I’ll broaden scope of Treasury committee, says new chairman
NICKY MORGAN has said she wants to focus on the “wider Treasury remit” after her appointment as chairman of the influential Commons Treasury select committee.
Ms Morgan said she planned to concentrate on issues such as household debt and tax policy, rather than limiting the committee to the financial services sector and Brexit. The former education secretary was elected as chairman of the committee earlier this week, becoming the first woman to hold the position.
“The committee has over the past few years very much focused on the financial services sector, banking and the City of London,” she told the BBC yesterday. “We are obviously going to be very interested in the shape of the Brexit negotiations, particularly around the relationship with the single market. But I am also really keen that we should expand into looking at the wider treasury remit – the management of the economy and public spending decisions.
“We have a budget coming up, with issues like household debt, tax policy, investment in infrastructure.
“These are all the things that actually our constituents put us in the House of Commons for, the things that make a difference to household budgets and to their economic security.”
Ms Morgan, the MP for Loughborough since 2010, will replace Andrew Tyrie, the previous chairman, who was renowned as a fierce interrogator. He brought his two decades in Parliament to an end earlier this year when he said he would not seek re-election in June. Also competing for the role, which is seen as one of the most influential backbench positions in Parliament, were Jacob Rees-mogg, Richard Bacon and Stephen Hammond.
The committee is allowed to choose its own subjects of inquiry and is appointed to examine the expenditure and administration of HM Revenue and Customs, the Treasury and associated bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England.