About the Treasury Committee

The remit of the Treasury Committee, as determined by the House of Commons, is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs, and associated public bodies, including the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority.

The Chairman of the Committee is Mr John McFall MP, and the Chairman of the Sub-committee is Mr Michael Fallon MP.  The membership of the main Committee and the Sub-committee is the same.

The Treasury Committee is one of the seventeen Select Committees related to Government Departments, established by the House of Commons under Standing Order No. 152.  Its
terms of reference are to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Treasury, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and associated public bodies.  Its remit therefore also covers the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority, and financial and economic subjects generally.

Within its terms of reference, the Committee chooses its own subjects of inquiry.  Depending on the subject, external deadlines, and the amount of oral evidence the Committee decides to take, an inquiry may last for several months and give rise to a report to the House; other inquiries may simply consist of a single day’s oral evidence which the Committee may publish without making a report.

When the Committee has chosen an inquiry it normally issues a press notice outlining the main themes of inquiry and inviting interested parties to submit written evidence.  It may also
identify possible witnesses and issue specific invitations to them to submit written evidence.

The House has given the Committee the power to send for “persons, papers and records”.  It therefore has powers to insist upon the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers and other material.  These formal powers are rarely used.

The Treasury Committee was known as the Treasury and Civil Service Committee from 1979 to 1995, when the 1994-95 session ended.  Civil service matters are now dealt with by the
Public Administration Committee.