The chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has stepped down following a damning report criticising management at the top of the fiscal watchdog after a report was leaked ahead of the Budget .

Under pressure from the government since the leak, Richard Hughes accepted full responsibility for the "technical but serious error" that resulted in the premature release of the OBR's fiscal report, which included details of the Budget.

The probe into the leak identified "weaknesses" in the safeguarding of confidential documents prior to the Budget process, culminating in the "worst failure" in the OBR's 15-year history when its report was leaked before Rachel Reeves announced new policies last week.

The report delivered a harsh critique of Hughes' leadership over the small public b

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