HC Deb 20 June 1997 vol 296 cc338-9W
Ms Kelly

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if non-voting members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee are entitled to take part in the deliberations of the committee; and if their comments will be minuted; [4576]

(2) how many non-voting members are permitted to attend the Bank of England's monetary policy committee; and what criteria are used in selecting those non-voting members. [4580]

Mrs. Liddell

The Treasury representative is the only non-voting member of the monetary policy committee. The Treasury representative can take part in the discussion, but not in the decision, on interest rates. As is the case with other members, comments made by the Treasury representative will be reflected but not attributed in the minutes.

Ms Kelly

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what priority the Bank of England's monetary policy committee is expected to give to imbalances between the demand and output of(a) different industries, (b) different sectors and (c) different regions of the economy in making its decisions on interest rates. [4637]

Mrs. Liddell

The Chancellor has made it clear that the monetary policy committee will be responsible for taking full account of regional and sectoral information in its monetary policy decisions. The Bank's Court will have particular regard to whether the Bank is collecting such information, and the Court will itself be reformed so that it is representative of the whole of the United Kingdom.