Overview

This bill amends the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 to allow the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to independently scrutinize and certify the policy costings of political parties in the House of Commons. This aims to increase transparency and accountability regarding the financial implications of party manifestos.

Description

The bill mandates the OBR to:

• Scrutinize and certify the policy costings of any political party in the House of Commons that requests it, six months before a general election.
• Publish its findings (agreement/disagreement with stated costs, or statement of insufficient time/information) on its website and in the House of Commons Library.
• The OBR will only review the costings presented by parties; the bill explicitly states the OBR may not consider alternative policy options.
• The OBR will only undertake this process if sufficient information is provided by the political party.

Government Spending

The bill authorises the Treasury to spend money to cover any expenses incurred by the OBR as a result of implementing this Act. No specific figures are provided within the bill text itself.

Groups Affected

• Political Parties: Parties represented in the House of Commons will be subject to independent scrutiny of their policy costings, potentially impacting how they develop and present their manifestos.
• Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR): The OBR will have expanded responsibilities and increased workload.
• Voters: The public will have access to independent assessments of the cost implications of political parties' promises, enabling better-informed voting decisions.

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