The chair of the UK's independent fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), has resigned following a scathing report into the premature leak of last week's Budget details.
A 'Technical but Serious' Error
Richard Hughes announced his departure, accepting full responsibility for what he termed a "technical but serious error." The mistake allowed the OBR's confidential fiscal report to be accessed and published by media outlets before Chancellor Rachel Reeves had stood up in Parliament to announce the government's new policies.
The independent investigation, led by former National Cyber Security Centre chief Professor Ciaran Martin, identified critical weaknesses in how the OBR safeguarded sensitive documents. The probe concluded this incident represented the "worst failure" in the OBR's 15-year history.
Timeline of a Leak
The report detailed a cascade of errors on Budget day. Staff uploaded the report to a "draft area" of the OBR's website, managed via WordPress, at around 11:30 am, believing it to be secure from public view. However, a flaw in a downloading function left it exposed.
The first attempt to access the document occurred at 5:16 am. Shortly after the 11:30 am upload, a Reuters news flash contained the first public notice of the Budget details. A journalist then alerted an OBR representative that the information was circulating in the media.
It was not until Prime Minister's Questions began at noon that the OBR finally removed the report from its site, later confirming the leak on social media platform X.
Leadership Criticised and Wider Concerns
The review delivered a harsh critique of the leadership under Richard Hughes, stating: "The ultimate responsibility for the circumstances in which this vulnerability occurred and was then exposed rests, over the years, with the leadership of the OBR."
It also revealed a previous incident in March 2025, where measures from the Spring Statement were "accessed prematurely," though there was no evidence the information was exploited. In response, non-executive OBR officials Baroness Hogg and Dame Susan Rice suggested the body investigate whether other instances of early access had occurred.
Professor Martin's review confirmed no "hostile cyber activity" was involved. The principal failures were technical and procedural.
Political Fallout and Future Changes
The leak caused significant political disruption. Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride raised a point of order to express his dissatisfaction, with Chancellor Reeves acknowledging his criticism. Earlier that day, Prime Minister Keir Starmer labelled the leak a "massive discourtesy" to Parliament for releasing "market sensitive" information early.
In his resignation statement, Hughes said: "I have, therefore, decided it is in the best interest of the OBR for me to resign as its chair and take full responsibility for the shortcomings identified in the report."
Moving forward, the OBR's leadership has determined it will revise its publication procedures. Given the body's limited resources, it has proposed that HM Treasury assume greater supervisory responsibility for the release of its reports. The Martin review also recommended that other public sector departments examine their own handling of sensitive material to prevent similar breaches.
