencies are parts of a Government Department, while the Bank of England is a public corporation. There are no plans to privatise these functions.