Notice of appointments
8. On 30 January 2008, at the same time as the
Government provided us with its response to our Report on The
Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England: ten years on
and announcements were made about the re-appointment of Mervyn
King as Governor of the Bank of England and of Dr Andrew Sentance
as an 'external' member of the MPC, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
gave further information about future external appointments in
a letter to the Chairman of this Committee. The Chancellor of
the Exchequer stated:
In future, the Treasury will, as far as possible,
publish a timetable for appointment of an external MPC member
before a vacancy becomes available on the [MPC] and announce details
of who it has decided to appoint, in sufficient time to be consistent
with allowing the Treasury Select Committee three months for their
pre-commencement hearings. [8]
He went on to say:
In the event that I judge that reappointing an individual
to serve a further term is in the best interests of the Monetary
Policy Committee, I will aim to announce my intention to do so
in good time before their existing term is due to come to an end.
Re-appointed members will undergo a pre-commencement hearing in
the same manner as new members, ensuring that all members are
subject to regular process of Parliamentary scrutiny.[9]
We welcomed the Chancellor of the Exchequer's commitment
to seek to give three months' notice of such appointments to the
Monetary Policy Committee.[10]
9. Notification of Charlie Bean's re-appointment
was not received by us until 19 June 2008, giving us less than
two weeks to prepare for the appointment hearing. To
maximise the benefit from the holding of appointment hearings,
the Government must give adequate notice of appointments. We have
previously welcomed the Chancellor of the Exchequer's commitment
to give three month's notice of external appointments to the Monetary
Policy Committee and regret that, in the case of the appointment
of the Deputy Governor, less than two weeks was given.
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