Appointment to the Court of Directors, Bank of England

The Queen been pleased to approve the appointment to the Court of Directors of:

Paul Myners, Chairman, Marks and Spencer; and
Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group Plc

Welcoming the appointments, Chancellor Gordon Brown said:

“I am delighted that two of our leading business figures have agreed to bring their considerable skills and experience to the Bank’s Court. I am confident they will make an outstanding contribution and help further strengthen the effectiveness of one of the nation’s most important institutions”.

These appointments are for a three year period effective from 1 June 2005. They are being made in place of Kathleen O’Donovan and Brigid Blow, who are leaving the Court after serving two full terms. This is in line with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Notes for editors

1. All appointments have been made following an open competition, in accordance with the guidance issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

2. All non-executive directors to the Court of the Bank of England are appointed in a personal capacity and do not serve as representatives of particular interests or associations. They currently receive a remuneration of £5,000 per year.

3. The membership of the Court at present is: Mervyn King, Sir Andrew Large, Rachel Lomax, Sir John Parker, Bridget Blow, Callum McCarthy, Mary Francis, Sir Graham Hall, Amelia Fawcett, Brendan Barber, Sir Brian Moffat, Sir William Morris, Peter Jay, Sir Andrew Likierman, Dr David Potter, Heather Rabbatts, Kathleen O’Donovan, Geoffrey Wilkinson and Laurel Powers-Freeling. Further details can be found on the Bank of England website.

4. Two directors are stepping down after two terms, in line with the guidance from the Commissioner for Public Appointments. They are Kathleen O’Donovan and Brigid Blow.

5. The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. It is governed by a board of directors known as the Court of Directors, which oversees the operations of the Bank, except its monetary policy decision-making, which is the responsibility of the separately appointed Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

6. The Court of Directors has a key role in reviewing the procedures of the Monetary Policy Committee and managing the affairs of the Bank of England, other than the formulation of monetary policy.

7. The Bank of England Act 1998 gives the non-executive directors an explicit role in overseeing and reporting on the Bank's performance. The Act created a sub-committee of directors (NedCo) with statutory responsibilities for reviewing the Bank's performance in relation to its objectives and strategy, and monitoring the extent to which the Bank's financial management objectives are met. NedCo is also responsible for reviewing the procedures of the MPC. All of the non-executive directors are members of this committee, and one of their number, is designated by the Chancellor to chair it. The current chair Sir John Parker.

8. Neither of the appointees announced today have conducted any recorded political activity within the last five years.

9. Advertisements for these positions appeared in national newspapers, consistent with the guidance from the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

10. Media enquiries should be addressed to Will Straw at the Treasury press office on 020 7270 4420.

11. Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558 or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk.

12. This press release and other Treasury publications and information are available on the Treasury website at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk. If you would like Treasury press releases to be sent to you automatically by e-mail you can subscribe to this service from the press release site on the website.