Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, said the “unsatisfactory” decision was hindering Parliamentary scrutiny of the Bank, which is becoming more powerful under planned reforms to the way the City is regulated, according to the Telegraph.
In response, he has published letters from Sir David Lees, chairman of the Bank’s management board, known as the Court, detailing the Bank’s reasons for withholding the minutes of its meetings.
Sir David, who was appointed in June 2009, said the Court had decided the release of the minutes “would set an unacceptable precedent”.
He said it would hinder frank discussion at meetings and would open up the Court to potential “legal challenge” from investors and savers who had lost money from the collapse of the banks.
Tyrie refused Sir David’s offer to have a “private discussion” about this, and said he was “disappointed” by the Bank’s position and urged it to rethink the decision.
“It is unsatisfactory, to say the least, that the Court should be using the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act as a reason not to provide Parliament with information,” he said.
