The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) examines and reports on the sustainability of public finances. It produces detailed forecasts for the economy and public finance. They help hold the government to account by judging its performance against its own fiscal targets. It examines in particular taxation and welfare spending, the trends driving each, and evaluates whether the government’s financial estimates for them are reasonable. It was established by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. This Act sets out the OBR’s overarching duty and gives the OBR discretion in performing its duties, as long as it works objectively, transparently and independently. The Budget Responsibility Act 2024 now requires any fiscally significant measures announced by the government to be accompanied by an independent OBR assessment.
