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This Treasury Committee report is an inquiry into the work of the Treasury, focusing in particular on the Treasury in Government as well on the expenditure and administration of the Treasury. Key themes in the report are: the accountability of the treasury to Parliament; recent developments in the control of public expenditure; the involvement of the Treasury in policy making; the management of Treasury staff. The report does not look at the way the Treasury manages the economy or other aspects of the Treasury's work such as its relationship with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority. The report acknowledges that the UK Treasury is one of the world leaders in implementing reforms such as resource accounting and budgeting, the private finance initiative and the Public Service Agreements (PSA). The Committee does not consider that the Treasury should be split into separate economics and finance ministries. Concerns are expressed that the Treasury has begun to exert too much influence over policy areas which are properly the business of other departments. The report recommends that, at the strategic level, the Treasury gives greater attention to ensuring that it gets the balance right in its co-operative workings with other departments. It is important that once expenditure priorities have been set, departments are left with the task a detailed delivery. A large number of other recommendations are made. These include: reviewing the staffing levels; clarifying the incentives and sanctions associated with the PSA system; strengthening the capacity of other departments to help the Government to set priorities and monitor the performance of departments; improving the culture and working conditions.

"On 23 June 2016, the British people will make the most important decision for a generation - whether the United Kingdom (UK) should remain a member of the European Union (EU). This document provides rigorous and objective economic analysis of the long-term impact of remaining a member of the EU compared to the alternatives. The HM Treasury analysis uses a widely adopted gravity modelling approach, which distinguishes the specific effect of EU membership and the alternatives from all the other influences that determine trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). The consequences for productivity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are then estimated based on the most relevant external evidence on the impact of trade and HM Treasury modelling of FDI. Through a range of realistic assumptions, many of them cautious, the HM Treasury analysis produces robust estimates, which are within the range of external studies."--Executive summary.

Dated June 2007. Supplied via TSO's On-Demand Publishing Service

Dated October 2007. The publication is effective from October 2007, when it replaces "Government accounting". Annexes to this document may be viewed at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk