Public Spending: Inheritance

Debate between Leigh Ingham and Rachel Reeves

Monday 29th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Reeves]

I have done more in three and a half weeks to get a grip of our public finances than the previous Government did in 14 years. I have worked these last three and a half weeks to get a grip of the public finances and to understand the true extent and scale of the challenge. We have pulled this together over the last three weeks, and at the weekend we were able to produce the document showing the £22 billion gap between what the previous Government were spending and what they had budgeted for.

[Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)]

It is clear now that even the OBR, whose express purpose is to provide independent analysis of the public finances, was simply not told about the black hole in Conservative spending plans. What will the Chancellor do differently to ensure that we never end up in such a position again?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. In the letter that the Office for Budget Responsibility published this afternoon, the Chair said,

“I welcome the important actions announced today by HM Treasury to improve the transparency and credibility of their institutional arrangements for forecasting, planning, and controlling DEL.”

That is really important. By taking these actions, we will ensure that never again can any Government do what the Conservative party did: cause a £22 billion black hole in our public finances.