Osborne to abolish Pre-Budget Report

Chancellor George Osborne will scrap the Pre-Budget Report this year and replace it with a slimmed-down autumn statement.

In a break with the Gordon Brown era, the autumn statement is aimed at saving resources at the Treasury, the Financial Times reports. Osborne's current focus is on the comprehensive spending review on 20 October, which is part of the Government's widespread deficit-cutting programme. An autumn statement has been pencilled in for late November or early December, at which the Office for Budget Responsibility will outline the official economic forecast alongside a brief statement and perhaps some consultation papers. The proposed date for the autumn statement gives the new OBR chairma...