Richard Hughes, the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), has resigned following an early release of sensitive Budget documents. The premature disclosure, occurring just before Rachel Reeves was set to announce the Budget details, was deemed a significant error. Typically, Budget information is kept confidential due to its market sensitivity.

An investigation labeled the incident as the OBR’s most substantial failure in its 15-year history and criticized the watchdog’s information protection procedures. Hughes took full responsibility for the mishap, stating it was a technical yet severe mistake. He expressed his decision to step down to facilitate the OBR’s recovery from the incident.

In a letter to the Chancellor and the Commons Treasury Committee chair, Hughes acknowledged the inadvertent early dissemination of the Economic and fiscal outlook report. He highlighted the need for implementing the investigation’s recommendations to restore the OBR’s credibility built over 15 years of independent economic analysis.

The investigation revealed that the leak was not deliberate but a result of errors related to the OBR’s WordPress publishing platform. No indication of malicious cyber activity was found. The leaked document was accessed multiple times within a short period, suggesting prior knowledge by the users.

Additionally, it was disclosed that a similar early release had occurred before the Chancellor’s Spring Statement in March, although no actions were taken at that time. Treasury Minister James Murray condemned the breach as a serious violation of sensitive information protocols, emphasizing the need for immediate reforms in the OBR’s reporting processes. He expressed concerns over potential impacts on market behavior due to early information access.

The incident has raised alarm within the UK political sphere, prompting calls for enhanced security measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.