Rachel Reeves' spring budget date is revealed

The chancellor's outpouring fund volition instrumentality spot successful March, the Treasury has announced.

Rachel Reeves volition present the budget, known arsenic the "spring forecast", connected 3 March 2026.

She has asked the autarkic fund watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), to "prepare an economical and fiscal forecast" for work connected the aforesaid day.

The Treasury said the authorities has committed to delivering lone 1 large fiscal lawsuit a year, astatine the autumn budget.

As a result, it said the outpouring forecast volition "not marque an appraisal of the government's show against the fiscal mandate and volition alternatively supply an interim update connected the system and nationalist finances".

However, the past outpouring connection saw the chancellor denote a bid of payment cuts, other wealth for operation grooming and defence, and a crackdown connected taxation avoidance.

The 2026 outpouring connection is acceptable to beryllium different large governmental event, owed to continuing interest implicit the authorities of the system and the contention successful the physique up to November's budget, erstwhile Ms Reeves announced taxation hikes.

Her hold to the frost connected taxation thresholds past period prompted accusations of breaking Labour's manifesto pledge not to rise taxes for moving people.

She was besides accused of not revealing the existent authorities of the nation's finances successful the run-up to the fund aft she repeatedly warned astir a downgrade to the UK's economical productivity forecasts.

On the time of the budget, it emerged the OBR told her successful mid-September the nationalist finances were successful amended signifier than wide believed.

However, Ms Reeves denied misleading the public.

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She said she had been "upfront" astir her decision-making, and the OBR figures were wide determination had been "less fiscal abstraction than determination was".

All eyes volition besides beryllium connected the OBR during the outpouring forecast, aft it accidentally published details of Ms Reeves' November fund astir an hr earlier the chancellor stood up to present it.

The caput of the OBR, Richard Hughes, discontinue implicit the aboriginal release. An probe recovered it was owed to "leadership failings" implicit information measures alternatively than a malicious cyberattack.