From The Guardian:
OBR publishes report into its inadvertent release of budget report, saying it is 'worst failure' in its 15-year history
The Office for Budget Responsibility has now published its report into the “leak” of the budget on its website.
Here is an extract.
We are in no doubt that this failure to protect information prior to publication has inflicted heavy damage on the OBR’s reputation. It is the worst failure in the 15-year history of the OBR. It was seriously disruptive to the Chancellor, who had every right to expect that the EFO would not be publicly available until she sat down at the end of her Budget speech, when it should, as is usual, have been published alongside the Treasury’s explanatory Red Book. The Chair of the OBR, Richard Hughes, has rightly expressed his profound apologies.
It is also important to note that the EFO contains market-sensitive information, i.e. information that is not public and could have a material impact on financial markets. This is why, in the run-up to the delivery of the Budget, any leaks concerning the OBR’s forecasts, whether accurate (as in this case) or inaccurate, whether inadvertent (as in this case) or deliberate, are to be greatly deplored. They must be taken very seriously by institutions from which leaks emerge. As evidence of the seriousness with which the OBR takes this issue, we have noted that throughout the preceding months the OBR had stuck rigidly to the principle of confidentiality. It is beyond the scope of this report to assess what specific factors exerted what degree of influence on the financial markets on the morning of the Budget, but we are confident that the OBR will co-operate with the Financial Conduct Authority with respect to any information it might seek.
As of now, Richard Hughes, the OBR chair, has not resigned.