I received a blast in the local press from Deputy Leader Councillor Malcolm Hanney as he lectured me in a letter over the benefits of B&NES Council’s capital expenditure. I would, however, have liked a little more flesh on the bones of his account. When it comes to the £12.4... Read more...
Following the release of our detailed report on Friday 4th, “High Speed Rail a Huge Spending Risk” ,which pointed out the fundamental flaws in the proposed plans for a multi billion pound train line, a number of organisation have reacted to justify the project: the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC),... Read more...
There has been lots of media coverage of our report on high speed rail today. Two organisations have written substantive responses: The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) and Greengauge 21. We asked Chris Stokes, experienced rail consultant and author of our research note, to respond to ATOC and Bruce... Read more...
When I wrote on Wednesday that Hull City Council was now publishing all spending online, it seems I was misinformed. I was told last year this was the plan, and when I saw spending published below the £500 threshold I checked to make sure this was the council's policy. Although this... Read more...
Too many councillors for too few taxpayers is a problem that Northern Ireland has wrestled with for some time. In my hometown within the Strabane District Council, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, this is particularly acute. Strabane has a small population of which just over 26,000 people are registered to vote,... Read more...
On Wednesday, I wrote about the way spending above £500 was presented on East Riding of Yorkshire Council's website. I was contacted by a councillor, Geoff Pickering, telling me he intended to raise this matter at a scrutiny committee meeting which met yesterday. After reading my post, he too tried to access... Read more...
We today expose the flaws in the business case for High Speed Rail, the Government's most expensive new project, in a research note by a respected rail expert. Proposals for the first leg of the new high speed line to the West Midlands (HS2) will cost £17 billion. The Government... Read more...
If I was to conduct an opinion poll asking people what services they wanted from their local council, I don't think it's very difficult to predict some of the answers. We expect our bins to be emptied, the streets cleaned, roads gritted during the winter months. We expect core services... Read more...
How much money can one spend in 100 days in office? ConservativeHome carry a piece this morning revealing how the Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman certainly hasn’t exercised spending restraint during his short time in office, with a seeming lack of respect for those who pay for it... Read more...
Well done to Hull City Council who is now publishing all spending online - not just spending above £500. I hope other councils will take note and follow suit. If Hull can do it, other councils can too. The information is also presented in a user friendly format, and you... Read more...
Some of Northern Ireland’s Members' of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), their devolved government, are spending taxpayers' money with little restraint. At least one of West Tyrone’s six Assembly members has been claiming for expensive trips throughout Europe that leave taxpayers out of pocket. After an FOI request, it has been discovered that a number... Read more...
An independent report out later this afternoon (from the Westminster Sustainable Business Forum) will detail how local government can save money and improve services by looking at how they manage their properties. Of the £370 billion of property owned by government and costing £25 billion a year to run, £250... Read more...
Gathering information about Her Majesty's Prison Service is notoriously difficult. HM Prison Service is covered by the Ministry of Justice, yet they do not centrally hold information on individual prisons. But this week that the MoJ released some information in response to a Parliamentary Question asked by Rob Halfon MP.... Read more...
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council have been trialling a system for transferring information electronically instead of using printed-paper, including meeting agendas and reports. Thirteen of the council's 34 councillors have been taking part in the experiment to see how well they could carry out their roles using only computer equipment and... Read more...
Former MP Jim Devine is due to go on trial today, accused of fiddling his parliamentary expenses. The former Labour MP for Livingston is accused of falsely claiming costs for parliamentary duties in March 2009 and will appear at Southwark Crown Court. It's alleged that he dishonestly claimed £3,240 for... Read more...
The incredible complexity of Britain’s tax system doesn’t make life simple, either for those paying the taxes or even the tax collectors. But beyond the cost in lost economic growth, prosperity and jobs of high and complicated taxes there is another problem caused by Britain’s combination of high headline rates... Read more...
This morning we heard some MPs calling on George Osborne to cut taxes now – and this would do much to help businesses and families in the recovery. Cutting the deficit by reducing spending can make tax cuts possible. But as 2020 Tax Commission Chairman Allister Heath says in City... Read more...
The Budget is still a number of weeks away but that hasn’t stopped the furious speculation from getting underway: what exactly will be in Osborne’s Budget in March? With a huge deficit he will have to find ways to deliver on promises to make more spending cuts than tax rises,... Read more...
Councils across England had until midnight last night to publish online, details of all their spending over £500. The Communities and Local Government Secretary told councils last June to declare details of spending over £500 and gave them the deadline of 31st January 2011 to do so. Thereby enabling local... Read more...
The Public Accounts Committee has criticised HMRC for their mismanagement of the tax system. We’ve seen repeated bungles by the tax authority, and unfortunately stories of over payments, under payments and dodgy computer systems are not new. This morning’s news is no different: the implementation of a new computer system... Read more...
On this occasion, TPA supporter John Martin sets out his ideas for reducing the allowances paid by Norfolk County Council to its members. Well, Norfolk’s Big Conversation is over and the Norfolk County Council (NCC) Cabinet has announced the recommendations that it will shortly put to the full Council to... Read more...
You can tell election time is looming in Bath from the amount of councillors posing for photographs in the local newspaper against so-called achievements. But what are some of these ‘victories’ for the taxpayer? Some time ago I reported that the council had implemented a small but essential change to... Read more...
The IFS released a chapter of their upcoming green budget this morning. They’ve calculated that 750,000 taxpayers will be pulled in the higher band, to mitigate for the loss of revenue from lifting the personal allowance. Millions of people have moved in to the higher band over the years through... Read more...
I once heard a joke which asked how many councillors does it take to change a light bulb? The answer is 30. One to change the light bulb and 29 to go on an essential fact finding mission to the Caribbean to find out how it's done there! Sounds far... Read more...