Why are there two Ways and Means accounts

Gwrthodwyd y cais gan HM Treasury.

Dear Her Majesty's Treasury,

It is well known that HMT holds the Ways and Means account, commonly referred to as an overdraft facility, with the Bank of England. This liability is held on the National Loans Fund and is therefore clearly within the purview of HMT.

It appears that there are not one, but two, Ways and Means accounts, however. For example, the Debt Management Office Annual Review 2008-09 (https://dmo.gov.uk/media/17019/gar1920.pdf), when referring to the possiblity of using the Ways and Means account to accommodate late end-of-day swings, states "This account deals with overnight balances and is distinct from the Ways and Means facility referred to on page 14 (which is currently frozen at £0.37 billion)."

Moreover, the DMO Annual Review 2019-20 (https://dmo.gov.uk/media/17019/gar1920.pdf) uses the name " the government Ways and Means (II) account at the Bank of England" in the context. Note the use of the qualifier "(II)".

I therefore have the following questions:

1. When was the Ways and Means (II) account established?

2. Why was the Ways and Means (II) account established?

3. What is the difference between the Ways and Means (II) account and the 'original' Ways and Means (I?) account in terms of its scope of use, functions, and terms of reference?

4. Does the Ways and Means (II) account form part of the Ways and Means liability that is described on the National Loans Fund balance sheet, or is it a liability of the DMA ? If the answer is neither, please indicate which Exchequer entity holds the liability for the account.

5. Does the Ways and Means (II) account sit as an asset on the balance sheet of the Issue or Banking department of the Bank of England?

6. Is the Ways and Means (II) account covered by the exemptions that the Ways and Means account had/has from prohibitions on central bank lending to governments as expressed in previous Earopean treaties and now expressed in UK law (e.g. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2019...

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Berkeley

FOI Requests, HM Treasury

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Our ref: FOI2021/02623

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FOI Requests, HM Treasury

1 Atodiad

Dear Mr Berkeley

 

Please find attached a letter in response to your Freedom of Information
request.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Unit | HM Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A
2HQ   [1]www.gov.uk/hm-treasury

 

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Dear Her Majesty's Treasury,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Her Majesty's Treasury's handling of my FOI request 'Why are there two Ways and Means accounts'.

In the response provided it is claimed that several of my questions are already in the public domain. It nevertheless links to several articles, implying they include such public domain information. In relation to my questions 1, 2, 3 and 5 no such asnwers are provided in the linked articles, which I was already familiar with.

For example, in question 4 it was confirmed that the Ways and Means (II) account is a liaiblity of the DMA. However, for question 5 a link to the Bank of England's Annual Report and Accounts was made with a citation of page 156. This citation refers to the "Ways and Means advance to the National Loans Fund" and therefore is therefore explicitly not an answer to whether the Ways and Means (II) [advance to the DMA] is on the Issue Department's balance sheet. Similarly, the questions of when and why the Ways and Means (II) account was established is not answered by the links provided and not in the public domain as far as I can tell.

Of the 4 other links provided, only 1 references the Ways and Means (II) account. The others appear to be referencing the Ways and Means account on the National Loans Fund or at least some more general notion of the Ways and Means facilities. They do not address the questions asked.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/w...

Yours faithfully,

Andrew Berkeley

FOI Requests, HM Treasury

Dear Mr Berkeley

Thank you for your email regarding your request for an internal review.

I can confirm that your review request was received on 16 February and is
receiving attention under our reference IR2021/06120.

There is no statutory deadline for responding to internal review requests.

However, in line with the Information Commissioner’s guidelines and the
2018 FOI Code of Practice, we aim to complete  internal reviews within 20
working days.

Yours sincerely

Information Rights Unit | Correspondence and Information Rights | HM
Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ  
[1]www.gov.uk/hm-treasury

dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

FOI Requests, HM Treasury

1 Atodiad

Dear Mr Berkeley

 

Please find attached HM Treasury’s Internal Review response.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Information Rights Unit | Correspondence and Information Rights Team | HM
Treasury, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A
2HQ | [1]www.gov.uk/hm-treasury 

 

 

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