Letter from Sir Alan Budd to Sir Nicholas
Macpherson, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury
I am writing to place on record the arrangements
relating to my departure.
We have agreed that I should step down as Chairman
of the interim Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) when my
contract ends on 13 August. Up to that point I shall continue
to be available for advice regarding the permanent OBR, the appointment
of my successor and any other OBR-related issues that might arise.
We also discussed the timing of my return to
work in relation to the three consultancies that had been suspended—Credit-Suisse,
Brevan Howard and the Observatory Group. My arrangement with them
was that the consultancies would be suspended for a short period
during my engagement with the OBR. We agreed that all the market-sensitive
information to which I had access before the Budget became public
knowledge on 22 June. I visited the Bank of England on 5 July,
alongside Treasury officials, to provide the MPC with their usual
briefing on the Budget, but I have not had access to any market
sensitive information held within the Bank or the Treasury in
relation to the financial sector.
We had agreed that I could properly restart
my consultancies at the beginning of September. I have considered
this matter further and, in order to rule out any suspicion of
impropriety, I have decided to postpone the re-start of my consultancies
to 1 October and bear the cost of the resulting unpaid period.
As a consultant to HM Treasury, I am not subject
to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments requirements.
But I hope you will agree that these arrangements are within the
spirit of those rules, and similar to any recommendation you would
have made to the Committee were I subject to its requirements.
During the period between 13 August and 1 October
I shall have the following engagements:
— meetings related to the appointment of
my successor; and
— a meeting of the Tax Law Review Committee
(of which I am chairman) on 20 September.
The Tax Law Review work is pro bono and is only
concerned with information in the public domain.
Prior to my departure the OBR will publish its
report on the effect on the public finances of changes in oil
prices. I do not believe it uses any market-sensitive information.
I hope that you agree that these arrangements
are satisfactory.
26 July 2010
| 
