Examination of Witnesses (Questions 177-179)
MS KATE
BARKER, PROFESSOR
DAVID BLANCHFLOWER,
DR ANDREW
SENTANCE AND
PROFESSOR TIM
BESLEY
24 APRIL 2007
Q177 Chairman: Good morning and welcome
to this evidence session on the MPC ten years on. For the shorthand
writer can you introduce yourselves please, starting with Professor
Besley?
Professor Besley: My name is Tim
Besley and I am an External member of the Bank of England Monetary
Policy Committee.
Professor Blanchflower: David
Blanchflower, also an External member of the MPC.
Ms Barker: Kate Barker, External
member of the MPC.
Dr Sentance: Andrew Sentance,
External member of the MPC.
Q178 Chairman: Good morning everyone
and can I start by congratulating Kate on her reappointment as
a MPC member.
Ms Barker: Thank you.
Q179 Chairman: You have our congratulations.
Can I ask you a question as a result of that. How important do
you think the role of the external members of the MPC body has
been, and maybe in particular your contribution?
Ms Barker: Having external members
on the Committee is extremely important because it has been clear
to me in the time I have been on the Committee—and I have
obviously been able to observe a number of other external members—that
a fresh appointment frequently brings some different views and
some different thinking. The other advantage of it is that it
enables the Chancellor to draw on people from a range of backgrounds,
and in particular it enables him to add financial markets experience
to the panel or, of course, business experience. Both Andrew Sentance
and I bring business experience at the moment. In terms of my
own contribution to the panel over the past, I have brought the
business experience that I acquired both at the Ford Motor Company
and indeed of course working for the CBI. In the course of time
I have been on the Committee I have done two reports for the Government
on both housing and planning, the first of which in particular
has enriched my understanding of the housing market. I have been
able to bring quite a lot of that back to the Committee. The other
role which I have tried to play is on communication. I have been
a very assiduous visitor of the regions, talking to business audiences
and engaging business audiences and also wider audiences. I am
always keen to engage wider audiences with an understanding of
what the Committee does.
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