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The chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), Richard Hughes, has stepped down following a major error on Budget day when a crucial report was published prematurely. In his resignation letter, Hughes accepted “full responsibility” for the failings uncovered by the OBR’s investigation, which described the incident as the most serious failure in the organisation’s 15-year history.
The early release of the report led to significant disruption for Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who faced accusations of misleading the public about the state of the UK’s public finances. Despite the controversy, Chancellor Reeves received support from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who defended the Budget and expressed pride in its handling. The OBR, responsible for evaluating the health of the UK economy, operates independently but collaborates closely with the Treasury.
According to the OBR’s report, an error in the publication system allowed individuals to access information prematurely, revealing several Budget measures such as a three-year freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds before official announcements. The investigation concluded that the mishap caused “heavy damage” to the OBR’s reputation and was “seriously disruptive” for the Chancellor, though it was unintentional. The leadership of the OBR, ultimately, was held responsible for the circumstances that led to the early access.
In his letter of resignation addressed to both Chancellor Reeves and Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Hughes expressed confidence that the OBR could restore the trust it had previously earned by implementing the investigation’s recommendations. However, he felt that stepping down was necessary to allow the organisation to recover swiftly. Hughes had been expected to testify before the Treasury Select Committee, but Dame Meg Hillier later confirmed his attendance would no longer take place. Chancellor Reeves publicly thanked Hughes for his leadership and long-standing public service.
The political response to the incident highlighted the divisions over responsibility for the Budget’s fallout. While Sir Keir Starmer rejected accusations that the Chancellor misled the public—citing commitments to reduce borrowing which imply raising revenues—Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticized Reeves for deflecting blame onto the OBR, calling the Chair a “human shield.” Economists like Paul Johnson, former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, regarded Hughes’ resignation as unsurprising given the severity of the mistake, though he praised Hughes’ prior performance and leadership.
Hughes had recently begun his second five-year term as OBR chairman, having first assumed the role amid the Covid-19 pandemic in October 2020. Before joining the OBR, Hughes served as director of fiscal policy at the Treasury and spent eight years as the division chief of the International Monetary Fund’s fiscal affairs department.
The investigation into the error was led by Ciaran Martin, former head of the National Cyber Security Centre. The inquiry found no evidence of foreign interference or internal collusion. Instead, the premature publication was linked to vulnerabilities in the OBR’s publishing system. For example, a hidden URL containing the forecasts was accessible for nearly 40 minutes before official release and was accessed multiple times from different devices. Attempts to access the information occurred even earlier that morning.
The report revealed weaknesses stemming from the use of software more suited to small or medium enterprises rather than major market-sensitive documents. Two mistakes in the way safety features were configured on the WordPress publishing platform effectively circumvented intended controls. One involved a plug-in that inadvertently allowed public access without login, while the other related to the directory where the files were stored, permitting direct downloads before publication.
The OBR had been granted an exemption in 2013 from adopting a more secure government publishing platform designed for independent authorities, a decision taken to preserve its autonomy. However, in other areas of IT security, such as secure email, the OBR had aligned with Treasury standards.
Following the report, a Treasury spokesperson acknowledged the OBR’s findings and indicated that a minister would provide an official response in due course
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