Background: who checks the UK Budget's sums and what the stability and investment rules are

Background

This matters now because a Budget has just been delivered with an independent forecast beside it. The Office for Budget Responsibility produces the economic and fiscal forecasts on which the United Kingdom Budget rests. It also confirms whether the Government is meeting its own fiscal rules. Two such rules are named in the Budget. The stability rule is about day-to-day spending being covered by revenue. The investment rule is about debt as measured by public sector net financial liabilities. In this Budget the stability rule is met with a buffer of £15 billion in 2029-30, rising to £22 billion in 2030-31, and the investment rule with a margin of £24 billion in 2029-30. Because the OBR, not the Treasury, produces the forecast, the rules are judged against numbers the Government does not set.