Sir Robert Chote provides expert insight on UK fiscal framework

Yesterday, Sir Robert Chote, President of Trinity and former head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), gave evidence at the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee for the inquiry into the UK’s fiscal framework.

The Committee’s inquiry, launched in October 2025, aims to assess how effectively the UK’s fiscal framework supports sustainable public finances and government fiscal policy over the long term. It will explore key issues such as how fiscal rules are formulated, the remit and powers of the OBR, and how the government uses OBR forecasts in policy making.  

Since 1997, successive UK governments have adopted a series of fiscal rules intended to ensure financial sustainability; there have been ten sets of rules to date - nine of them introduced since 2008. The current inquiry recognises that these fiscal rules have changed frequently, often without public consultation, raising questions about whether the current framework remains fit for purpose.  

The OBR, created in 2010 to provide independent forecasts and assessments of public finances, has - since November 2023 - adopted a “dynamic scoring” approach, which attempts to model how economic behaviour might change in response to government policies. This inquiry will examine whether the OBR’s remit, methodology and reporting frequency remain appropriate for the UK’s evolving economic context.

The session was broadcast live and is available to watch via Parliament TV.

Watch the full evidence session. 

Read about the inquiry on the UK Parliament website.