1st Report - National debt: it’s time for tough decisions

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government says it "agrees with the Committee's conclusion" that tough choices are required to prevent debt being on an unsustainable path, and says its Budget reforms to the fiscal framework "implement many of the recommendations" in the report.

• It describes new fiscal rules, a stability rule for the current budget and a target for net financial debt to be falling as a share of the economy by 2029-30, with both then moving to the third year of a rolling forecast.
• On the Committee's recommendation of a fixed rule targeting the fifth year, it moves to a rolling rule instead, because this "avoids the need to make sharp policy adjustments in response to small changes in the forecast or economic shocks".
• On index-linked gilts, it says it is "right that the government keeps the proportion of index-linked gilts under review" and will "continue to consider refinancing risk" when taking annual financing decisions.
• On net zero, it says it "will publish a revised Carbon Budget Delivery Plan in spring 2025", and says its Strategic Defence Review will conclude in the first half of 2025.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error