It has been highlighted that Cardiff Councils leader Rodney Berman, has claimed that Cardiff Councils increase of 0.1% for the next financial year is ‘unfair’. In an article published by walesonline, opposition group leaders have attacked the coalition run council and their cavalier attitude when other councils throughout Wales have... Read more...
Here is the story so far. Conservative controlled Norfolk County Council (NCC) chooses Cory Wheelabrator (CW) to construct and operate an electricity producing waste incinerator on a site that NCC purchased in 2008. The deal is to involve a twenty-five year PFI contract. NCC is coy about the cost to... Read more...
No traffic ‘master plan,’ no multi-million pound ‘solution’ that spends taxpayers’ money on unwanted transport schemes, just a little bit of common sense. A B&NES council official announced plans to shift a bus stop along the London Road to allow two lanes of traffic to flow through traffic lights into... Read more...
Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liberal Democrat MP David Laws has called on the Government to cut taxes toward the end of the Parliament. Mr Laws was replaced by Scottish MP Danny Alexander when he resigned after becoming embroiled in an expenses scandal related to a claim for rent... Read more...
The old adage you reap what you sow is as true today as when it was first coined. When our elected representatives fail to submit themselves to the wishes of those who elect them, there are consequences; and those consequences can be severe.In March, I received a phone call from... Read more...
There's been success for a long-running TPA campaign today, as ten councillors have been removed from the Tories' list of approved candidates in the East Riding of Yorkshire after their part in a series of large payouts to departing senior officers in 2008 was exposed by us. Months of campaigning... Read more...
Whatever happened to the staff suggestions box? It was laughed at by many in the workplace, but occasionally someone would come up with something to make life easier, and if it saved money, quite often a bonus would be on its way to the member of staff who had the... Read more...
Robert Halfon MP tabled an Early Day Motion in support of light touch regulation and the tech industry yesterday. His EDM comes only days after Tom Watson MP tabled an EDM in support of Net Neutrality. Robert Halfon MP frames the Net Neutrality debate clearly in the EDM by saying, "....that... Read more...
In case you haven’t heard VAT will rise in January from 17.5% to 20%. Food is exempt from the rise - well, not all food. Under British law consumers pay no VAT on essential foods but pay 17.5% on“luxury food items” such as ice cream, and smoothies. Yes, I did... Read more...
You may remember I posted last week on the outrageous pay increase of the Chief Executive of the Local Government Association (LGA). Today 30 local authority leaders sent a letter to The Times calling for John Ransford to take at least a 10 per cent pay cut, if not more.... Read more...
Former Labour MP for Scunthorpe and minister Elliot Morley today faces trial at Southwark Crown Court for allegations of false accounting in relation to his expenses. The 58 year old denies theft by false accounting. Mr Morley’s trial is the first to arise from the expenses scandal that first erupted... Read more...
In September, I wrote about the East Riding of Yorkshire Council's pensions' review. Instead of enhancing pensions by 5 years for staff who wish to take early retirement, a review panel decided an augmentation of 2 years would be fair on staff and taxpayers. This was widely reported in the... Read more...
A big thank you to supporters who have got in touch with me highlighting waste in their local areas. Many are researching this waste, and getting accurate figures from their local authority as a result. An eagle-eyed supporter in Surrey has spotted how much taxpayers have to fork out for... Read more...
Cities of London & Westminster MP Mark Field wrote in the Daily Telegraph yesterday about the worrying decline and lost opportunities of the City thanks to inept regulation, banal rhetoric and our punitive tax regime. Banker bashing, the 50 per cent top tax rate, the bonus tax and the banking levy... Read more...
In the Wall Street Journal today there is an interesting piece on the ‘buzz’ in the European Technology Industry. From conferences to award ceremonies to boot camps, tech companies are having their day in Europe. And in this age of economic uncertainty, technology companies in Europe do have a lot to... Read more...
The Cabinet Office has released all departmental spending over £25,000 since the Coalition Government came to power. As long-time advocates of spending transparency, we’re naturally pleased with this. Taxpayers deserve to know how their money is spent and we’re finally starting to see some useful spending data to help generate... Read more...
Following my post a couple of days ago on councils opting to leave the LGA, it has since been revealed that their Chief Executive got a £70,000 pay and pension increase last year. That takes his total remuneration to over £300,000. The LGA say that it reflects a promotion but... Read more...
John Lewis, one of Britain's biggest retailers, has reported a surge in sales of seasonal gifts to £77m for the week ending on Saturday, 6.8% up on the same week last year. Andy Smith, the managing director, predicted the busy tills will soon quiet after the New Year when VAT is... Read more...
It would be impossible not to blog about the Royal wedding today. It’s on the front page of almost every newspaper and it feels like everyone is talking about it. Prince William finally confirmed yesterday that he and Kate Middleton are to marry in 2011; she will one day be... Read more...
Our recent report on non-jobs highlighted climate change officers as posts that could easily be dispensed with. Councils could take a lead from Windsor and Maidenhead Council who do not employ climate change officers. Instead it bought smart meters and energy consumption fell by 15%. Instead of wasting money, Windsor... Read more...
Kenneth Clarke has announced that the government will make payments to former detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The justice secretary said this was to avoid costly high court actions.The seven named men are in line to receive potentially massive payouts; one suspect, Binyam Mohamed could receive as much as £1m pounds,... Read more...
Click to jump straight to our viral and our event videos. The full archive can be found on our YouTube channel.Selected Media Coverage ViralsWasting Lives: A statistical analysis of NHS performance [iframe http://www.youtube.com/embed/fF03yKDEn1U 500 314]Why are the Government taxing the poor to pay for a rich man's train? [iframe http://www.youtube.com/embed/16a9Cn-5ulY?rel=0&hd=1... Read more...
Yesterday, details of another group of councils opting to cancel their expensive subscription to the Local Government Association emerged. The list, published on ConservativeHome, shows how more councils are realising that the £50,000 membership subscription fee could be better spent elsewhere, helping to protect frontline services. With imminent cuts in... Read more...
The latest issue of ‘Connect’ flopped through my letterbox, the council-produced ‘magazine for the people of Bath and North Somerset.’ Full of photographs of smiling council workers, it really is just an exercise in public sector self-congratulation. In this age of belt-tightening, do we really need this propaganda magazine? Costing... Read more...