Page "Monetary Policy Committee" Paragraph 1

Announced on 6 May 1997, only five days after that year's General Election, and officially given operational responsibility for setting interest rates in the Bank of England Act 1998, the Committee was designed to be independent of political interference and thus to add credibility to interest rate decisions.

Each member has one vote, for which they are held to account: full minutes of each meeting are published within two weeks, and members are regularly called before the Treasury Select Committee, as well as speaking to wider audiences at events during the year.