Minutes of the Meeting of the Court of Directors held on 17 September 2026.
David Roberts, Chair
Andrew Bailey, Governor
Katharine Braddick, Deputy Governor – Prudential Regulation
Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor – Financial Stability
Clare Lombardelli, Deputy Governor - Monetary Policy
Sir Dave Ramsden, Deputy Governor – Markets & Banking
Jonathan Bewes
Sabine Chalmers
David Craig
Lord Jitesh Gadhia
Dame Anne Glover
Diana Noble
In attendance:
1. Conflicts; Minutes of 16 July 2026; Matters Arising and Twelve-month Forward Planner
There were no conflicts declared in relation to the present agenda.
The Chair welcomed David Craig and Katharine Braddick to their first meetings of Court.
The minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2026 were approved.
2. Governor’s Update
The Governor updated Court on recent developments, including the discussions at Jackson Hole and at the G20 meeting in North Carolina and noted that the UK would inherit the G20 presidency next year.
Following the MPC announcement at 12pm, the Governor was invited to update Court on the MPC’s annual Quantitative Tightening (QT) decision and on the technical discussions with HM Treasury resulting from the decision.
3. Communications Six-Monthly Update
James Bell introduced the item. The focus areas of the Bank’s communication would be targeting younger demographics and ensuring good geographical reach.
Court discussed regional engagement and the importance of awareness of the Bank’s role as central bank of the United Kingdom.
Court discussed approaches to engagement with MPs.
4. COO Update
Sarah John gave an update on Central Services. Sarah noted that, following the Flexibility Review, new requirements around office attendance – with staff required to be in the office 50% of the time – would come into force on 1 October.
Turning to Technology, Sarah John noted that there were older systems, with increasingly high support costs.
Sarah informed Court that the VISTA system for data analysis had gone live, and was now undergoing testing and configuration, this was the first step in ending reliance on the legacy FAME platform for monetary analysis and delivering a key objective of the Monetary Policy Transformation Programme.
5. Chair’s Update
The Chair noted this item had been added following feedback from the Senior Independent Director’s review. The Chair said his focus had been on appointments, both for the non-executive appointments to Court, and preparation for the recruitment process for the Deputy Governor for Markets and Banking, given that Dave Ramsden’s term ends next year.
The Chair noted he had observed that the working relationship between the Bank and HM Treasury staff was strong. Dave Ramsden said that recent operational discussions on the consequences of the MPC’s decision on Quantitative Tightening had demonstrated this.
The Chair added that both he and Katharine Braddick had engaged with Parliamentarians and other key stakeholders on the Financial Services and Markets Bill.
6. Location Strategy Programme
(Vivienne Grafton, Tom Horn and Afua Kyei)
Tom Horn updated Court on the Location Strategy Programme. In response to questions from Directors, Vivienne Grafton outlined the approaches being considered to expedite and manage vetting delays for contractors.
Directors noted the progress toward reaching the target of 500 staff in Leeds by the end of 2027.
Afua Kyei explained that the business case, including the use of the contingency, remained positive. Vivienne Grafton said that the contingency amounts held by the programme had been independently reviewed, with the overall amount of contingency considered acceptable. Court heard that any additional works, for example on the museum, would be considered separately. The Chair said it was critical that the works presented good value for money.
7. Full Staff Survey Results Analysis / 2026 Viewpoint Results
Jo Hill explained that the management response would be embedded in the directorate business plans and objective setting rather than a separate set of Viewpoint initiatives.
The Chair summarised that the results showed there was more communications to do on what the Bank is going to look like in the future and what that means for staff on an individual basis.
8. Unite the Union Presentation
(Isabelle Terrillon-Elezovic and Faisel Choudhry)
Isabelle Terrillon-Elezovic introduced Unite the Union’s annual update to Court and noted the Union’s focus had been on supporting collective processes, workforce support, collective bargaining and changes to Bank policies.
Isabelle Terrillon-Elezovic said that a key concern from some staff had been unclear job profiles following the Mutually Agreed Resignation scheme. Governors noted that the organisational structure was becoming more flexible as a choice, and that the structure had been too rigid previously, but recognised the need to balance embracing this and managing the uncertainty it can create.
The Chair thanked the Union for its work on behalf of Bank staff.
9. New Model of Independently Led Reviews
(Sebastian Walsh, Michael Salib and Alison Pollard)
The Chair introduced the item, noting he had asked the Secretary to develop proposals for a new model for independently led evaluation. Court noted that different formats for independent evaluations had been used previously, but that now Court wished to settle on a preferred methodology based on the learnings from the previous approaches. The Chair said that Court would take future learnings from evaluations under the new model and would continue to look for improvements and refinements to its model for independent evaluation.
Sebastian Walsh said that the proposals set out, in principle, the types of expert individual – ranging from outside academics or practitioners to non-executive members of Court – who might be commissioned to conduct a review depending on subject matter.
The Chair noted that the next NAO review of the Bank would start soon and the IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) was underway, so the forward plan for reviews would avoid overlapping with these reviews’ remits.
Court noted that the IEO’s final report, into FMI, would be published in due course.
10. Committee Appointments and Conflicts
Court noted the paper and discussed future recruitments.
Court agreed the appointment of David Craig to the Audit and Risk Committee.
Court agreed the appointment of Paul Nowak to the Remuneration Committee.
Court agreed the appointment of Hanneke Smits to the Audit and Risk Committee with effect from 1 January 2027.
11. Papers for Information
- Monetary Policy Committee Report
- Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknotes Annual Report
- Approved minutes from Committee meetings since the last meeting of Court on 16 July 2026.
- ARCo minutes from 22 May 2026