What a rush of non-jobs there were this week. This from the papers today – a deputy Twittercrat for the Cabinet Office earning £75,000 a year – came astonishingly close to being the non-job of the week. Our non-job, however, comes from one of the 406 government jobs available in... Read more...
The Public gallery opened this weekend to mixed reviews, and so begins the mad rush to make this thwarted venture a success. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays interactive art enthusiasts can view the entire gallery free-of-charge, and for those who can’t make it along or don’t want to forget the... Read more...
On 22nd July a copy of Michael Frater’s Report – "Diagnostic and stocktaking" landed in my lap and was headlined in the local press on the 24th. It devastatingly revealed a long-standing whole system failure of Surrey County Council. A great deal of activity ensued on our part with myself,... Read more...
The Government's energy policy is disastrous. By trying to push renewables into action prematurely, on a massive scale, they have imposed huge costs on businesses and ordinary taxpayers. 14 per cent of the average household electricity bill is now the result of climate change regulations, the figure is even higher at... Read more...
Some good news on the quango front, this week. It turns out GOD is supportive of our drive to reduce their wasteful spending! According to this month's Prospect magazine, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell (known in Whitehall as GOD thanks to his fortuitous intials) has forbidden all quangos from... Read more...
When are politicians going to get real and start confronting excessive public spending? With the high-speed rail announcement earlier this week, it appears that they are still living in a fantasy land where such ambitious and enormously expensive schemes can be announced without a word about where the money is... Read more...
In another article for the TPA, our supporter John Martin wants to know who, on the IRP, decides the pay of Norfolk's county councillors. In the next two or three months, Norfolk County Council (NCC) will decide whether its councillors should have their allowances increased. This will follow on from a... Read more...
The Climate Camp, which has been the focus of much overblown angst amongst the police this week, has finally revealed its secret location: Blackheath. The site has apparently been chosen for its historical connections, as the place where Wat Tyler rallied his army during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. But is Wat... Read more...
There's an excellent article in the New York Times from Michael Lynch that comprehensively refutes the idea that we should be really worried about reaching, or having already reached, "Peak Oil". That argument is often used to support the idea that we should impose greater green taxes or regulations like the Renewables Obligation and... Read more...
There’s nowhere to hide if you’re a fat kid in the West Midlands at the moment, as the government are trying every tactic in the book to coerce children into exercise at all costs. “Fitness drive for children” reads an article in the Express & Star, heralding a new... Read more...
There are just over 400 jobs in the government sector this week, with a few corkers vying for the non-job of the week. As you can see from the table on the right, the jobs are broken down into government ‘sectors’ and salary bands. The runner up this week... Read more...
John Denham - Communities Secretary and the most surprising success of the June reshuffle - has ordered the Audit Commission to investigate the problem of council 'boomerang bosses'. (BBC News, Telegraph). The local government 'boomerang boss' has become a ubiquitous feature in the TPA's annual Town Hall Rich List, the... Read more...
Today the TaxPayers' Alliance has released a new press release with the Competitive Enterprise Institute attacking the waste of taxpayers' money by the Carbon Trust trying to expand around the world. The Daily Mail have reported the story and written in their leader that, as Gordon Brown is under pressure to identify... Read more...
The Carbon Trust, a British environmental pressure group, is establishing a presence in the United States, underwritten by British taxpayers’ money. The Carbon Trust was created as an independent, but taxpayer funded, company by the British Government in order to encourage firms to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. It... Read more...
The fact that more than 60 per cent of students – a record number – last week secured the grades they needed for their choice of university is a cause for celebration. For those students who received the desired grades, congratulations to them. For those facing clearing, the best of... Read more...
Last Friday the WMTPA hit Stoke for the very first time as TPA activist Russell Booth and I took to the streets of the city to collect signatures in support of our ‘Bring Them to Justice’ campaign, and to recruit new members. Though the weather turned against us, the... Read more...
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr) yesterday gave their assessment of the costs associated with the recent fall in public sector productivity (see here).Needless to say the amounts are staggering. But before turning directly to the figures, let’s put the story in context. The Office for National Statistics... Read more...
TPA supporter John Martin, pictured below, writes for us on the amount of ‘twin hatters’ (those councillors who sit on Norfolk County Council as well as one of the district councils) and explains how they can make a killing in allowances: Why do “twin-hatters” – the name that appears to... Read more...
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, the Ministry of Defense has hit a new low. The NAO has refused to sign off the Departments annual accounts due to “insufficient evidence to support the existence" of kit valued at around £6.6bn. The equipment includes £1.25 billion of machineguns, encrypted... Read more...
Today on his blog John Redwood MP discusses the Local Government Association proposals to increase competition and choice in school uniforms, through a series of measures including making school branding and insignia available to convert the affordable clothes found in supermarkets into acceptable school uniforms. Simple free-market measures like these... Read more...
From the off, let me state emphatically that this is not post about domestic violence. Due to its stimulus - a Today programme interview on the subject of domestic violence - some may misinterpret what follows as an attempt to downplay the severity of the problem or marginalise the suffering... Read more...
News reaches us that Wokingham Borough Council and Harrogate Council are looking for new members for their Independent Remuneration Panels. IRPs are citizens panels that recommend what pay and perks councillors receive. They’re your chance to have a say on the type of service your councillors and your council are providing.Recently,... Read more...
There are fewer available public sector jobs on the Guardian website this week. Over the past few weeks we’ve seen around 500 on average, this week slightly less on 420. This week’s non-job of the week beats the runner-up ‘Marketing/Audience Development Manager’ at East Hertfordshire District Council on £28,947 a... Read more...
We were in Hove yesterday, enjoying the sunshine and delivering some of our leaflets as well as a notice to Hove residents about their MP’s expenses. In the expenses expose, Celia Barlow claimed £28,000 on stamp duty, moving costs and renovations. It was a perfect day in the bright south... Read more...