Office for Budget Responsibility (External Review)

George Osborne Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd September 2014 Written Statements

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)]

Today the first external review of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has been published and presented to Parliament. Formally reporting to the OBR non-executives, the review was led by Kevin Page, former Parliamentary Budget Officer in Canada. In commissioning this report, the OBR non-executives meet their legal requirement to ensure an external review is conducted at least every five years.

In its findings, this report overwhelmingly supports the high-quality work and independent analysis produced by the OBR. The review therefore attests to the Government’s creation of the OBR in 2010 which has placed the UK at the forefront of fiscal institutional reform internationally. In giving the OBR a duty to produce official economic and fiscal forecasts, this Government have ensured that for the first time we have a truly independent assessment of the state of the nation’s finances.

The Government welcome the review’s overall findings and recommendations. These aim to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organisation and include the recommendation that,

“caution be exercised in considering any expansion to the OBR’s mandate (e.g. costing certification of opposition manifestos)”.

Alongside the OBR, the Treasury will consider the full recommendations and conclusions of the report in more detail. Building on the analysis and conclusions of this independent report, the Government have already announced their intention to conduct their own review of the OBR at the start of the next Parliament.

The external review report was presented before Parliament earlier today and copies are available in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office. Copies will also be made available to members of the public online.