The Chancellor Philip Hammond, has stated before the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee, that he is not yet in a position to announce a date for the Autumn Budget 2018 saying it was ‘difficult to fix’. Last year, the Chancellor had used his annual meeting before the Economic Affairs Committee to announce the Budget date.
Now the Chancellor has said he is unable to fix a date at this time due to the significant political events currently taking place in relation to Brexit, including continued speculation that there may be a special European Council summit in November. The Chancellor also commented that he was ‘acutely conscious of the danger of creating precedent’ by announcing a date for the Budget this year at the Committee meeting.
The Chancellor has asked the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to begin planning for an Autumn Budget. In response to a question from the Committee Chairman, he also commented that the required 10-week notice period given to the OBR is a minimum, not a maximum. Mr. Hammond has confirmed that he will announce a date to Parliament for the Autumn Budget as soon as it can be fixed in the calendar.