OBR Chairman Resigns After Budget Day Publication Blunder, Accountability Questions Arise

The chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), Richard Hughes, has stepped down from his position following a significant error on Budget day that saw a critical document published prematurely. Hughes stated in his resignation letter that he accepts “full responsibility” for the issues identified in the OBR’s internal investigation.

Millenium TV has learned that the investigation concluded the early release of the OBR’s forecasts represented the most serious failure in the organization’s 15-year history. This incident inadvertently confirmed several new government measures, including a three-year freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds, prior to the Chancellor’s official announcement, causing considerable disruption to the Budget proceedings.

The report into the mishap, released on Monday, determined that while the early publication was unintentional, it “inflicted heavy damage on the OBR’s reputation” and significantly inconvenienced the Chancellor. However, it placed “ultimate responsibility” for the circumstances allowing early public access to the report squarely with the OBR’s leadership.

In his letter to the Chancellor and Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Hughes expressed confidence that the OBR could “quickly regain and restore the confidence and esteem” it had earned by implementing the report’s recommendations. He added, “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. I have, therefore, decided it is in the best interest of the OBR for me to resign as its Chair and take full responsibility to the shortcomings identified in the report.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves acknowledged Hughes’ resignation, stating, “I want to thank Richard Hughes for his public service and for leading the Office for Budget Responsibility over the past five years and for his many years of public service.”

Earlier, questions arose regarding whether the Chancellor had misled the public about the nation’s finances. Reports indicated that the OBR had informed the Treasury that higher wages would likely offset a downgrade in productivity, thereby boosting government tax receipts. When asked about this, Sir Keir Starmer maintained that the government’s commitment to cutting borrowing necessitated revenue generation.

Millenium TV understands that Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch commented on the resignation, highlighting that accountability should extend beyond the OBR chairman. Paul Johnson, a former director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, described the incident as “a really bad mistake” but also praised Hughes as a “very effective and very robust” head of the OBR, calling his resignation “a shame.”

The investigation into the early publication, led by Ciaran Martin, former chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, found no evidence of foreign actors, cyber-criminals, or internal connivance. Instead, it identified a “pre-existing weakness” in the OBR’s publication system, noting that the analysis was accessible via a hidden URL and accessed 43 times from 32 devices. The issue was traced to software chosen for the website, deemed more suitable for smaller companies than for publishing critical, market-sensitive data. Two errors in the setup of safeguards on the WordPress platform, including a plug-in bypassing login requirements and an open directory, were found to have enabled the early access.