The re-appointment of Mr Paul Tucker
14. Mr Paul Tucker was appointed as Executive Director
of the Bank of England for Markets by the then Governor after
consultation with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with effect
from 1 June 2002. As such, he became a member of the MPC at that
time.[15] His initial
appointment was announced on 4 April 2002 and the then Treasury
Committee took evidence from him about his appointment on 22 May
2002. Although the then Committee sensed "a degree of obscurity
in some of the responses" it received on that occasion from
Mr Tucker and another appointee, it was satisfied that Mr Tucker
fulfilled the Committee's criteria for appointment.[16]
15. On 19 May 2005 Mr Tucker was re-appointed to
the MPC by the Governor of the Bank of England, after consultation
with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for a further three-year
term with effect from 1 June 2005.[17]
16. We took evidence from Mr Tucker on 13 October
2005. This evidence, for which we are most grateful, will be published
shortly, together with his answers to our questionnaire.
17. Given the importance of MPC members being individually
accountable for their votes, we questioned Mr Tucker on the reasons
for his votes at recent MPC meetings and his approach to such
matters as household debt, inflation expectations and oil prices.
In his capacity as Executive Director for Markets we also questioned
him on the progress of reforming the way the Bank operates in
the Sterling money markets. We
are satisfied that Mr Tucker continues to fulfil our criteria
for appointment and wish him every success in his second term
on the MPC.
15 Bank of England Act 1998, section 13(3)(b). Back
16
HC (2001-02) 880-I, paras 5-6. Back
17
Bank of England News Release, 19 May 2005. Back
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