Osborne offers MPs veto on picking OBR chief
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Chancellor George Osborne has offered the Treasury select committee the power to veto whoever he appoints as the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Giving evidence to the select committee last week, Osborne said this would be the first time that MPs have been given such powers in a move he hopes will emphasise the independence of the OBR.
The Government is advertising to replace Sir Alan Budd, who is leaving the post after three months.
Select committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said he would consider the offer with other members of the committee but expects it will be received favourably.
Tyrie asked whether Osborne would consider extending the offer to allow the Treasury select committee to sack the OBR head through a vote of no confidence. Osborne said he would consider this but suggested it may undermine the OBR’s independence.
Osborne also announced that the OBR would be moved out of the Treasury.
He revealed to MPs that he did not introduce taper relief on capital gains tax as it would have added a layer of unnecessary complexity and would be open to abuse.
He also pledged that CGT would not be reviewed in the current Parliament.
He said: “I looked at a taper and of course the last but one Chancellor introduced a taper and, to be frank, it was abused. I think, from memory, around 80 per cent of the tax ended up being paid at the taper because people just rolled forward their gains.”
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