4th Report - Fortifying the fiscal framework

House of Lords - Fortifying the fiscal framework - Economic Affairs Committee Accessibility Email alerts RSS feeds Contact us Home Parliamentary business MPs, Lords & offices About Parliament Get involved Visiting Education House of Commons House of Lords What's on Bills & legislation Committees Publications & records Parliament TV News Topics You are here: Parliament home page > Parliamentary business > Publications and Records > Committee Publications > All Select Committee Publications > Lords Select Committees > Economic Affairs > Economic Affairs Economic Affairs Committee Fortifying the fiscal framework 4th Report of Session 2024-26 - published 28 April 2026 - HL Paper 291 Contents Summary Chapter 1: Introduction The UK’s fiscal framework: a brief history Figure 2: Public Sector Net Debt excluding the Bank of England’s balance sheet and Public Sector Net Financial Liabilities Our inquiry Figure 3: Public sector net debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) Chapter 2: The fiscal rules The value of fiscal rules Deficiencies in the current rules Fiscal headroom Figure 4: Successive forecasts for headroom against fiscal targets The timing of fiscal commitments Chapter 3: The fiscal council The value of a fiscal council The OBR’s effects on policy The OBR’s role as a forecaster Frequency of forecasts Figure 5: Numbers of fiscal council annual forecasts in advanced-economies Track record Dynamic scoring Ownership of the forecast Potential further roles for the OBR Figure 6: Fiscal councils included in remit Fiscal risks and sustainability Summary of conclusions and recommendations Appendix 1: List of Members and declarations of interest Appendix 2: List of evidence and committee activity Appendix 3: Call for evidence Appendix 4: Fiscal rules in the UK since 1997 Evidence is published online at https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9386/the-uks-fiscal-framework/publications . Q in footnotes refers to a question in oral evidence. < Back Next > © Parliamentary copyright 2026 A-Z index Glossary Contact us Freedom of Information Jobs Using this website Copyright Privacy notice Cookie policy Cookie Manager