Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the project work on the replacement for the Real Time Gross Settlement System has cost as of 8 December 2021.

The Real-Time Gross Settlement (“RTGS”) service is the infrastructure that holds accounts for banks, building societies and other institutions at the Bank of England (“the Bank”). The balances in these accounts can be used to move money in real time between these account holders, delivering final and risk-free settlement. A programme of work (“the Programme”) has been established by the Bank to deliver a renewed RTGS service.

The Programme consists of around 200 Bank employees, who work on a range of activities, including the technical build of the new system, supporting industry readiness and designing the Bank’s target operating model once the service goes live. This figure also includes all programme overheads, such as colleagues forming a Programme Management Office. Given the Programme is a major financial infrastructure programme, industry participants are also involved in preparing their organisations and relevant systems for the renewed RTGS service. No Treasury officials work directly on the Programme, though the Bank updates the Treasury on the status of the Programme as a key stakeholder.

Given the Programme is only part way through its timeline, it would not be meaningful to provide a specific cost figure for the Programme as of 8 December 2021. The costs of the Programme will be fully recovered from participants via the RTGS tariff, which the Bank is currently reviewing to ensure it will be fit for purpose once the renewed service goes live. Industry will be consulted on the Bank’s proposed approach in Spring 2022, and an accompanying consultation document will include indicative total costs for the Programme.

The indicative timeline for the Programme is publicly available on the Bank’s website. For reference, this can be found at the following location:

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/payment-and-settlement/rtgs-renewal-programme

This indicative timeline is the result of close industry engagement. As would be expected of any major technology programme, the Bank of England continually assess readiness for this timeline and make contingency plans to ensure the stability and resilience of the RTGS service.