Financial Policy Committee (FPC)
By identifying, monitoring and addressing systemic risks to the resilience of the UK’s financial system, the FPC aims to prevent serious disruptions to the vital functions performed by the financial system, which can disproportionately impact lower income households where individuals with certain protected characteristics, including those of disability, minority ethnic race and female sex, are often overrepresented. Further, while focused on enhancing the stability of the UK financial system, the FPC’s policies are explicitly designed to limit any significant adverse effects on growth of the UK economy. In so doing the FPC supports the provision of sustainable access to finance for individuals (including those with characteristics referred to above) as well as employment across the UK. The FPC continues to have due regard to the PSED when exercising its public functions.
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
The MPC is tasked with setting monetary policy and meeting HM Government’s target of keeping inflation at 2%. The distributional impact of monetary policy is difficult to measure with precision but analysis by staff suggests that the overall effect of monetary policy, including quantitative easing, on standard measures of income and wealth inequality (which have the potential to reflect the position of individuals sharing particular protected characteristics under equality legislation) has been small.
Wholesale cash distribution
An increasing number of individuals and businesses are benefiting from the convenience, security, and speed of digital payments. Conversely, the transactional use of cash has declined, a trend that has been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. In spite of that, cash remains a valued form of money for many in society, including the elderly and those on lower incomes (households in which individuals with certain protected characteristics, including those of ethnic minority race and female sex, can be disproportionately represented), with many using it to budget and manage their household finances. As such, a lack of access to cash can highly impact certain groups who share protected characteristics, including age and disability. HM Government has given us powers to oversee and supervise the wholesale distribution of cash as set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023). We are preparing to exercise our new powers under FSMA 2023 and have to date published our statement of policy, Codes of Practice for market oversight, our approach to enforcement and various public consultations. We continue to have due regard to PSED in the exercise of our public functions under the regime.
Equality objectives
Our objectives in relation to our public sector equality duty referred to above include representation targets that help ensure that we are on the right path, with momentum, towards attracting and retaining a gender and ethnically diverse workforce at all levels and being a minority ethnic employer of choice. We see these targets as contributing to our mission and functions by enabling the development of appropriate policies and practices within the organisation that will encourage decision‑making that better reflects the society we serve.