Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will establish an independent body to verify the accuracy of forecasts made by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The OBR is required by legislation to publish an evaluation of its forecasts against outturn data each year, and in 2023 also published a working paper assessing its historic forecast performance since it was established. The paper showed that its GDP growth and borrowing forecasts were comparable to external forecasters, and more accurate than previous Treasury forecasts.

The OBR is reviewed externally every five years.