Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any department, executive agency or non-departmental public body has a banking arrangement with the Co-operative Bank.

Treasury policy is to hold Exchequer funds safe and secure at the Bank of England and to minimise balances held with commercial banks. The Treasury has been working with departments in recent years to minimise balances held in commercial accounts.

Government Departments and most public bodies bank with the Government Banking Service, which is a directorate within HM Revenue and Customs. GBS is a shared service which manages contracts and supports banking services to Government departments using cost-efficient and modern commercial banking platforms. The balances held by the Government Banking Service are utilised to reduce the Government's daily borrowing requirement and in turn its financing costs.

In the rare circumstance where banking is required outside of the contract then the Department concerned must seek Treasury approval to open separate commercial accounts. This will normally be when third party-funds are being managed or the banking service requirement is complex. The Treasury provides an annual update to the Public Accounts Committee on monies held outside the Exchequer / Government Banking Service. The most recent update was published on 13th January 2014 and can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270747/36048_Cm_8774.pdf

From the information provided by departments we can confirm that the Forestry Commission and National Forest Company have a banking relationship with the Co-operative Bank.