Bank of England attacked by MPs over lack of diversity at senior level

Nicky Morgan has called on the Bank and the Treasury to provide action plans for addressing the issue

A recent appointment to the Bank’s MPC raised controversy (Reuters)

The Treasury Committee has criticised the Bank of England over a lack of diversity in its senior management, weeks after the central bank caused controversy by adding another man to its monetary policy committee.

Imperial College economics professor Jonathan Haskel was appointed to the MPC last month, after a recruitment process in which four of the final five candidates shortlisted for the role were women.

Meanwhile, Bradley Fried was appointed to the chair of the court of the Bank of England, a move that raised concerns after it emerged that Mr Fried’s private equity firm was a major funder of BHS after it was bought by Dominic Chappell. The group collapsed one year into Mr Chappell’s ownership.

MPs said both of these appointments met the Treasury Committee’s requirements of personal independence and professional competence, but added that “concerns about the lack of diversity at the senior levels of the Bank of England persist”.

The committee said it had previously raised concerns about the Bank’s gender diversity following the appointment of Sir Dave Ramsden and Professor Silvana Tenreyro in October last year.

Since then, only three out of 10 public appointments and reappointments to the Bank’s committees have been women.

Committee chair Nicky Morgan MP has written to both the Treasury and Threadneedle Street to request strategies and action plans for addressing diversity.

She said the committee is “prepared to take progress on this matter into account at the next appointment made to any of the Bank of England’s policy committees”.

Ms Morgan said: “Whilst the Committee has approved the appointments of Professor Haskel and Mr Fried, it’s disappointing that the gender balance at the most senior levels of the Bank of England will not be improved.

“With female representation in senior management roles at the Bank decreasing to 29 per cent last year, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Bank will meet its own diversity strategy to have 35 per cent female participation in senior management positions by 2020.”