The Treasury teams

As a new term of Parliament commences, 14 key parliamentarians are responsible for the UK Government’s fiscal policies and holding ministers to account.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has overall responsibility for public finance and specific responsibility for the Budget and monetary policy.

Chief Secretary Danny Alexander is the only Lib Dem in the Treasury. His remit covers spending reviews and strategic planning, public sector pay and pensions, annually managed expenditure (including welfare), public procurement and capital investment.

The Financial Secretary (Greg Clark) covers the City of London, banking and other financial services. Clark also handles the UK’s policy on the EU budget and international finance issues. David Gauke is the Exchequer Secretary, overseeing the UK’s tax system.

Sajid Javid, the Economic Secretary, deals with the more everyday aspects of Treasury policy e.g. fuel taxes and gift aid. In contrast, the Commercial Secretary (Lord Deighton) is responsible for high level corporate policies such as infrastructure delivery and foreign direct investment.

Labour’s shadow Treasury team is led by Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and comprises four shadow secretaries: Rachel Reeves (Chief), Chris Leslie (Financial), Catherine McKinnell (Exchequer) and Cathy Jamieson (Economic). A shadow Cabinet reshuffle is expected in September.

The Treasury Select Committee is chaired by Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie. The committee has no Northern Ireland members but the DUP and SDLP Treasury spokesmen have a relatively high profile as former finance ministers: Sammy Wilson and Mark Durkan respectively.