Osborne scraps pre-Budget report

Chancellor George Osborne (pictured) is to scrap the pre-Budget report and replace it with a slimmed-down autumn statement, according to the Financial Times.

An autumn statement has been pencilled in for late November or early December when the Office for Budget Responsibility will outline the official economic forecast, according to the paper.

It said that Osborne's focus was on the comprehensive spending review on 20 October, which will set departmental budgets until the end of the parliament. The proposed timetable will force the Treasury to outline spending plans on the basis of the June emegency Budget forecasts.

Gordon Brown introduced the pre-Budget report in 1997.