An interesting article by the Tax Foundation yesterday looked at how heavily different countries lean on those with higher incomes. It cited OECD data from the mid-2000s (i.e. before the 50p rate) looking at the share of taxes coming from the richest decile (the richest ten per cent of the... Read more...
George Osborne has a 'secret plan' to merge National Insurance (NI) into Income Tax according to Thursday's Independent, a story followed up in the weekend papers. National Insurance, which raises approximately £100 billion annually will be abolished while Income Tax, which raises about £150 billion, will be raised to compensate... Read more...
The Chief Executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) has warned its 5,000 staff that they need to make savings this year of £26 million. That means losing 200 jobs and cutting the budget by 15% in back-room departments and a further 10% in front-line services. Unions are up... Read more...
The publication of our annual "Town Hall Rich List" always manages to ruffle a few feathers. Matthew Sinclair wrote about this last Thursday, and I was accused of presenting misleading information too. I always find this amusing, as the figures we quote come directly from councils' accounts and from Freedom... Read more...
In April the holiday period for Empty Property Rates relief comes to an end. Soon nearly all businesses will have to pay full business rates on an empty commercial property just three months after it becomes vacant, and six months later for an industrial property. This comes at a time... Read more...
Tim Worstall has been very busy recently. As well as maintaining his long running and superb blog, he has written a paper for the Institute of Economic Affairs about some of the myths at the heart of the UKUncut campaign's attempt to convince people spending cuts aren't necessary. And that... Read more...
The Scouting Movement, founded in 1907, is one of the UK's most cherished organisations. I remember my time very fondly as a Scout. Songs around the camp fire; walking and climbing; learning how to tie knots. I'm sure I'm not the only reader who can recall days like these. Nationally,... Read more...
There is a very sad article in the Boston Globe. Jeff Jacoby writes about a terrible crime in the Palestinian Territories. Unfortunately, our money is supporting the hate education that plays its part in creating the environment where terrible acts like this take place: "LAST WEEKEND in Itamar, an Israeli... Read more...
Jo Johnson writes in today's Financial Times (£) about the disaster of high taxes in the United Kingdom. He points to a KPMG survey that showed the UK has the 4th highest top rate of income tax of 86 countries - beaten only by Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Johnson... Read more...
The Town Hall Rich List always gets quite a reaction. There has been some great coverage, Elle - 19 from Hertfordshire - told the Sun she was stunned to hear 48 council fat-cats had each received more than £250,000 last year. She said: "It brought to mind a quote by... Read more...
The 2,295 council staff earning over £100k Includes full breakdown for every local councilClick here to read the full reportThe only comprehensive guide to top pay at UK local councils, with detailed breakdowns for each council includedRecord 2,295 council staff earned over £100,000 in 2009-10 (up 18 per cent on... Read more...
We proudly present the fifth Town Hall Rich List, the 'Who's Who' of local government fat cats, detailing all those whose remuneration exceeds £100,000. Since the first Town Hall Rich List in 2007, the number of senior staff receiving such large sums has soared and the latest list shows that... Read more...
The OECD has released a new report on the state of the British economy. It has a number of interesting recommendations - for example more autonomy for schools to improve performance - but the central message is that the fiscal consolidation is right and necessary. Spending cuts planned are vital... Read more...
On 19 January, the non-job of the week was a Performance Improvement Manager at Oxford City Council. It seems as if the search was unsuccessful, as the council has re-advertised the job again. Why doesn’t it just forget about it and save taxpayers some money? I doubt it will, but it doesn’t harm asking... Read more...
Dublin has refused an offer by the European Union to reduce the interest payments on its bailout loan by almost a fifth in exchange for abandoning Ireland’s competitive 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate. French President Nicolas Sarkozy demanded a raise in the tax rate in a move towards greater... Read more...
In the run up to the UK Government's round table meeting on net neutrality tomorrow, there has been a great deal of scaremongering over the fact that key stakeholders, ISPs, consumer rights groups and others in the UK will probably adopt an industry-driven code of transparency over one of net... Read more...
There are many instances of essential travel taken by public servants throughout the UK every day and it has been common practice for these staff to claim back work-associated expenses. But expenses - as seen with the MPs' expenses scandal - can prove at times to be ridiculous. Here are two... Read more...
The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has signalled that the Government will announce another increase in the personal allowance. The amount of money people can earn before they start paying tax is already scheduled to increase in 2011-12 by £1,000 from £6,475 to £7,475. But Liberal Democrats want it to... Read more...
The Guardian have released a major poll on political attitudes across Europe. They have focused on findings that most Europeans are pessimistic about the future, have little trust in their governments and see themselves as socially liberal. What is striking looking at the full data though, is that it shows... Read more...
The point of using taxpayers’ money to encourage cycling was brought into question by the results of a three-year project in Bristol, Britain’s so-called first ‘Cycling City’. Given £22.8 million in 2008, Bristol council aimed to double the amount of cyclists using its roads, but three years later, cycling has... Read more...
The Telegraph has a very interesting article today about councils who send council officers to Mipim, the annual get-together of the property industry in Cannes. Andrew Gilligan reports how the registration cost alone is £1,300 per person. Add to this the flights, hotels, and disbursements... Some councils also organise special... Read more...
Ever found yourself dealing with employees from your council and having no idea what they actually do? Well, they could be carrying out one of 1,294 statutory duties that parliament imposes on local authorities. This week the Department for Communities and Local Government (DGLG) has announced it will perform a... Read more...
This morning a number of respected economic commentators and business leaders have attacked the Government's plans for a new high speed rail line (HS2). Read more...
As councils look to make savings in their budgets, the use of consultants is one area they should look at first. It has come to my attention that Sheffield City Council is currently spending £3.5 million in this area. Although I accept some outside assistance will be needed on an... Read more...