Paymaster General
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom. When the post is held by a minister in HM Treasury it ranks third in the Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The longest holder of the post was Dawn Primarolo, whose portfolio consisted of the workings of HM Revenue and Customs, formerly Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise, bureaucratically separate from the Treasury.
The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the positions of Paymaster of the Forces, Treasurer of the Navy, Paymaster and Treasurer of Chelsea Hospital and Treasurer of the Ordnance. From 1848 to 1868, the post was held concurrently with that of Vice-President of the Board of Trade.
The Paymaster General is in charge of the Office of HM Paymaster General, which holds accounts at the Bank of England on behalf of Government departments and selected other public bodies. Funds which are made available from the Consolidated Fund are then channelled into OPG accounts, from where they are used by the relevant body.
OPG operates a full range of accounts and banking transaction services, including cheque and credit, BACS and CHAPS services for its customers via an electronic banking system. Integration of OPG accounts with commercial banks is provided by Xafinity Paymaster.
The incumbent Paymaster General is Tessa Jowell, who is also responsible for the 2012 Olympics and is Minister for London; as she is a Cabinet Office minister, an Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury has also been appointed.
