OBR Budget Responsibility Committee to Present 2025 Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report at Live Press Conference

The UK’s independent fiscal watchdog is holding a live streamed press conference to present its updated Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report, with the public invited to watch and submit questions online.

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What’s Being Announced

The Office for Budget Responsibility has confirmed it will present its updated Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report at a live press conference, with the Budget Responsibility Committee leading the session and taking questions from the public and press.

The OBR posted the announcement on its official account, stating the report “will be presented by the BRC, followed by a Q&A session.” Anyone wanting to watch — or put a question directly to the committee — can do so via Slido, the online platform the OBR has used for public participation at previous fiscal events.

On top of that, the press conference is set to begin at 11am.

What the Report Actually Covers

This isn’t a routine update. The Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report is the OBR’s flagship long-term analysis — a statutory requirement that the watchdog must produce at least twice every two years. It examines whether the UK’s current fiscal path is sustainable and identifies the biggest threats to public finances down the line.

The 2025 edition focuses on three major pressure points: climate change, the public sector balance sheet, and the pensions system. Those aren’t abstract concerns. They’re the kinds of structural issues that shape government spending decisions for decades.

And the backdrop is sobering. Rising global interest rates have pushed the UK’s debt interest bill to its highest level since the 1980s. OBR projections suggest that without further policy action, demographic trends and rising health and pension costs could put public debt on a clearly unsustainable upward trajectory over the long run.

The Government’s Position

HM Government has already formally responded to the 2025 report, stating it is “acting now to address long-term sustainability challenges” — chiefly around climate change, pensions, and the public sector balance sheet. The government has also legislated a fiscal lock, requiring that fiscally significant measures be subject to independent OBR assessment.

On investment, the numbers are sizeable. The government says it’s maintaining public investment at its highest level in four decades, backed by an increase in departmental capital spending of over £120 billion across the Parliament. The OBR estimates that if those Autumn Budget 2024 investment plans are sustained, UK GDP would be raised by around 0.4% after ten years and 1.4% in the long run.

But the OBR’s role is to assess, not endorse. Richard Hughes, the OBR’s chair, leads the Budget Responsibility Committee that will present the findings — and the Q&A format means the committee will face direct questions about their conclusions.

Why This Matters Beyond Westminster

National fiscal decisions don’t stay national for long. The risks flagged in the FRS report — rising health and social care costs, climate-related infrastructure pressures, pension system strains — feed directly into the funding settlements that local authorities and NHS bodies depend on.

Kent sits in an interesting position here. Parts of the county are coastal and flood-prone, making climate-related fiscal risks especially relevant when it comes to national decisions about flood defences and climate adaptation spending. The county also has a higher proportion of older residents in some districts, which means demographic pressures on NHS services and adult social care are already a live concern for bodies like NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, Kent County Council, and Medway Council.

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Key Takeaways

• The OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee will present the 2025 Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report live, followed by a public Q&A via Slido
• The report focuses on three long-term pressures: climate change, the public sector balance sheet, and the pensions system — with OBR projections warning of an unsustainable debt trajectory without policy action
• The government has responded by legislating a fiscal lock and committing to over £120 billion in additional departmental capital spending across the Parliament, with OBR estimates suggesting sustained investment could raise GDP by 1.4% in the long run

What This Means for Kent Residents

Kent residents, councillors, and local organisations can watch the OBR press conference live and submit questions directly via Slido — so if you’ve got concerns about how national fiscal risks translate into local services, flood defences, or NHS funding, this is a rare chance to put those questions to the committee itself. The fiscal risks highlighted in the report — climate change costs, demographic pressures, and rising debt servicing — are issues that will shape funding for Kent County Council, Medway Council, and NHS Kent and Medway for years to come. Whether you’re a local business owner trying to plan ahead, a council worker watching departmental budgets, or simply a resident wondering what the long-term picture looks like for public services in the county, the OBR’s findings are worth paying attention to. Search for the OBR press conference online and use the hashtag #OBRFiscalrisks to follow the conversation.