Budget Responsibility and National Audit Bill [HL]

Perhaps I may help the noble Lord on the point of sensitivity. He is absolutely right: the Treasury Select Committee is sensitive to the point and has taken it into account already. It may help him to know that the Treasury Committee issued a press release on 12 October—perhaps he has not seen it—headlined, ““Treasury Committee Chairman Welcomes Chancellor’s Statement on the OBR””, particularly on this point. The press release stated that the chairman, Andrew Tyrie, said: "““It is vital that the OBR has the resources it needs. The Committee will monitor this carefully: the Terms of Reference suggest that the Treasury accepts the importance of transparency and separate disclosure, and we will have the information we need to do our work””." I am grateful to the noble Lord for raising the question of sensitivity, but I trust he notes that the Treasury Select Committee has already said that it believes that what is proposed meets its requirements.