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<p>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.</p><p>
</p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270747/36048_Cm_8774.pdf"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/270747/36048_Cm_8774.pdf</a></p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>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.</p>
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