King's College London

Accountability and the Budget saw a panel of experts examine the role of different UK institutions in scrutinising and shaping the budget, including the role of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), parliament, research institutes like the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), and domestic and global financial markets.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, delivered her first budget in the Commons on 30 October.

On the panel was former head of the OBR, Sir Robert Chote, and he was joined by Dr Isabel Stockton, from the IFS; Professor Christpher Hood, from the University of Oxford; and Paul Greatbatch, a senior visiting fellow at King’s and expert of financial markets. Martin Weale – Professor of Economics at King’s and a former Bank of England monetary policy committee member – chaired the event.

The panellists discussed what financial markets looked for from the budget and what determines their responses to it, and how the OBR and IFS scrutinise the budget and contribute to account holding by other institutions such as parliament and the media.

The panel also took questions from the audience.

The event took place on 31 October and was organised by the King’s Centre for British Democracy.

Professor Christel Koop, co-chair of the King’s Centre for British Democracy, said: “An enormous amount has been written about the budget itself over the last few months so this event was a perfect opportunity to look beyond the headlines and really examine the process that shapes the budget and the decision’s the chancellor has to make in drafting in.

Professor Andrew Blick, the Centre’s other co-chair, added: “We had a fantastic panel and we are grateful to them for sharing their insights, which really pulled the curtain back for our audience.”