Strengthening the Bank of England and ensuring effective action

47.   Chapters 6 and 7 cover the providing of the Bank of England with a statutory role in the area of financial stability, changes to the Bank's governance, and co-ordination among the Authorities and co-ordination internationally.  The BSA believes that these are fundamentally sensible proposals, and supports them.

48.   Specifically regarding communication among the Authorities (Question 7.1, and referred to in paragraph 7.11), the BSA made the following comment to the Treasury Select Committee –

"Communication from the parties to the tripartite agreement appeared disjointed particularly in the early days of the crisis, and added to the sense of confusion. This was perhaps reflective of a lack of emphasis, in the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding, on the importance of effective communication. One of the MoU's four guiding principles is transparency, but under this principle the document refers to the public's understanding of each authority's responsibilities, rather than to how communication takes place in a crisis."

Therefore, we particularly welcome the Authorities' proposals for improving communications.