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.

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.

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 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.

The Public Works Loan Commissioners were asked to take steps to increase their share of lending and in a short time they revamped their lending facilities from being a provider of solely longer-term fixed rate funding which took up to ten days to advance to a wide range which included variable rate loans and one-year minimum periods.

In 2000 the government issued a green paper which suggested replacing the then-existing credit approval system for controlling capital expenditure with a prudential regime to determine affordability.

The framework provided by the Local Government Act 2003 was supplemented and developed through the Prudential Code, which was published by Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIFPA).

[1] Subsequently, new governance arrangements were proposed in a consultation led by HM Treasury in 2016 and the Public Works Loan Commissioner role was formally abolished on 25 February 2020.

This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence: "PWLB lending facility - History of Public Works Loans".