Council bureaucrats are at it again. After we blogged here about Herefordshire council ordering a local resident to stop cutting a grass verge by his home neglected by the council, the council leader apologised after we brought it to his attention. Today the Daily Express (not online) reports that... Read more...
I’ve copied below a transcript between a Euro MP and the Eurosceptic president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, about the impending Czech presidency of the EU. I’ve highlighted some phrases that we can go over afterwards, but for now just have a read: “Brian Crowley MEP: I am... Read more...
There has rightly been a lot of publicity over the last few days about the newly released expenses details of Welsh Assembly Members. Thousand pound televisions, iPods, swanky sofas, Sky subscription and other purchases have come in forall the criticism they deserve. Looking at the details, there's one other expenses... Read more...
Lord Sutherland's inquiry into this summers SATs fiasco has found that "failures occurred at almost every stage of the test delivery process". Blaming a culture of complacency at the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA) - an attitude that "it'll be all right on the night" - the report concludes that... Read more...
This week’s non-job comes from SEEDA, the wasteful, unnecessary South East England Development Agency: “Head of Marketing & Communications£56,000 We’re assembling a brand new communications team to raise SEEDA’s profile. As part of this team you’ll be pivotal in making sure the South East knows what we’re putting... Read more...
Today is the 235th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, one of the earliest and most famous blows for taxpayers' rights in the face of unjust and excessive taxation. The protestors, and the Revolution they went on to inspire, were driven by a fundamental objection to unfair and unjust taxes,... Read more...
Circumlocution in action Government doesn't do efficiency. We all know that.So why does it keep trying to run efficiency programmes? Surely someone up there must have noticed they don't work. Surely someone must have registered how the shambolic Gershon programme turned into an expensive Marx Brothers farce (see many previous blogs... Read more...
This is a pretty astonishing failure, reported in the Independent: "The shared service centre in Swansea had been intended to cost £55m but make £112m in savings – which would have given an overall cut of £57m. Instead, the latest estimates show that the programme will cost £121m and... Read more...
"A week is a long time in politics". It's a trite observation, but these days it seems to be particularly true. One barely has time to digest one world rescue plan before another supersedes it; what one poll says on Tuesday is promptly contradicted by another on Thursday. In education... Read more...
Last week, I wrote an article for the Guardian's Comment is Free website discussing the costs and the huge economic risk of the Government's borrowing. Now, Dan Mitchell takes up the case against fiscal stimulus: Read more...
Our 2008 council publicity spending report revealed which councils have increased their spending on publicity, despite the tough economic times we live in. Here are the top ten councils who have increased their publicity spend in cash terms, our publicity spending sinners. I’ve included the leader of the council’s... Read more...
So there we have it. If you didn't already feel like the 2012 Olympics was being run by people more concerned with their own interests than those of the public, the latest development must have driven the message home: bureaucrats, VIPs and politicians are to get their own road lanes to... Read more...
It was announced this afternoon that the people of Greater Manchester voted in force against the proposed congestion charge, with the 53.2% (1,030,000) turnout voting overwhelmingly against this additional road tax. No less than 79% of those who voted wanted to reject the charge, and no more than... Read more...
TPA activist Steve Atkinson has done some excellent work finding out where Cumbria County Council has taxpayers' money deposited in banks both foreign and domestic. Here's his Freedom of Information response from Cumbria County Council: "As at 17 November 2008, the County Council had the following monies deposited: Bank deposits £86,075,000Money... Read more...
Last Thursday, Stoke-on-Trent councillor and TPA supporter Gavin Webb made an interesting proposal to full council, yet the reaction of his fellow members will dismay those who’d assumed their elected representatives would be exploring all avenues with a view to eliminating the authority’s huge £12.1 million deficit Cllr Webb’s... Read more...
Average council spending on publicity rises to £971,985 Total Town Hall publicity bill £430 million The average local authority spent twice the amount on publicity than it did in 1996-97 In December 2007, the TaxPayers’ Alliance produced the first ever examination of the growth of town hall spending on publicity... Read more...
Ahead of the European Council meeting on 11th December, which will discuss EU energy policy, leading economist Ruth Lea warns in a new briefing paper for the TaxPayers' Alliance and Global Vision that the proposed EU Renewables Directive would drive up electricity costs, harm the economy and increase fuel poverty.... Read more...
TPA activist Bruce Lawson has written a superb letter to the Shropshire Star to follow up our Public Sector Rich List 2008. You can read it below. As always with our reports, its crucial our grassroots campaigners follow them up with short, sharp letters to the press to hammer home... Read more...
The Office for National Statistics has found that the number of pensioners in the UK now outnumbers those under the age of 16 for the first time. Ageing populations and a decreasing number of births across Europe isn’t a new trend, but this particular statistic raises very serious concerns in... Read more...
This week’s non-job comes from Hackney council: “Sport and Physical Activity Development Officer - Football £34,605 - £37,368 p.a. inc. The 2012 Olympics will be a landmark here in Hackney. We see them as an ideal opportunity to create a long-term legacy for all our residents, as... Read more...
First there was the shock of learning that local councils had placed – and then lost – millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money in Icelandic banks. Now we learn that Lancashire County Council, believe it or not, has been lending money to other councils. To be precise they lent Birmingham... Read more...
The real picture is even worse The Pre-Budget Statement showed us just how enormous Mr Brown's credit card bill now is. Yet we taxpayers are meant to believe that we shouldn't worry too much because the pain can be pushed off into the far distant yonder.Needless to say, that' wildly misleading, as we... Read more...
How much money is it acceptable to spend on advertising for an attraction that is shut? You may think that’s a stupid question, but the Express & Star newspaper reports today that £4,000 will be spent on double-sided signs intended to entice people into The Public gallery in West Bromwich.... Read more...
Jack Straw has announced that he has plans to "rebalance" the Human Rights Act (HRA). The problem is that this isn't a system that any British politician can balance, adjust or alter at all. The rights that the HRA enshrines can't be made contingent upon the responsibilities Straw wants... Read more...