Public finances

Guides

• How to check a government spending pledge

  How to check a UK spending pledge: the baseline year, cash or real terms, annual or cumulative, and which budget. Worked with Spending Review 2025.

• How to check a claim that taxes are going up

  How to check UK claims about rising taxes: tax rates, cash receipts and the tax burden as a share of GDP, using OBR, HMRC and Budget documents.

• How to check a claim about the UK national debt

  Check UK national debt claims: debt versus borrowing, cash versus share of GDP, which measure is used, and how to read the ONS public sector finances.

• How to check a claim about council tax or council spending

  Check claims about council tax rises and council spending in England using official MHCLG statistics, with Band D, per-dwelling and real-terms examples.

• How to read the Budget documents: the Red Book and the OBR forecast

  A guide to the Budget papers: what the Treasury Red Book, policy costings and the OBR Economic and fiscal outlook contain, and how to check Budget claims.