The OBR’s non-executive members commissioned Laura van Geest, former head of the Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) to lead the third external review of the work of the OBR in May 2024. The review concludes that “Over the last five years, the OBR has successfully navigated a series of unprecedented economic and fiscal challenges” and “that it emerges stronger from the period”. It also highlights that since our last external review in 2020, “it has worked to broaden and deepen its credibility with partner institutions, academics, and across different parts of the economic, fiscal and political landscape.”
The report’s findings and recommendations provide a valuable roadmap for the work of the OBR over the next five years. Laura van Geest and her team recommended that the OBR should:
- work with government and other actors to take continued steps safeguarding and underpinning its independence;
- commit to a long-term programme of updating, streamlining and sharing more transparently its analytical infrastructure;
- aim to deepen the impact of its communications to more effectively inform the UK fiscal debate.
Richard Hughes, Chair of the OBR, said in a letter to the OBR non-executive members:
“We warmly welcome the findings and recommendations of the Third External Review of the OBR led by Laura van Geest which was published today. Laura brings the expertise and insight that comes from over two decades in the field of economic and fiscal forecasting and policymaking and seven years leading the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), one of the oldest and most respected independent fiscal institutions in the world. The report’s findings and recommendations provide a valuable roadmap for the work of the OBR over the next five years.”