OBR head resigns over Budget day publishing error

Описание: The chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has resigned following the Budget day error which saw a key document published early.
Richard Hughes said in his resignation letter he took "full responsibility" for the issues identified in the OBR's investigation into the mistake, which it called the worst failure in the organisation's 15-year history.
This year's Budget has been surrounded by controversy, with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, accused of misleading people over the state of the public finances.
Earlier on Monday Sir Keir Starmer defended the chancellor against such claims and said he was "proud" of the Budget.
The OBR assesses the health of the UK's economy. It is independent of the government but works closely with the Treasury.
The OBR's early publication effectively confirmed a number of new Budget measures - including a three-year freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds - before the chancellor announced them, throwing her Budget into chaos.
On Monday the report into the mishap concluded it had "inflicted heavy damage on the OBR's reputation" and had been "seriously disruptive" to the chancellor, but added that it was inadvertent.
The "ultimate responsibility" for the circumstances which meant people could access the report early lay with the OBR's leadership, the report added.
In a letter sent to both the chancellor and the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, Mr Hughes said he believed the OBR could "quickly regain and restore the confidence and esteem" it had earned by implementing the report's recommendations.
"But I also need to play my part in enabling the organisation that I have loved leading for the past five years to quickly move on from this regrettable incident," he continued.
"I have, therefore, decided it is in the best interest of the OBR for me to resign as its Chair and take full responsibility to the shortcomings identified in the report."
Mr Hughes had been due to face questions from the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday about the Budget and the OBR's economic forecasts, but Dame Meg confirmed that he would no longer attend.
In response to his resignation, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "I want to thank Richard Hughes for his public service and for leading the Office for Budget Responsibility over the past five years and for his many years of public service."
Earlier, Sir Keir denied the chancellor had misled the public, after she gave strong indications in the lead-up to the Budget that she was planning to increase income tax rates, pointing to gloomy forecasts for economic productivity.
But on Friday, the OBR revealed it had told the Treasury earlier that its downgrade to productivity would be offset by higher incomes, which would boost the government's tax receipts.
Asked on Monday whether Reeves had been misleading , Sir Keir said the government had committed to a number of things including cutting borrowing which meant the government "would always have to raise revenue".
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch noted: "Someone has resigned as a result of the Budget chaos... but it isn't Rachel Reeves.
"The chancellor is trying to use the chair of the OBR as her human shield. But I will not let her. Why is it always someone else's fault with Starmer and Reeves?"
Paul Johnson, the former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and provost at Queen's College, Oxford said he was not surprised Mr Hughes had resigned.
"That was a really bad mistake," he told BBC News, but added that Mr Hughes had been a "very effective and very robust" head of the OBR.
"I think it's a shame for Richard Hughes and a shame for the OBR."
Mr Hughes had only recently started his second five-year term as OBR chairman, after being renominated by the chancellor in May. He first took up the job during the Covid pandemic in October 2020.
Prior to that, he had been director of fiscal policy at the Treasury, and earlier he was the division chief of the International M