OBR says Budget leak 'worst failure' in its history

"OBR chairman Richard Hughes called in a leading cyber-security expert to investigate how the crucial document was put on its website too early. At the time, Mr Hughes said he was "personally mortified" by the mistake and acknowledged the "deep disruption" it caused. On Monday its report into the mishap concluded it had "inflicted heavy damage on the OBR's reputation"."

""It is the worst failure in the 15-year history of the OBR," the report said. It added: "It was seriously disruptive to the chancellor, who had every right to expect that the EFO (economic and fiscal outlook) would not be publicly available until she sat down at the end of her Budget speech, when it should, as is usual, have been published alongside the Treasury's explanatory Red Book.""

The Office for Budget Responsibility accidentally published its Economic and Fiscal Outlook online an hour before the Chancellor's Budget speech. The document was accessed 43 times from 32 different computers during that hour, revealing measures including a pay-per-mile charge on electric vehicles and a three-year freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds. The chairman engaged a leading cyber-security expert to investigate how the document appeared on the website early. An internal inquiry concluded the breach was inadvertent, described it as the worst failure in the body's 15-year history, and found it inflicted heavy reputational damage while seriously disrupting the Chancellor's announcement. The OBR removed the forecast and apologised.

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