Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the OBR’s report entitled Fiscal risks and sustainability, published on 8 July 2025, what plans she has to commission the OBR to assess the fiscal implications of artificial intelligence.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is required to prepare an analysis of the sustainability of the public finances annually, known as a Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report (FRS), as set out in the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act (BRNAA) 2011. The content of the FRS is determined independently by the OBR.

In the OBR’s latest FRS, published on 8 July 2025, it noted that if productivity grows faster than expected it could significantly improve the outlook for the public finances.[1] The OBR also noted that the “rapid development and dissemination of artificial intelligence could be one driver of upside risk to future productivity growth, although the magnitude and timing of the potential boost to productivity remains highly uncertain”.

[1]Fiscal risks and sustainability report, Office for Budget Responsibility, July 2025, p. 134.