HM Treasury

His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury,^[3] is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry.^[4] The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, taxation, state infrastructure, and economic growth.^[5] It is led by the chancellor of the exchequer, currently Rachel Reeves since 5 July 2024. The Treasury's main offices are located in London and Darlington, with additional offices in Edinburgh and Norwich.^[5] It is one of the smallest government departments in terms of staff numbers,^[6] but widely considered the most powerful.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Anglo-Saxon governments were highly skilled in collecting, auditing and managing their cash revenues. However, there is no evidence of a distinct administrative department. Royal treasures were typically kept at Winchester, but the crown's wealth was likely also stored more fluidly.^[11] For example, Edward the Confessor kept some treasure at his palace in Westminster, and was alleged to have intervened as a thief attempted to steal it.^[12]

Following the Norman Conquest, the new government managed to keep the crown solvent despite an enormous expenditure on the invasion. Much of this was achieved by tax receipts.^[14] Officials typically met twice a year, at Easter and Michaelmas, to make judgements about the collection and usage of the royal treasury.^[11] At this time, the Exchequer was more an event than an institution, and was separate from the royal treasury, which stored the royal wealth.^[11]

The name Exchequer came from the chequered cloth that was spread over the counting‐table at these events.^[15] The earliest known usage of this cloth dates to 1175, with pipe rolls recording the purchase of four ells of cloth to be used for the exchequer table.^[16][17]

The earliest known official of the royal treasury, then still separate from the Exchequer events, was Henry the Treasurer, a servant to King William the Conqueror. His role is inferred from a Domesday Book entry that lists Henry "the treasurer" as a landholder in Winchester, where the royal treasury was kept.^[18][19][20]

By the reign of Henry II of England, the Exchequer was a fully-fledged administrative institution based in Westminister.^[21] The royal treasury became part of the Lower Exchequer, whilst the twice yearly meetings formed the Upper Exchequer.^[11]

The highest skill at the Exchequer does not lie in calculations, but in judgments of all kinds.

During the reign of Edward IV, the significance of the Exchequer was undermined, with much of it's administrative and treasury functions being handled personally by the King.^[22] Henry VII, would personally check, sign and draft the accounts of the Crown.^[23]

This situation was later be reversed under the reign of Henry VIII, by Thomas Cromwell. Authority was restored to the Exchequer, and four new government departments were created to handle the state finances. In 1554, these were merged with the Exchequer.^[24]

All Treasurers, if they do good service to their masters, must be generally hated.

Under James I of England, debts mounted and the treasury reserves began to dwindle.^[25] In an attempt to control the spiralling debt, then Treasurer Lionel Cranfield, briefly imposed strict control over spending on the crown. He was later impeached under the guise of corruption.^[26]

When the English Civil War broke out, the Exchequer froze and finance fell to ad hoc Parliamentary and Royal committees. In 1654, Oliver Cromwell re-opened the Exchequer but left its medieval structure intact.^[26] At the 1660 Stuart Restoration a Lord Treasurer resumed charge, but Parliament won a permanent role in the treasury. Thus, by the late 1600s, HM Treasury combined its ancient court-based audit with parliamentary oversight.^[27]

Following the Resoration, Parliament promised the King £1.2m per annum. However, Charles II was unable to extact such funds due to the poor financial state of the country.^[28] Thus, in 1667, without consulting his ministers, Charles decided to put the treasury into commission (placed under the control of several people instead of only one). He wanted the “rougher hands” of younger, more energetic men to wrest control of the country's finances.^[29] It was at this time that Sir George Downing, chosen as Secretary, brought lessons from Dutch finance to England.^[30]

By the early 1670s, the Treasury Commission had imposed strict controls over the King’s spending, reined in rival departments, and centralized customs and excise under government management, even as the Stop of the Exchequer in 1672 tested and ultimately vindicated the new commission. The ultimately led to a stronger treasury.^[31]

By the 18th century, the British state had developed a sizeable work force, employing around 17,000 civil servants, most of which worked in revenue collecting.^[32] Although the treasury was able to exert some influence over the Commons, by way of offering top jobs, it ultimately had little influence over the functioning of the state. As the 1st Duke of Newcastle put it: ‘It is Your Majesty’s own Money; You may do with it what you please.’^[33]

Although the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland had been united by the Acts of Union 1800, the exchequers of the two kingdoms were not consolidated until 1817 under the Consolidated Fund Act 1816 (56 Geo. 3. c. 98).^[34][35] For the holders of the Irish office before this date, see Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland.

As of 14 January 2025,^[36] the Treasury Ministers are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold:

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.

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.

From October 2022, the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury is James Bowler and there are two Second Permanent Secretaries: Catherine Little and Beth Russell.^[37] The previous Permanent Secretary, Sir Tom Scholar, was sacked by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and Prime Minister Liz Truss shortly after they took office.^[38]

The Treasury publishes cross-government guidance including Managing Public Money^[39] and The Green Book: Central Government Guidance on appraisal and evaluation, current version dated 2020.^[40] Managing Public Money includes a definition of "value for money" and sets out the responsibilities of an Accounting Officer within central government:

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.^[41]

The responsibilities of an Accounting Officer [include] responsibility for the propriety and regularity of the public finances for which the Accounting Officer is answerable, for keeping proper records and for safeguarding the department’s assets.^[42]

The Treasury appoints the permanent head of each central government department to be its Accounting Officer.^[43]

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.^[40]: 19

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 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.^[44]

• Government Internal Audit Agency
• UK Debt Management Office, reporting to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, is responsible for government borrowing operations.

• HM Revenue & Customs, a non-ministerial government department for which the responsible minister is the Exchequer Secretary
  • Valuation Office Agency, an executive agency of HM Revenue and Customs
• National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, a body reporting to HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office
• National Savings and Investments, a Treasury-owned savings bank
• Office for Budget Responsibility, a non-departmental public body of HM Treasury
• UK Government Investments, a Treasury-owned holding company
  • National Wealth Fund, a Treasury-owned fund
  • Reclaim Fund, a Treasury-owned company operating the Dormant Assets Scheme
  • Royal Mint, a Treasury-owned coinage company

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.^[45] Construction took place in two phases. The West end was completed in 1908 and the East end was completed in 1917.^[45] 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.^[45] 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.^[46]

• Budget of the United Kingdom
• Economy of the United Kingdom
• List of lords commissioners of the Treasury
• List of lord high treasurers of England and Great Britain
• Lord High Treasurer

• Official website
• HM Treasury's channel on YouTube

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