Chancellor of the Exchequer, , today announces his nomination
of Tom Josephs for appointment as a member of the Budget
Responsibility Committee (BRC) at the Office for Budget
Responsibility (OBR), replacing who will step down on 31 August
2023.
Mr Josephs’ appointment will be subject to a pre-appointment
hearing by the Treasury Committee, which will take place in early
September. The Committee has a role in confirming the suitability
of people nominated for certain public offices. Pending their
consent, he will take up his role in due course for a term
lasting five years.
Chancellor of the Exchequer said:
“I am very pleased to nominate Tom Josephs for appointment to the
OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee. The independent OBR play a
vital role underpinning the credibility of the UK’s fiscal
framework. Tom brings world-class expertise in the UK’s public
finances alongside considerable experience leading economic and
fiscal analysis in a range of domestic and international roles.
“I would like to thank for his significant contribution
to the high-quality work of the OBR for over a decade, and wish
him all the best for the future.”
Chair of the OBR Richard Hughes said:
“I welcome the Chancellor’s decision to nominate Tom Josephs to
succeed on the OBR’s Budget
Responsibility Committee, pending confirmation by the Treasury
Committee.
“Tom is a highly respected expert in the UK’s public finances
whose wide-ranging experience includes senior posts in the OBR,
HM Treasury, IMF, and DWP. His knowledge and judgement would be
invaluable to our work as the UK’s official economic and fiscal
forecaster.”
Tom Josephs said:
“I am delighted that the Chancellor has nominated me for
appointment to the OBR’s Budget Responsibility
Committee. It was a great privilege
from 2010 to 2013 to be part of the staff
team that worked with the first BRC members to
establish the OBR. It would be an honour to
now return to the OBR as a member of the BRC,
should the Treasury Committee agree to my appointment.”
About the OBR
The OBR was created in 2010 to provide independent analysis of
the UK’s public finances. The OBR is led by the three members of
the BRC who have executive responsibility for carrying out the
core functions of the OBR, including any judgements made in the
preparation of the economic and fiscal forecasts. The current
members of the BRC are:
- Richard Hughes (Chair)
- Professor David Miles
-
The OBR’s oversight board consists of two non-executive members
and the three BRC members and ensures there is effective risk
management, governance and internal control of the organisation.
Find out more about the
OBR
About the appointee
Tom Josephs is currently Director of Private Pensions at the
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). He was previously the
Director of Fiscal Group at HM Treasury between September 2019
and August 2022. Between September 2016 and September 2019, he
worked as the Director of Policy at the Department for
International Trade. Prior to that he was a Senior Economist in
the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund
between 2013 and 2016, the OBR’s first Chief of Staff between
2010 and 2013, and led the Treasury’s fiscal forecasting and
analysis team between 2008 and 2010.
About the appointment process
Appointments are been made following an open recruitment process.
Appointments to the BRC are conducted by the Treasury.
The interview panel for the BRC position was chaired by (Chief Economic Advisor, HM Treasury) and included
Richard Hughes (Chair, OBR), Aishani Roy (Deputy Director of
Macroeconomic Analysis, HM Treasury) and Ross Walker (Managing
Director, Chief UK Economist & Head of Global Economics,
NatWest) as an independent panel member. The interview panel then
made a recommendation to the Chancellor which informed his
decision. Appointments to the BRC are subject to the consent of
the Treasury Committee.
