It seems that that the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) are ready to move quickly on their plans to strip away lumbering regional bureaucracies. So far we've seen the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), Regional Strategies, funding for Regional Leaders’ Boards and the Government Office for London all abolished.... Read more...
There was good news this morning as Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman announced that DEFRA is to cut funding for the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC). That will save taxpayers £1.9 million a year immediately. Hopefully it will also make the SDC financially unsustainable, forcing it to close, and taxpayers will save... Read more...
We’ve discussed reducing spending at length. And we’re not the only ones: a report released on Tuesday by the Adam Smith Institute, Taxpayer Value, looked at central government operations and set out how to deliver better quality services at a lower cost. The new report is a welcome contribution to... Read more...
If you aren’t too keen on the idea of living in a ‘new town’ like Redditch, chances are you don’t. What might further put you off is the idea of Redditch Council spending your hard-earned tax money on an advertising campaign preaching to residents about how great the place is.... Read more...
It’s non-job time again and many of you have sent in nominations this week which is always appreciated! Unfortunately, this week we’ve been ‘spoilt for choice’ with a whole raft of dubious vacancies going up for grabs. Thanks to those of you who spotted the Partnership Support Officer advertised... Read more...
The news yesterday that the Government is going to look at simplifying the tax system is very welcome. But hasn't the work of the new Office for Tax Simplification already been done? In October 2006 Lord Forsyth's Tax Reform Commission set out a series of proposals for reform of the... Read more...
No real improvement When it comes to our horrendous fiscal deficit, there are many who still maintain we can afford to wait before starting on retrenchment. Yesterday's rather nasty public borrowing statistics underline just how dangerous that argument is. Because once you strip out the effects of the... Read more...
Yesterday at the Home Affairs Committee meeting, the issue of senior pay came up. Immigration Minister Damian Green said that 8.6 per cent of the entire Home Office pay bill was set aside for bonuses. This is going down to 4.4 per cent this year. Mr Green then went on... Read more...
Another day, another good spot from one of our activists who noticed this on a local news website. It seems that public sector workers in Gloucestershire are quite literally being rewarded with sweets and chocolate for doing their jobs properly! According to the article, councils and government bodies in... Read more...
Merging back office functions is often talked about vaguely as part of the search for savings. It’s similar to efficiency savings – sounds good, but what does it actually mean? Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster councils will be putting this in to practice in an early high-profile case of sharing... Read more...
This morning, the Telegraph reports that not only are JP Morgan reconsidering a new European headquarters they were planning on setting up in Canary Wharf, but they are also considering moving back office functions that employ hundreds of people in Bournemouth and Glasgow: "The American bank is understood to be... Read more...
The Sun today has the story of the prison inmates who are getting yoga classes, paid for by taxpayers. Apparently it's to help them relax, but I am not sure how relaxed you can be when you are behind bars, I've been inside a prison (as a visitor incidentally), and... Read more...
There are more calls for the coalition government to sell off the motorways and introduce road tolling. Today it is from Tim Yeo, chairman of the Commons energy and climate change select committee and the man who also urges the introduction of “personal carbon credits” which would see all adults... Read more...
1. You claim to present an overview of the research on health and inequality, yet leave out the scientifically most heavyweight survey of the field, Princeton Professor Angus Deaton’s article in the prestigious Journal of Economic Literature. Is this simply because Deaton finds no robust relationship between life... Read more...
The Islington audit committee row continues with a new twist. Helen Cagnoni of the Islington Leaseholders Association makes the point that Islington tenants have long suffered from over-inflated bills for work done to their buildings, which subsequently result in substantial increases in service charges or force tenants to take on... Read more...
After more than two and a half years as the TPA’s Campaign Director, this is my last day – I’m moving on, as they say, to pastures new. I’ve had a fantastic time with the organisation, which has been more varied, more exciting and more hectic than I could ever... Read more...
As was reported last May, several shareholders’ groups dismissed large pay packages for their executives, the biggest revolt being at Shell – 60 per cent of investors voted down multi-million pound pay and bonuses to staff who had failed to meet targets. On Tuesday, investors sent a warning message... Read more...
It was enough to suggest a vast right-wing conspiracy. Last week, three debunkings of the left’s new favourite text The Spirit Level appeared in as many days—first from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, then from Policy Exchange and then in the Wall Street Journal. This coincidence (I assure you it was a... Read more...
The proposal for a graduate tax announced by Vince Cable today is a truly awful idea for a number of reasons. It is less fair than using fees, a less suitable revenue stream for universities and likely to run into a thicket of complexity if it isn't to be utterly... Read more...
In the Queen’s Speech, the Coalition Government devoted itself to a pledge of ‘value for money.’ And apparently this is central to the government’s aid policy: ‘Using the power of independent evaluation, transparency and results-focus to drive a step change in the effectiveness of Britain’s aid efforts.’ At the same... Read more...
Good news from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG): Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) grants are to be abolished. In September last year we published research that showed exactly how local authorities spent the money given to them by central government - and we called for the scheme to... Read more...
Many thanks to those of you who’ve been in touch with the TPA, alerting us to needless spending in your local area. If you do spot anything that strikes you as a waste of money in the current climate, then do just drop me a line at [email protected]. Today... Read more...
If local government is feeling the pinch, then you wouldn’t know it from looking at the Guardian jobs site today. There are 234 positions advertised, perhaps fewer than we’ve seen in the past, but many of those featured are posted by councils offering particularly hefty salaries for non-vital roles. ... Read more...
It used to be so much easier to keep track Yesterday the Office for National Statistics published a very interesting paper on public debt. For the first time in an official publication, it brings together estimates of all those off-balance sheet Enron items we've... Read more...