Office for Budget Responsibility

Office for Budget Responsibility

Abbreviation	OBR
Formation	May 2010
Type	Non-departmental public body
Purpose	To provide independent and authoritative analysis of the UK’s public finances
Region served	United Kingdom
Chairman	Richard Hughes
Staff	31
Website	obr.uk

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formally created in May 2010 following the general election (although it had previously been constituted in shadow form by the Conservative party opposition in December 2009)^[1] and was placed on a statutory footing by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011.^[2] It is one of a growing number of official independent fiscal watchdogs around the world.^[3]

Richard Hughes, former Director of Fiscal Policy at HM Treasury, has been head since October 2020.^[4]