Sir Alan Budd looks to rescue the OBR
Sir Alan Budd, the outgoing interim chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), will this week announce a number of changes to the set-up of the watchdog as a last ditch attempt to rescue its reputation begins. Some of the issues which will be proposed are the removal of the OBR from the Treasury building, a reduction in the number of Treasury workers within the OBR as well as the introduction of more external third party experts.
There is no doubt that the reputation of the OBR has been dented somewhat over the last few days with the sudden departure of Sir Alan Budd causing many questions to be asked. The very fact that George Osborne remains adamant he will ultimately choose the next chairman of the OBR is another issue which will come to the fore at some point. After a relatively successful start by the coalition government, and in particular George Osborne and David Cameron, this is by far and away the most challenging issue so far.
If this revamp of the OBR, to be announced tomorrow, is not successful it will literally put the long-term future of the office under threat. Could this bring George Osborne to his knees?
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