Rachel Reeves has set 3 March as the date of the government’s 2026 Spring Statement, HM Treasury has announced.
The date is more than three weeks earlier than 2025’s Spring Statement and, in a change to previous years, will not see watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility providing an assessment of the government’s performance against its fiscal mandate.
At last month’s Autumn Budget, the chancellor said she would follow the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund by assessing the fiscal rules just once a year.
Reeves said at the time the move was designed to support the government’s “commitment to a single fiscal event and further strengthen our economic stability”.
Speculation about the government’s ability to meet its fiscal rules in the runup to the Autumn Budget is said to have negatively impacted the Treasury’s borrowing costs.
Yesterday, the Treasury confirmed that the OBR has been asked to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast for publication on 3 March, along the lines specified in documents supporting last month’s Budget.
“As set out at the Budget, the spring forecast will not make an assessment of the government’s performance against the fiscal mandate and will instead provide an interim update on the economy and public finances,” the Treasury said.
“The government will respond to the March forecast through a statement to parliament, in line with the government’s commitment to deliver one major fiscal event a year at the budget.
“This approach gives families and businesses the stability and certainty they need and supports the government’s growth mission.”
The Red Book document supporting the Autumn Budget said that holding “one major fiscal event per year”, in the form of an autumn budget, would strengthen the nation’s fiscal framework and support the economy with “greater policy certainty”.
It added: “The OBR will continue to publish a second five-year forecast in the spring, providing an interim update on the economy and public finances, and to inform the Debt Management Office’s financing remit. The government will not normally respond with fiscal policy, unless there is a significant change to the economic outlook that requires a response.”