Select committee chairman questions Treasury's OBR role
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Treasury select committee chairman Andrew Tyrie has questioned how Treasury staff will be able to work with the Office of Budget Responsibility and be independent in their forecasts.
In a select committee hearing with the directorate of the OBR, Conservative MP for Chichester Tyrie asked outgoing OBR chairman Sir Alan Budd if he had concerns over the ability of the 100 Treasury employees who help with the OBR’s forecasts to act independently.
Tyrie said: “How can we give the public confidence that these people are giving honest and independent answers rather than ones that the Treasury or even the Chancellor himself might prefer they give?”
Budd denied that the Treasury would look to sway these staff. He said: “Ministers might not be comfortable with the advice but I cannot imagine they would want the analysts not to give their best advice they can.”
He said that recruiting 100 OBR staff would be a waste of taxpayers’ money as Treasury analysts have inside knowledge of the department and policy-setting which help them perform the role.
Budd said a “hit squad” to oversee the independence of the Treasury employees might be beneficial.
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