STORY
The Trades Union Congress has called on Chancellor John Healey to order a ‘root and branch’ review of the Office for Budget Responsibility, arguing that the fiscal watchdog’s approach can hold back public investment. The union wants the issue examined ahead of Healey’s first Budget on 28 October.
The TUC has focused particularly on the OBR’s treatment of public investment and its assumption that some Government spending can crowd out private capital. General secretary Paul Nowak said the watchdog had become a ‘millstone preventing good growth across the country’ and argued that its economic models should be reassessed.
The union also wants the Government to expand the mandate of the National Wealth Fund so it can support investments taking up to 15 years to generate a return. A Treasury spokesperson said fiscal discipline remained the foundation of economic stability and national security and that the Government would continue to meet its fiscal rules with a buffer against uncertainty.