At least they're upfront about it Dole Scroungers is based in sunny Brighton. It campaigns for better welfare entitlements and gives advice on how to extract more cash from taxpayers. Less than an hour from London, full of pink pounds and posh houses, you might think Brighton... Read more...
The Times reports that the accountancy firm Grant Thornton and a host of other organisations such as the AA, Chambers of Commerce and Freight Transport Association have called for a planned rise in fuel duty in the Budget to be scrapped. We couldn't agree more. Our report The case... Read more...
Today's Times reports that Alistair Darling may re-think his plans to tax non-doms: The Treasury is understood to be looking at possible concessions after a wave of protests raised fears of an exodus of wealth-creating foreigners from the City. Officials were examining the detail of the proposals and looking at... Read more...
The BBC reports that the NHS has spent £180 million compensating patients wrongly charged for long-term care: "Patients charged for long-term nursing and social care from 1996 to 2004 have been able to have their cases reviewed if they feel they were overcharged. This has led to over 13,000 claims... Read more...
Processing those Gershon efficiency audits News today that Brown's Gershon... ahem... efficiency programme has generated yet another additional cost. This time it's the £432m paid to 7,717 civil servants made redundant under the plan. Most chokingly for taxpayers, the mandarin in charge, John Oughton, himself got a... Read more...
Well, who on Earth didn't see this coming? "The Treasury is expecting to raise an extra £800 million a year by 2010 from a £30,000 annual tax on wealthy non-doms, as part of an effort to cut public sector borrowing. But the study warned that the non-dom plan will cost... Read more...
Over the past two weeks, you know how you can easily contribute to the TPA campaign from your home. You can research into news stories to find anything for us to campaign on relevant to our crusade for lower taxes and better government. You can follow this up with letters... Read more...
Today's Telegraph gives a very welcome report that the Conservatives may not match Labour's spending plans beyond 2010-11: David Cameron is prepared to drop his pledge to match Labour's spending increases after the next election to pave the way for tax cuts under a Conservative government, The Daily Telegraph can... Read more...
The Telegraph reports on an increasing number of people leaving hospital malnourished: "The number of patients leaving hospital malnourished has almost doubled in a decade, with one in five now affected, experts said yesterday. Some 140,000 people are discharged from hospital while underweight every year, and most are never diagnosed... Read more...
Another £100bn added to the debt millstone Yesterday the Office for National Statistics formally moved the Crock onto the public sector balance sheet. So for the first time we have official recognition that the bulk of its debt is hanging round taxpayers' necks. The ONS hasn't yet crunched the... Read more...
From today's FT: Digby Jones, the trade and investment minister, has warned that plans for a tax crackdown on non-domiciled foreigners living in the UK threaten London’s role as a world finance centre... Lord Jones said the tax changes made it harder for him to sell Britain as a destination... Read more...
...just not in English The above was found on the Freedom of Information page at North Lincolnshire Council's website. From their census in 2001, 2.5% of residents were from an ethnic minority, who this service is aimed at. Needless to say the Freedom of Information request is in the post... Read more...
The Guardian reports on threats of a teacher shortage: "Schools will face a shortage of maths and English teachers next year, new figures reveal. They show a dramatic drop in the number of teacher trainee applicants. The number of applicants to start postgraduate teacher training for primary and secondary schools... Read more...
The Audit Commission today released its performance evaluation of councils in the UK. They report that 83% of councils received a 3 or 4 (maximum) star status, a 3% increase from 2006. Surprisingly, no councils were in the lowest ranked category with 13 Councils achieving the 4 stars and ‘improving... Read more...
The cost of those PFI plug sockets Yesterday afternoon your correspondent attended the latest Public Accounts Committee session on PFI. On the table was the recent NAO report on how the public sector gets ripped off when it orders changes to long-term contracts (blogged here) On the griddle was John... Read more...
On Friday the Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust, covering Stafford and Cannock’s main hospitals, was given ‘Foundation Trust’ status and already the executives in charge are looking to hike their pay up by as much as 154% (Express and Star). The Trust chair, Toni Brisby, who can work as... Read more...
Last week’s non-job of the week was a delightful course in hypocrisy – a green job with a car thrown in. This week Chorley Council provides us with another gem. Having just released our report in the growth of Town Hall middle management, we find yet more of your money... Read more...
The Telegraph reports on a leaked draft of a report that will call for significant cuts in police paperwork: "An official review by Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the chief inspector of constabulary, says police have become ''slaves'' to rules and regulations and are ''strait-jacketed by process". His report was delivered to... Read more...
Just get them built As the NHS has illustrated so graphically, government spending binges rarely end well. Labour's NHS splurge pumped up a healthcare system unused to such a rich diet, and wholly unable to handle it. Costs escalated, low grade hospital staff were recruited en masse, and management overheads... Read more...
In a debate over anti-obesity policy at CentreRight.Com Peter Franklin argued that the problem of obesity cannot be ignored because of "the long-term consequences that will be visited upon the taxpayer for decades to come". Peter Cuthbertson responded that, although he also thought tackling obesity would be great, he didn't... Read more...
The trust thing is still heading South Hardly a day goes by without some fresh scandal from Parliament. The Conway case may have been particularly spectacular, but scores of "honourable" members clearly think tax-funded nepotism is perfectly OK. And as the Wintertons' Death Tax deal has shown, there are no... Read more...
Yesterday’s mandatory Business Consultation with the West Midlands Police Authority in Birmingham threw up some interesting questions about where our precept money is going. As the first to present his slides, Mike Williams, the Authority Treasurer was quick to point out what he referred to as a “spectacular” increase in... Read more...
It emerged today that the Healthcare Commission has found Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust guilty of serious breaches of the hygiene code. Following a series of (all too rare) 'unannounced' visits to the Trusts Hospitals, inspectors reported 'thick layers of dust on curtain rails around patients' beds’, revealing that a routine... Read more...
From today's FT: Mr Hammond argued on Monday night it made no economic sense to advocate cutting public spending when the economic cycle was in a downturn. “At any time, the proposal that we should cut back the growth in public spending more harshly than Margaret Thatcher did is pretty... Read more...