The Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt (CRND) is a statutory body of the UK Government, whose main function is the investment and management of government funds. The current
Comptroller General
A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...
is Jo Whelan.
History
The CRND was established in 1786 by the
National Debt Reduction Act 1786, and was originally a
non-ministerial government department
Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil s ...
.
The 1786 Act provided that the Commissioners were to be the
Speaker of the House of Commons, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...
, the
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...
, the
Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery and the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
and
deputy governor of the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...
. The
Life Annuities Act 1808 provided that the
Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer (or, in his absence, any of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer) was also to be a Commissioner; the Chief Baron was replaced by the
Lord Chief Justice
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
by the
Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1881. The
Paymaster General
His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP.
History
The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posi ...
replaced the Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery by virtue of the Court of Chancery (Funds) Act 1872, and was in turn replaced by the
Accountant-General of the Supreme Court. The most recent change in composition has been as a result of the
Bank of England Act 1998, which provided for additional deputy governors of the Bank to be Commissioners.
Meetings of the Commissioners were at first held regularly, usually at the home of the Chancellor, but the last recorded business meeting took place on 12 October 1860. The reason for the sudden cessation is unknown, no hint being obtainable from the minutes, but since then the day-to-day decisions have been delegated to the Comptroller General and the Assistant Comptroller, who are civil servants, but are appointed by and act on behalf of the Commissioners. On the comparatively rare occasions when it is necessary for a fundamental policy matter to be put to the Commissioners for a decision, it is referred to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Governor and the Deputy Governors of the Bank of England, who together constitute a quorum and are sometimes referred to as the "active" Commissioners. In practice the only references made to them are when it is necessary to make formal appointments, for example of Attorneys at the Bank of England and of the Comptroller General and the Assistant Comptroller. However, the Commissioners did reconvene recently, at the Chancellor's invitation, on 15 February 2016, on which occasion the DMO's Chief Executive was officially appointed as the
Government Broker, a formal title previously conferred on the senior partner of the stockbrokers
Mullens & Co., up until 1986.
The statutory functions of CRND have been carried out within the
UK Debt Management Office
The UK Debt Management Office (DMO) is the executive agency responsible for debt and cash management for the UK Government, lending to local authorities and managing certain public sector funds.
Purpose
The DMO is responsible for day-to-day man ...
since July 2002.
Operations
The CRND manages the investment portfolios of a number of government and public bodies including
HM Revenue & Customs
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(
National Insurance Fund
The three British National Insurance Funds hold the contributions of the National Insurance Scheme, set up by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1911. It was reformed in 1948 and assumed broadly its current form in 1975, when the separate Na ...
),
National Savings and Investments
National Savings and Investments (NS&I), formerly called the Post Office Savings Bank and National Savings, is a state-owned savings bank in the United Kingdom. It is both a non-ministerial government department and an executive agency of HM Tr ...
(
National Savings Bank Fund),
Her Majesty's Courts Service
Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) was an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and was responsible for the administration of the civil, family and criminal courts in England and Wales.
It was created by the amalgamation of the Mag ...
(Court Funds Investment Account), the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
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and the (
National Lottery Distribution Fund). It also manages some residual operations relating to the
National Debt
A country's gross government debt (also called public debt, or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit oc ...
including donations and bequests and the 3.5 per cent Conversion Loan
Sinking Fund
A sinking fund is a fund established by an economic entity by setting aside revenue over a period of time to fund a future capital expense, or repayment of a long-term debt.
In North America and elsewhere where it is common for public and priva ...
.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
United Kingdom national debt
Organisations based in the City of London
Finance in the United Kingdom
HM Treasury
Public bodies and task forces of the United Kingdom government
1786 establishments in Great Britain