Business leaders and economic commentators have today attacked the Government's plans for a new high speed rail line, which will come at a huge cost to ordinary families and is facing serious criticism over its business case. Conservative competitiveness guru Simon Wolfson, Chief Executive at Next, and former Chancellor of... Read more...
After last week's non-job, an Interim Head of Parking Services, I received many messages of support. One even wrote this in the comments section:I NEVER agree with Andrew and the TPA but I ruddy well am on this occasion. This kind of money for a head of parking is quite... Read more...
Today is national No Smoking Day, and to celebrate Andrew Lansley has announced plans to hide cigarettes away under shopkeepers’ counters. A consultation will also be launched on plain packaging. The Prime Minister said only a few days ago that he wanted to ‘declare war on the enemies of enterprise’,... Read more...
At long last the trend of council tax increases has come to an end. Taxpayers will be relieved to learn that they are not facing an increase in council tax for the coming year as councils across England have taken up the Government’s offer to freeze council tax in 2011-12... Read more...
City figures have reacted strongly to proposals by the European Parliament to impose a massive ‘Tobin’ or so-called ‘Robin Hood tax’ on financial transactions. MEPs voted through a report which backed a tax of up to 0.05 per cent, a figure which may sound very small but when applied to... Read more...
There are many examples of waste that go largely unnoticed. These are often examples that do not involve large sums of money. However as our parents used to tell us, if you take care of the pennies, the pounds will take care of themselves.One such example was spotted by the Hull Daily... Read more...
After two false starts under previous governments, the Coalition is planning to privatise the Royal Mail. This time the sale is slated to take place in 2012.The TaxPayers' Alliance strongly supports the privatisation in principle. We believe the mail will operate more efficiently in private hands, just as it already... Read more...
Plans to reform the state pension system into a single payment of around £140 per week could provide a route to a simpler income tax system, too. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith is to signal that the Government intends to scrap the current system of a Basic State... Read more...
The decision to award a £670 million PFI contract for Norfolk’s waste incinerator has been made, reports TPA supporter John Martin somewhat glumly.Monday 7th March dawned bright, and the sun shone down on an impressive but peaceful protest outside County Hall against the proposal to build Norfolk’s first waste incinerator.... Read more...
Bruce Weston, from the HS2 Action Alliance, has been taking a look at the arguments made by HS2 Ltd on the Spectator Coffee House in response to my article about the business case for the new high speed rail line. Here are his responses to the two key arguments that... Read more...
As a regular user of both the West Coast mainline and Paddington station I am increasingly worried about the impacts of the High Speed Rail. Underneath the grand statements and infinite promises being made by Phillip Hammond are a series of admissions that show this line will make many people’s... Read more...
Kevin Pearson, chief fire officer of the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, made news headlines in the South-West by volunteering a pay cut of 22%. From 1 April, his salary will be cut by £37,000 to £130,097. As a senior public services manager, he was faced with finding budget cuts... Read more...
Some stories relating to public sector waste in recent years have been been hard to believe. However, this one takes the biscuit.It involves the RDA, Advantage West Midlands, which is due to be scrapped in 2012. Despite this, it seems it continues to fritter away taxpayers’ money with only its own... Read more...
If there's one thing you should avoid if you have a spare hour at the weekend, it's looking at spending above £500 on Bradford Council's website. It will frustrate you, and make you ask the question, "How do they manage to spend so much?" I'll take taxi services and transport... Read more...
Alex Massie responds to my post on the Spectator Coffee House, which attacked the incredible assumptions underlying the business case for the HS2 project expected to cost well over £1,000 a family. Well, he doesn't respond directly. He just ditches the debate over the business case altogether in favour of... Read more...
Today the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) released its final report after a review of tax reliefs. George Osborne set up this unit to tackle the “spaghetti-bowl” our tax system has become, and their report follows a release in November which listed a staggering 1,042 reliefs. In fact, that list... Read more...
In recent weeks we've been doing a lot of work exposing the flaws in the Government's case for HS2. First we released a report looking at the business case for the new line. Written by Chris Stokes - a senior rail executive - it set out a range of problems... Read more...
Just when you thought that the UK’s legion of self-regarding local authority bosses might have learned some lessons from an avalanche of negative publicity comes evidence that at least some of them have learned no lessons at all!Paul Walker, the Chief Executive of Hartlepool Borough Council, has managed to alienate... Read more...
Against the background of more twists and turns – and no small amount of spin – TPA supporter John Martin goes back to the Norfolk incinerator saga.Tory controlled Norfolk County Council (“NCC”) is still determined to see an expensively PFI funded incinerator built at King’s Lynn, and very shortly the... Read more...
No so much a non-job this week, but an egregious example of an obscene salary that has stunned us. This was brought to my attention yesterday morning, and at the same time independently aroused the interest of the Daily Express and The Spectator Coffee House Blog.An unnamed London borough (and... Read more...
There is an urgent need for savings to be made in police forces across the country. Theresa May, Home Secretary, yesterday made an announcement on the how the Government will reform police spending.The bill for staff makes up three quarters of the overall police budget, so there is almost no... Read more...
On May 18 last year, it was revealed Humberside Police were going to spend £25K on a sculpture to sit outside its new Divisional HQ in Hull. This police station has not been built, and when the sculpture story was revealed, the building costs were estimated to be £26 million. Just two days... Read more...
With critics, including the TaxPayers' Alliance in an earlier research note, revealing serious weaknesses in the business case for the new high speed rail line (HS2), the Government are increasingly relying on the argument it will create jobs. New TaxPayers' Alliance research suggests that justification does not stand up to... Read more...
Following a recent salary review for senior officers at East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC), certain basic salaries were increased by approximately 11 per cent. (or a £12,000 increase on certain salaries to around £123,000) and, in the case of the chief executive Nigel Pearson, almost six per cent. (or... Read more...