Fire up the forecasts, read up on the rules, study the spending plans and get ready for a big day for Rachel Reeves in Parliament.

But just how big will it be?

I'm Hannah White and this is Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.

On Tuesday, the Chancellor will deliver her spring forecast. It's not a budget, it's not a fiscal event and it therefore doesn't get a primetime post-PMQ slot in the Commons timetable. So what

exactly is it for and how significant is this forecast for the government?

We've been told not to expect big announcements on tax or spending plans, so what will we hear from

Rachel Reeves? We'll explore the Chancellor's options and the risks and possible rewards.

And then we'll turn to this week's big spending announcement on send reform.

Do the sums add up and just what is

the government trying to do? All that to come. Joining me today is an IFG senior economist who is

constantly checking the government sums and that's Dan highly. Hi Dan. Hi. And Giles Wilkes, an

IFG senior fellow who was once a special advisor for Theresa May and Vince Cable, is here too.

Hi, Charles.

Hi, Hannah.

I saw the Lib Dems are calling to do away with the Treasury altogether and create a Department

for Growth. Where are you currently on that debate?

I can fairly be accused of being schizophrenic on this, because about 12 years ago, when I was

incredibly young,

I gave some support to the idea that the Treasury's functions could be moved, maybe a little

bit to the Cabinet office, and bristling under austerity, as we were at the time, I was

complaining about Treasury power. Now, a much better publication produced by none less than

the Institute for Government with me and a couple of colleagues at the beginning of 2024 would say yet, I mean, treasury power can feel like a problem, but stop blaming everything on the Treasury Orthodoxy, free markets and so forth. They tend to follow the steer of their excellent treasury advisors and chancellors,

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