Catalogue description Accounts and Ledgers

Details of Division within T
Reference: Division within T
Title: Accounts and Ledgers
Description:

This group holds series of accounts and ledger books from the early eighteenth century and the records of the Treasury Officer of Accounts from 1872. They relate to Treasury responsibility for maintaining national and departmental accounts of revenue and expenditure, as well as maintaining accounts of specific programmes and loans.

General yearly, quarterly, and departmental accounts, records of daily transactions on the exchequer account at the Bank of England and transactions associated with various votes, funds and accounts from the late seventeenth century to the mid twentieth century are in T 30-T 39 and T 201. Sheriff's Bills of Craving are in T 207. Various registers of receipts, ledgers and cash books are in T 239, T 240, T 256-T 259 and T 282. British Government Foreign Accounts are in T 252, and weekly returns of currency are in T 254.

The records of the Accounts branch are in T 276 and T 285, while those of the Treasury Officer of Accounts are in T 292 and T 332. Papers relating to the conversion of the 1917 5% war loan are in T 212. Records relating to the Coinage Acts of 1946 are in T 264. Accounts of the Transvaal 3% guaranteed loan are in T 286. Registers of Sheriffs' fines are in T 280. Files of the Excess Profits Tax Refunds Advisory Panel are in T 309. Currency notes redemption accounts are in T 284.

Account books of interest free loans made to cover the costs of he the Second World War are in T 283 and ledgers recording American Aid are in T 287.
Date: 1866-1978
Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record(s)
Language: English
Creator:

Treasury, Accounts Branch, 1870-

Treasury, Revenue Department, 1782-1919

Treasury, Treasury Officer of Accounts, 1872-
Administrative / biographical background:

By the eighteenth century there was a distinct and specialised group of three clerks drawing up the revenue accounts. This group became known as the Revenue Department. In 1834 it became one of the five divisions carrying out the work of the Treasury and a full part of the permanent establishment.

In the course of the nineteenth century the various government audit offices were progressively amalgamated; in 1865 the then Chairman of the Board of Audit had been made Comptroller of the Exchequer, and by the 1867 Exchequer and Audit Act the establishments and functions of the two offices were merged. The modern era of management of the Government's income and expenditure accounts begins around this time. The Accounts Branch of the Treasury was set up around 1870 dealing with the routine preparation of accounts and from 1872 the Treasury Officer of Accounts gave assistance to other government departments in the production of accounts. From 1948 to 1986 the branch was split into two sections, the Exchequer Section and the Grants Section controlled by the Accountant and Deputy Accountant respectively. The two sections were later amalgamated.

The Exchequer Section was responsible for accounting and statistical work in connection with Exchequer transactions and the National Debt. The Grants Section dealt with estimates for which the Treasury was responsible, as well as keeping the accounts for various funds, including the Treasury Chest Fund, the Civil Contingencies Fund and the Exchange Equalisation Fund.

The Issue Department of the Bank of England was created under s 1 of the Bank Charter Act 1844 (7&8 Vict c32) and controlled the issue of bank notes. The Issue Department sent accounts of transactions to the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes (later the Board of Inland revenue) under the 1844 Act.

The account was used for the redemption of English currency notes in circulation and which were governed by the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo v c14) and the Currency and Bank Notes (Amendment) Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo V, c72). Under s 5(1) of the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 (18 & 19 Geo V, c13) all the assets of the Currency Note Redemption account, except government securities, were transferred to the Bank of England Issue Department. However, government securities, which with other assets transferred represented the total amount of currency notes transferred, were also transferred to the Bank of England Issue Department under s 5(1) of the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928.

The Bank of England was required under s 3(3) of the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 to provide Treasury with information about transactions involving non-governmental securities held in the Issue Department, except for those transactions covered by s 5 of the Bank of England Act 1819 (59 Geo III, c76).

The Currency and Bank Notes Act 1939 provided for the assets in the Issue Department to be valued on the day of the introduction of the Act and once a week thereafter and s 9(1) of the National Loans Act 1968 provided that the profits of the Issue Department were to be passed to the National Loans Fund. The National Loans Act 1968 also provided for the assets in the Issue Department to be valued at times as agreed between the Treasury and the Bank of England, but at least once every financial year.

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