The OBR is required by legislation to publish an evaluation of its forecasts against outturn data each year, and in 2023 also published a working paper assessing its historic forecast performance since it was established. The paper showed that its GDP growth and borrowing forecasts were comparable to external forecasters, and more accurate than previous Treasury forecasts.<\/p>
<\/p>
The OBR is reviewed externally every five years.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4639", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bim Afolami"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hitchin and Harpenden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bim Afolami"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-20", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-20T12:42:58.517Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-15", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Office for Budget Responsibility: Forecasts"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will establish an independent body to verify the accuracy of forecasts made by the Office for Budget Responsibility.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "26369"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716390", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1716390/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government was pleased to see that the latest statistics reported by the Insolvency Service showed the number of corporate insolvencies in March 2024 had fallen by 28% compared to March 2023.<\/p>
The Government continues to help businesses, including through a swathe of policy measures in the Autumn explicitly aimed at \u2018Backing British business\u2019. Recent and current policies supporting businesses include:<\/p>
\u2022 Energy Bills Discount Scheme that provided discounts on high energy bills to eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users from April 2023 to April 2024.<\/p>
\u2022 Continued frozen small business rates multiplier and business rates relief for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector, the latter policy supporting around 230,000 properties up to £110,000 per business.<\/p>
\u2022 Payment and cashflow review outlining measures to combat late payments that can jeopardise stable cashflows.<\/p>
The Government will continue to monitor the UK corporate sector, using official data and engaging with firms and business groups to inform policy decisions.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4850", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Gareth Davies"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Grantham and Stamford"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Gareth Davies"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-13T12:46:45.66Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-08", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Business: Insolvency"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2023 to Question 1823 on Business: Insolvency, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the trend in the number of companies declaring insolvency in that period.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "25177"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1715758", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1715758/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government has already amended the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 to distinguish between domestic and non-domestic politically exposed persons (PEPs).<\/p>
<\/p>
The amendment came into force on 10 January 2024 and makes clear that regulated firms must apply a lower level of enhanced due diligence to domestic PEPs and family members or close associates of domestic PEPs, compared to non-domestic PEPs, unless other risk factors are present.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4639", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Bim Afolami"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hitchin and Harpenden"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Bim Afolami"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2024-05-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2024-05-09T15:27:24.493Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2024-05-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his planned timetable is to amend the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 to differentiate between (a) domestic and (b) foreign politically exposed persons.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "24739"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }