Ministers Reflect on the Treasury

With the 2025 budget just days away, this Ministers Reflect report on the Treasury offers candid insights from former Treasury ministers – including four chancellors in Jeremy Hunt, Philip Hammond, Alistair Darling and Ken Clarke – on how the department operates and influences government. 

Drawing on over a decade of interviews with over 150 ministers, the report explores the Treasury’s role and the tensions it creates across Whitehall. Insights focus on:

• the Treasury’s dominance
• tensions with priorities of the centre and other departments
• relationships across government
• expertise and capacity.

The report argues that while the Treasury plays a vital role in safeguarding public finances, reforms are needed. Ministers should: 

• rebalance power at the centre by empowering the prime minister through a new Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• strengthen collaboration across departments, especially during budgets and spending reviews, including by setting ‘priorities for government’ frameworks that incentivise departments to work together
• improve the use of expertise and evidence to inform policy by strengthening handover processes and improving internal knowledge dissemination structures.