The chair of the UK's independent fiscal watchdog has resigned following a damning report into the accidental early publication of Chancellor Rachel Reeves's budget.
Chair Takes 'Full Responsibility' for Serious Error
Richard Hughes, the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), stepped down on Monday. His resignation came after the findings of an urgent inquiry into how the watchdog inadvertently published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) 40 minutes before the official budget statement on 26 November.
In letters to Chancellor Reeves and Meg Hillier, the Labour chair of the Treasury select committee, Hughes stated he took "full responsibility" for the shortcomings identified. He described the incident as a "technical but serious error" that undermined confidence in the OBR's vital role.
"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," Hughes wrote.
Report Uncovers 'Worst Failure' in OBR History
The investigation, assisted by former National Cyber Security Centre chief Ciaran Martin and overseen by independent board members Sarah Hogg and Dame Susan Rice, was scathing. It labelled the leak "the worst failure in the 15-year history of the OBR" and heavily criticised its processes for safeguarding sensitive data.
The report revealed the OBR had uploaded the budget documents to a link on its WordPress publishing system, believing it to be private. However, due to a specific add-on, the link was live and accessible without the organisation's knowledge.
More alarmingly, the inquiry found this was not an isolated event. Evidence suggested the March 2025 EFO was also accessed prematurely on one previous occasion, though no activity resulted from that access.
Political Fallout and Broader Budget Chaos
The OBR's error is seen as part of a series of events that made the build-up to this budget unusually chaotic. The Conservatives have seized on the incident, calling for Reeves herself to resign over pre-budget briefings from her advisers that allegedly misrepresented the OBR's forecasts.
In the Commons, Treasury Chief Secretary James Murray expressed concern that someone had tried to access the documents multiple times before the official release. "This unfortunately leads us to consider whether the reason they tried to persistently access the EFO is because they have been successful at a previous fiscal event," he stated.
While Treasury ministers thanked Hughes for his service, they notably did not express regret over his departure. Meg Hillier commended his decision to take responsibility and wished him well. Hughes's exit follows reassurances from Reeves just days earlier, when she told the Guardian she had confidence in him.
