Lord Kennedy of Southwark – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Kennedy of Southwark on 2015-12-22.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the difference between the public finance forecasts for 2015–16 and the actual financial figures available to date, and what assessment have they made of the reasons for the difference.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) jointly with HM Treasury publish the public sector finances statistical bulletin on a monthly basis, which provides the latest available estimates for key aspects of Public Sector Finances.
The latest release was published on 22 December covering the November 2015 public sector finances.[1]
Borrowing for the 8 months to November is £6.6 bn less than the same period last year against an Autumn Statement forecast of a £15.7bn full year fall. It’s clear that there is no shortcut to fixing the public finances. That’s why the Chancellor used the Autumn Statement and Spending Review to set out our plan to finish the job and build a resilient economy.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) are responsible for producing the forecasts of the public finances. They have published a detailed commentary on 22 December, which assesses the latest estimates included in the bulletin against their latest forecast[2].
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/public-sector-finances-bulletin
“
