Other news

Economic and fiscal outlook July 2015

Our latest economic and fiscal forecast shows how the new Government has used its first Budget to loosen significantly the impending squeeze on public services spending that had been pencilled in by the Coalition in March. This is being financed by welfare cuts, net tax increases and three years of higher government borrowing. The Government has delayed…

Lord Burns re-appointment

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that Lord Burns has been re-appointed as a non-executive member of the OBR. Read the HM Treasury press release here

Policy costings document July 2015

July 2015 All policy costings presented to the Office for Budget Responsibility at Summer Budget 2015 were scrutinised and all-but-one were certified as reasonable, central estimates. All were included in our forecasts. The Government’s Summer Budget 2015 document briefly describes the methodologies underpinning these costings. In our July 2015 Economic and fiscal outlook we have published an assessment on the level of uncertainty associated…

Fiscal sustainability report 2015

Our fifth Fiscal sustainability report shows that further tax increases or spending cuts are likely to be needed after the current fiscal consolidation to help meet the costs of an ageing population. The full report and accompanying documents can be found on the main FSR page.

Welfare trends report 2015

Our second Welfare trends report looks back at how our conclusions from last year’s report informed our most recent forecast for welfare spending. We also draw on international data to compare total spending allocated to social protection in the UK to that in other countries. Access the full report and accompanying documents.

Summer Budget and Economic and fiscal outlook

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that there will be a Summer Budget on Wednesday 8 July 2015. We will publish an updated forecast for the economy and public finances in our Economic and fiscal outlook alongside the statement. Reflecting this change to our usual timetable, we will publish abbreviated editions of our Fiscal sustainability and…

March 2015 Economic and fiscal outlook

The Government’s policy decisions in Budget 2015 have led us to revise down our deficit forecasts, to expect the debt-to-GDP ratio to fall a year earlier and to revise up public spending as a share of GDP in five years’ time. Our forecast implies the Government is on track to meet its new fiscal mandate…

The OBR’s expert advisory panel

The Office for Budget Responsibility established an advisory panel of leading economic and fiscal experts in 2011 to help develop and scrutinise its work programme and methods. The panel reflects our determination to ensure that our work is of the highest analytical quality. Since the establishment of the panel we have held annual meetings in…

Policy costings document March 2015

March 2015 All policy costings presented to the Office for Budget Responsibility at Budget 2015 were scrutinised and certified as reasonable, central estimates were included in our forecasts. The Government’s Budget 2015 document briefly describes the methodologies underpinning these costings. In our March 2015 Economic and fiscal outlook, for the first time we have published an assessment on the…

December 2014 Economic and fiscal outlook

Despite stronger growth, we revised up our estimate of the budget deficit for this financial year in our latest forecast. But the budget is still forecast to be back in balance by 2018-19. The Government is on track to meet its fiscal mandate and the welfare cap, but not its supplementary debt target. The main Economic…

Policy costings document December 2014

December 2014 All policy costings presented to the Office for Budget Responsibility at Autumn Statement 2014 were scrutinised and certified as reasonable, central estimates were included in our forecasts. The Government’s Autumn Statement 2014 policy costings document briefly describes the methodologies underpinning these costings. In our December 2014 Economic and fiscal outlook, for the first time we have published…

Exchange of letters between Vince Cable and Robert Chote

Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and Robert Chote have exchanged letters on the issue of the Government’s total spending assumption for the period from 2016-17 onwards on which the OBR’s economic and fiscal forecasts are based.  

First Welfare trends report published

Our first Welfare trends report looks back at the past three decades of welfare spending and forward to prospects over the coming five years. We consider the key risks to our forecast for welfare spending, both inside and outside the Government’s ‘welfare cap’. Supporting documents can be accessed via the main Welfare trends report page…