Readers may remember earlier comments made on this thread, regarding the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Since then, however, Mr. Trevor Phillips has dug himself an even deeper hole. Over recent weeks his super-quango has had a rough time of it and has been subject to... Read more...
The Guardian’s list of jobs this week has almost 500 positions in government that need to be filled. More importantly, you're required to pay for them. On the right you can see the chart detailing the jobs and salary bands you’ve generously ‘contributed’ to. There were plenty of contenders... Read more...
It looks as though residents in Malvern Hills will be limited to just two sacks of non-recyclable rubbish a week as District Council chiefs feel the pressure from central government to hit landfill targets in the area. The new rule looks set to be okayed this evening, and will... Read more...
I just wanted to flag up a few choice words from the inimitable Fergus Shanahan in his Sun column today: Dwarf French President Nicolas Sarkozy is carted off to hospital suffering from exhaustion, anxiously pursued on a motorbike by his sex goddess wife Carla Bruni. Italy's randy old... Read more...
A few weeks ago we reported on the campaign to save Swindon ’s small community libraries from closure. Since knowing about the ‘alphabet soup’ quangocracy that governs library policy, and can advise on whether to keep certain libraries open or not, we’ve got more involved in this grassroots effort to... Read more...
In a catastrophic 12-page report, the interim chief executive of Surrey County Council slates the leadership, organisation and strategy of the borough. You can read the full report here but these paragraphs really stand out: Para 13“The difficult position in which the County Council finds itself is fundamentally a... Read more...
New report argues that government tax changes will reduce the incentives to become an entrepreneur. The top marginal tax rate on income earned, saved, invested in a company and then passed on to children is currently 90 per cent. With the forthcoming 50 per cent top tax rate, that will... Read more...
Finally, I have found some positive news in the British government: the new Mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies. This is a man who is setting a positive example for all British politicians and proving his worth by cutting his spending. Since being elected in June, the Mayor has slashed... Read more...
Today the Transport Select Committee have said that the public do not trust the Government with road taxation. The report says that changes to Vehicle Excise Duty have damaged the reputation of green taxes, essentially meaning that people do not believe that taxes are used for anything other than old-fashioned... Read more...
Today the Birmingham Post reports how the bus lane that runs down Tyburn Road will finally be axed after four years in limbo, but not before it has cost taxpayers in excess of £2.6m. That’s right, the signs are being dismantled and road-markings painted over as a study reveals that... Read more...
Here we go again, folks. Lincolnshire County Council is looking for new members for its Independent Remuneration Panel (IRPs). These panels are very important. They judge and recommend what pay, perks and expenses councillors get, so it’s a prime opportunity for you to have a say on the quality of service... Read more...
Well done to our superstar in the West Midlands, Russell Booth. He has recruited 547 new supporters for us. You can see just a few of the many, many sign-up forms Russell sent us in the photo below. It’s supporters like Russell who keep the grassroots engines turning over,... Read more...
The Ministry of Defence have announced a 15-year contract worth £230 million a year with the ship builder BVT Surface Fleet Ltd. The contract is designed to provide the company with a reliable income after the current contract to build two new aircraft carriers is completed. Most procurement processes... Read more...
The Government’s Air Passenger Duty (APD), introduced in 2006, is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. In times of recession the average taxpayer would expect any reasonable Government to encourage consumption. But it is becoming increasingly clear that the Government’s response to the downturn is anything... Read more...
They may well be tempted to shrug their shoulders and blame the chaos caused by the elected mayor fiasco, but Stoke-on-Trent City Council have experienced a rise in complaints this year with regards to the services they provide. Perhaps more shockingly, this disaster-prone council have also seen a drop in... Read more...
This week we see more local government jobs from the table on the right and, to go with it, the eye watering news that government revenues are falling. Again, the government are squeezing the productive sector of the economy to subsidise the government sector at an ever higher cost. Our non-job... Read more...
Three quite different news stories, one all-too-common theme: the absence of proper scrutiny in some processes of UK governance. Of course MPs, Lords, journalists, the public, civil servants and campaign groups all subject the Government to the most critical scrutiny, but the problem that unites the three stories is the... Read more...
As a successful businessman Digby Jones should know a thing or two about management. A former GOAT – part of Labour’s Government of All Talents – Lord Jones recalled on his time in Whitehall by saying that some ministers were not fit to govern. After Jacqui Smith’s confession that she... Read more...
The Building Colleges for the Future programme has been consistently panned for its spiralling cost and insufficient management. Now a report by the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee has joined in to heavily criticise the budgeting and project monitoring of the LSC and its now defunct parent,... Read more...
Great news for Woverhampton residents as the authority publishes a draft budget indicating that there will be a 0% rise in council tax next year for the city’s 136,000 homes (E&S). Though they’re keen to emphasise that this is an ‘aspiration’ and a ‘target’ they have put in place... Read more...
Yesterday, Tessa Jowell, the Cabinet Office Minister, announced in a statement to the house that Phase 2 of SCOPE, the Governments new I.T system, is to be scrapped at the cost of £24m to the taxpayer. The system was an information technology programme intended to improve “the way sensitive information... Read more...
Yesterday, I learned that the government is now using taxpayers’ money to supply methadone to prisoners in the UK. That’s £4million of our money to get prisoners high. This has to top the list as one of the most appalling ways to waste taxpayers’ money. It’s such... Read more...
After calling for ‘wage restraint’ at the BBC, it has been revealed that the chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, earns £213,000. This represents a 33% pay rise from last year and places him comfortably in the top 0.6% of earners in the UK. Lucky him. The only problem:... Read more...
For some reason the Department for Transport's offical vid forgot to ask him about the outrageous costs A few days ago, Transport Minister Sadiq Kahn visited a field in Buckinghamshire where the M25 is being widened. Standing in front of the DfT's corporate banner, he said: "Today marks a major... Read more...