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Public Works Loan Board
The Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) (Welsh: Bwrdd Benthyciadau Gwaith Cyhoeddus) was a statutory body of the UK Government that provided loans to public bodies from the National Loans Fund. In 2020, the PWLB was abolished as a statutory organisation, and its functions were allocated to HM Treasury, where they are discharged through the UK Debt Management Office. The members of the PWLB were known as the Public Works Loan Commissioners.
Originally known as Exchequer Loan Commissioners, the Public Works Loan Commissioners were first appointed as an ad-hoc body in 1793 to alleviate commercial distress resulting from the trade recession which followed the French Revolutionary Wars.
In 1817 another single purpose body of commissioners, known as Exchequer Bill Commissioners, were appointed to provide relief following the Napoleonic Wars. They were to receive "no fee, reward or emolument or gratuity whatever" and their task was to consider applications in respect of any works of a public nature which might aid employment. In subsequent years, instead of appointing further bodies of commissioners, Parliament prescribed additional purposes for lending for the existing Exchequer Bill Commissioners thus creating the continuous office of the commissioners which survived until 2020. Over the subsequent 50 years a considerable number of public projects were financed by loans advanced by the Exchequer Bill Commissioners, including, in 1826, £400,000 for improvements to Charing Cross and the Strand which involved the formation of Trafalgar Square. In 1832, £250,000 was used for the construction of the Rotherhithe Tunnel under the River Thames and, in 1846, £200,000 for the establishment of Battersea Park.
The next major landmark was the Public Works Loans Act 1875 which created the Public Works Loan Commissioners and replaced the Exchequer Bill Commissioners. The purpose of the Public Works Loan Commissioners was different from that of the Exchequer Bills Commission and the Exchequer Loan Commissioners as it was not focused on relieving commercial distress, but rather on providing funding to specific bodies for certain categories of expenditure. The Public Works Loans Act 1875, together with the National Loans Act 1968, became the prime statutory basis for the constitution, duties and operations of the Public Works Loan Commissioners. The Public Works Loans Act 1875 introduced a requirement that the Public Works Loan Commissioners make an annual report to Parliament.
In 1887 the method of funding lending by the Public Works Loan Commissioners was changed as it had become increasingly difficult to estimate the amount of loan applications. A Local Loans Fund was created pursuant to the National Debt and Local Loans Stock Act 1887, which was financed by the issue of Local Loans Stock, borrowings on the security of bonds, temporary borrowing and repayments of loans made. Pursuant to the terms of the Public Works Loans Act 1887, funds raised under the National Debt and Local Loans Stock Act 1887 were used to fund lending by the Public Works Loan Commissioners. In 1897 the responsibility for fixing the interest rates provided by the Public Works Loan Commissioners became vested in the Treasury, as is still the case today.
By the end of the First World War the foundations of the present local government structure were firmly in place and substantial funding was required for extensive development programmes of local authorities, particularly for housing and town planning; in 1921-22 nearly £49 million was lent for housing alone. By 1939 total lending by the Public Works Loan Commissioners had reached almost £600 million.
Towards the end of the Second World War, the Treasury issued a memorandum to local authorities which referred to the heavy demands on the money market that would be made after the end of the hostilities. It was proposed that local authorities should borrow for their capital development programmes through the government who would themselves raise money as part of their general borrowing programme. The rates of interest on loans to local authorities would be determined by the government’s own credit and the advances would be made by the Public Works Loan Commissioners.
In 1963, a government white paper, noting the increased reliance of local authorities on temporary borrowing, proposed greater access to funding from the Public Works Loan Commissioners in return for a limitation on temporary debt under a quota system.
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Public Works Loan Board
The Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) (Welsh: Bwrdd Benthyciadau Gwaith Cyhoeddus) was a statutory body of the UK Government that provided loans to public bodies from the National Loans Fund. In 2020, the PWLB was abolished as a statutory organisation, and its functions were allocated to HM Treasury, where they are discharged through the UK Debt Management Office. The members of the PWLB were known as the Public Works Loan Commissioners.
Originally known as Exchequer Loan Commissioners, the Public Works Loan Commissioners were first appointed as an ad-hoc body in 1793 to alleviate commercial distress resulting from the trade recession which followed the French Revolutionary Wars.
In 1817 another single purpose body of commissioners, known as Exchequer Bill Commissioners, were appointed to provide relief following the Napoleonic Wars. They were to receive "no fee, reward or emolument or gratuity whatever" and their task was to consider applications in respect of any works of a public nature which might aid employment. In subsequent years, instead of appointing further bodies of commissioners, Parliament prescribed additional purposes for lending for the existing Exchequer Bill Commissioners thus creating the continuous office of the commissioners which survived until 2020. Over the subsequent 50 years a considerable number of public projects were financed by loans advanced by the Exchequer Bill Commissioners, including, in 1826, £400,000 for improvements to Charing Cross and the Strand which involved the formation of Trafalgar Square. In 1832, £250,000 was used for the construction of the Rotherhithe Tunnel under the River Thames and, in 1846, £200,000 for the establishment of Battersea Park.
The next major landmark was the Public Works Loans Act 1875 which created the Public Works Loan Commissioners and replaced the Exchequer Bill Commissioners. The purpose of the Public Works Loan Commissioners was different from that of the Exchequer Bills Commission and the Exchequer Loan Commissioners as it was not focused on relieving commercial distress, but rather on providing funding to specific bodies for certain categories of expenditure. The Public Works Loans Act 1875, together with the National Loans Act 1968, became the prime statutory basis for the constitution, duties and operations of the Public Works Loan Commissioners. The Public Works Loans Act 1875 introduced a requirement that the Public Works Loan Commissioners make an annual report to Parliament.
In 1887 the method of funding lending by the Public Works Loan Commissioners was changed as it had become increasingly difficult to estimate the amount of loan applications. A Local Loans Fund was created pursuant to the National Debt and Local Loans Stock Act 1887, which was financed by the issue of Local Loans Stock, borrowings on the security of bonds, temporary borrowing and repayments of loans made. Pursuant to the terms of the Public Works Loans Act 1887, funds raised under the National Debt and Local Loans Stock Act 1887 were used to fund lending by the Public Works Loan Commissioners. In 1897 the responsibility for fixing the interest rates provided by the Public Works Loan Commissioners became vested in the Treasury, as is still the case today.
By the end of the First World War the foundations of the present local government structure were firmly in place and substantial funding was required for extensive development programmes of local authorities, particularly for housing and town planning; in 1921-22 nearly £49 million was lent for housing alone. By 1939 total lending by the Public Works Loan Commissioners had reached almost £600 million.
Towards the end of the Second World War, the Treasury issued a memorandum to local authorities which referred to the heavy demands on the money market that would be made after the end of the hostilities. It was proposed that local authorities should borrow for their capital development programmes through the government who would themselves raise money as part of their general borrowing programme. The rates of interest on loans to local authorities would be determined by the government’s own credit and the advances would be made by the Public Works Loan Commissioners.
In 1963, a government white paper, noting the increased reliance of local authorities on temporary borrowing, proposed greater access to funding from the Public Works Loan Commissioners in return for a limitation on temporary debt under a quota system.