1 Introduction
1. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt. Hon.
Alistair Darling MP, delivered his first Budget on Wednesday 12
March 2008.[1] In accordance
with past practice, we held an inquiry into the Budget with a
view to reporting to the House of Commons prior to the Second
Reading of the Finance Bill. We held three evidence sessions in
the week following the Budget—from outside experts[2]
on Monday 17 March, from Treasury officials on Tuesday 18 March
and from the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Wednesday 19 March.
In addition, we received a range of written evidence which is
being published with this Report. We are most grateful to all
those who gave evidence to the Committee, and to Professor David
Heald of Aberdeen University and to Professor Colin Talbot of
Manchester Business School for their specialist advice.
2. Our inquiry into the Budget is closely linked
to other aspects of our programme of work. Shortly before the
Budget, we took evidence from the Financial Reporting Advisory
Board and from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Financial
Reporting and National Accounts, and this Report draws upon evidence
taken on that occasion.[3]
Our Report has also been informed by oral evidence which we took
from the Governor of the Bank of England, Mr Mervyn King, and
other members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank
of England, on Wednesday 26 March as part of our scrutiny of the
MPC's February 2008 Inflation Report.[4]
1 HC Deb, 12 March 2008, cols 285-298. The accompanying
Economic and Fiscal Strategy Report and Financial Statement and
Budget Report was published as Budget 2008: Stability and opportunity:
building a strong, sustainable future, HC (2007-08) 388 (hereafter
Budget 2008). Back
2
Divided into two part-sessions, the first broadly concentrating
on macroeconomic issues (with Mr Robert Chote, Institute for Fiscal
Studies, Professor David Miles, Morgan Stanley, Ms Bridget Rosewell,
Volterra Consulting, and Dr Martin Weale, National Institute for
Economic and Social Research) and the second examining microeconomic
issues (with Mr John Whiting, PricewaterhouseCoopers, together
with Mr Chote and Dr Weale). Back
3
Treasury Committee, Financial Reporting and the National Accounts:
Oral Evidence, HC (2007-08) 397-i Back
4
Treasury Committee, Bank of England February 2008 Inflation
Report: Oral and Written Evidence, HC (2007-08) 453-i Back
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