The House of Commons Treasury Committee has published a report on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s first 15 years, with OBR Chair Jonathan Haskel welcoming the committee’s support for the watchdog’s independence.
The report, titled “The OBR: 15 years on,” was published on 23 September 2026, concluding a parliamentary inquiry into the role, performance and institutional independence of the body created in 2010 to provide independent analysis of the UK’s public finances. The Treasury Committee has a formal role in scrutinising proposed appointments to the OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee — a relationship that gives its conclusions particular weight.
Jonathan Haskel, who was nominated as OBR Chair by the Chancellor in June 2026 and after that confirmed by the Treasury Committee, said: “We appreciate the Treasury Committee’s support for the OBR’s independence. We are always open to suggestions on how we might improve.” Haskel is a professor of economics at Imperial College London and a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.
The OBR’s own June 2026 forecast evaluation gives some context to why scrutiny of the body matters. Its forecasts underestimated annual real GDP growth at the one-year horizon by an average of 0.4 percentage points, and overestimated growth at the five-year horizon by an average of 0.7 percentage points. Neither figure is dramatic, but they do show the limits of fiscal forecasting over longer periods.
The OBR’s statutory framework was established in 2011, a year after its creation, and its forecasts are used to inform UK Budgets and broader government fiscal policy. The latest economic and fiscal forecast identified in official material was published on 3 March 2026.
Source: @OBR_UK