The Williams Commission has - under what has been described and urgent and radical proposals - recommended a reduction in the number of Welsh councils from 22 to between 10 and 12. The report offered several different options for the future landscape of Welsh local government, but all involved merging authorities.... Read more...
Windsor and Maidenhead Council today announced a 2 per cent tax cut proposal for 2014-15. The cut will represent the fifth successive year of rate reductions, during which time the tax burden has decreased by a considerable 26 per cent in real terms. Read more...
Bath & North East Somerset Council (B&NES) has one of the biggest surpluses in parking charges and fines outside of London—£5.3 million in 2011/12. No one enjoys an unexpected fine or charge, but the high cost of parking fines are, more often than not, out of all proportion to the offences committed. Read more...
Essex County Council is set to hike council taxes by 1.49 per cent this year, in order to raise an additional £2.9 million. This means that the Council, which receives 73p in every pound of Council Tax paid by Essex households, has also lost the right to a central government grant... Read more...
Many councils across the country are consulting with local residents on possible Council Tax increases. Nottinghamshire County Council is just completing its consultation called ‘The Budget Challenge 2014/15’. The response rate was good, with over 6000 people completing a form and sending it to the council, and the council has... Read more...
Cut National Insurance, raise and align its thresholds and prepare for it to be fully merged into Income Tax, says a new report from the CentreForum think tank: Read more...
Long established shops in Bath are closing their doors, thanks in part to continuing high business rates. Read more...
Over the weekend we exposed that HS2 Ltd, the body charged with delivering the unnecessary and expensive white elephant, has already wasted an eye-watering sum of taxpayers’ money. Using publicly available data on the Department for Transport website, we revealed that HS2 Ltd has already spent well over £300 million on... Read more...
New figures have revealed that 819 mandarins and quangocrats (excluding local government) earned over £100,000 in 2013, costing taxpayers more than £100 million. Read more...
Yesterday taxpayers commiserated the 215th anniversary Income Tax. Read more...
As the South West is battered by storms and floods, one attempt to harness the power of a local waterway has cost the taxpayer an estimated £1.3m pounds in legal action—to stop it happening! Read more...
Although I have many criticisms of my local council, the one thing I cannot complain about is the bin collection service. My bins are emptied when the council says they are going to be emptied. Read more...
NHS managers have splashed out £5,000 on an afternoon of jazz at taxpayers’ expense. Read more...
Lord Hanningfield was exposed in yesterday's Mirror for clocking into Parliament for a few minutes a day before leaving, in order to ‘earn’ his £300 a day allowance. He has claimed more than £50,000 of taxpayers' money since returning from prison in April 2012, despite never having spoken in any... Read more...
Commenting on the publication today by the Public Accounts Committee of its latest report, HMRC tax collection: Annual Report & Accounts 2012-13, Jonathan Isaby, Political Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It's little wonder that the amount of tax being collected is going down, given that our hideously complex tax... Read more...
Having spent millions of pounds on a failed Boris-style bicycle hire scheme in Bath, Bath & North East Somerset Council (B&NES) is preparing to do it all over again—with taxpayers once again footing the bill. Read more...
Eric Pickles has opened up a new front in the war on council waste by issuing new guidance for local authorities to publish key spending data. The new transparency code will be mandatory for all councils whose gross income exceeds £6.5 million. Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance was in Swansea last Friday, opposing the Council’s move to limit the number of black bin bags households can leave out for collection every fortnight to only three. On a very damp morning, when most people thought it better to stay indoors, we were able to collect... Read more...
Many people will be glued to their television this Saturday to watch the semi-finals of Strictly Come Dancing. I have to admit to being a fan myself, mainly because I am a hopeless dancer and I marvel at those who can. One dance that will not be featured though is... Read more...
Bath councillors are arguing for taxpayers’ money to be spent on converting a public toilet into a wine bar. It is the latest twist in the Bath and North East Somerset’s (B&NES) bungled attempt to save £120,000 by closing down 14 public toilets across the region. Read more...
In our report ‘201 Ways to Save Money in Local Government’ published last month, number 188 was reduce the number of councillors. I don’t know whether Keighley’s deputy mayor, Judith Brooksbank has seen our report, however she is proposing just that after the suggestion received strong support at a local... Read more...
Jonathan Isaby of the TaxPayers' Alliance issued the following response to today's announcement by IPSA on MPs' pay: Read more...
Swansea Council, along with some other councils in Wales, has proposed yet further cut backs to local bin collections. As I mentioned last week, the council proposes to limit the amount of refuse one household can have collected to only three black bags once a fortnight. Read more...
Buckinghamshire County Council's cabinet has just recommended just under two per cent increase in Council Tax next year. Read more...