Greenwich’s punitive pavement tax that pays for one council pension
Small shops and cafes in the Royal Borough of Greenwich are being hit by new street trading licensing charges introduced by the council this summer. Read more...
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Buckinghamshire proposes Council Tax rise
Buckinghamshire County Council is holding a consultation with local residents about Council Tax. So far, so good, however as reported by Harry Phibbs on Conservative Home, residents will not have an option to vote for a freeze or a cut. Instead they will be asked to chose from increases of... Read more...
Rochdale Council boss to get £40,000 pay rise
Rochdale Council raised Council Tax last year by 3.5 per cent last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't try to increase Council Tax again next April. Despite these increases, a pay rise of £40,000 for the chief executive has been recommended, with other senior officers in line... Read more...
Cornish councillors urge 6 per cent council tax rise
Shockingly, Cornish councillors are urging a 6 per cent Council Tax rise next year! Five cross-party councillors have submitted this proposal to Cornwall Council. ‘A 6 per cent rise would cost people about £1.50 a week,’ says one of these councillors, ‘but it would bring in an extra £9m, so even if... Read more...
Hull City Council staff face forced changes to terms and conditions
Two weeks ago I wrote about the unions emphatically rejecting changes to terms and conditions for staff at Hull City Council. The leader of the council, Steve Brady, has previously cited one of the highest mileage rates of any council in the country and high overtime costs as two examples... Read more...
Cardiff Council's barmy monthly bin collection plans
If you asked local taxpayers for a list of vital council services they rely on, bin collections would be high on the list, and although many people freely recycle much of their rubbish, there still has to be a basic service provided for non-recyclable waste. In the past few days... Read more...
Questionable expenditure from East Kent?
East Kent is full of examples of questionable expenditure at the moment. Not just government and local government, but other public bodies, not all quite as accountable. Read more...
Institute of Directors is right to call for substantial tax simplification
The Director General of the Institute of Directors, Simon Walker, has spoken out against complicated and high tax rates, citing the 73 per cent marginal combined income tax and child benefit withdrawal rate faced by a taxpayer with four children earning between £50,000 and £60,000. Read more...
New research: renewable energy subsidies will double to over £5 billion in next five years
Renewable energy – such as wind – is only competitive thanks to generous Government subsidies. Those subsidies are paid for by consumers through higher household energy bills.We can reveal that, even based on conservative projections, those subsidies will rise from just under £2 billion this year to over £5 billion by 2018/19.... Read more...
Welfare reform in South Wales
As the owner of a small business in South Wales, the news of an economic turnaround has really benefited us and created a fresh positivity amongst our customer base. Demand for our services is up to the point that we have gone regional and are on the verge of national... Read more...
Bristol’s very expensive new broom
Bristol City Council (BCC) is keen to trumpet the departure of five senior managers, each earning £80,000, as part of its efforts, apparently, to ‘become a smaller but more efficient organisation’—but information has been passed to us that these directors will be simply replaced by four new directors each being... Read more...
EU Fiscal Factbook
To see the Factbook in full, clink here. Read more...
New data shows Stamp Duty is becoming an ever-bigger problem
HMRC published new data on Stamp Duty this morning which show increases in all regions. The biggest increase was in the North East, where HMRC took 25 per cent more from home buyers in 2012-13 than they did in the previous year. Read more...
Cornish pubs join VAT protest
Cornish pubs joined in a protest across the South West by cutting the price of their food and drink by 7.5% as part of Tax Parity Day, reports The Cornishman. It’s part of a campaign to highlight the benefit of a reduction of VAT to 5% in the hospitality industry.... Read more...
West Yorkshire councils dip into budgets to fund the Tour de France
It was revealed earlier this week on BBC Radio Leeds that Yorkshire councils will be dipping into various budgets to pay for the 'Grand Depart' of the Tour de France next year. The famous cycle race starts in Leeds next year on 5 July. Wakefield Council plans to spend £100,000... Read more...
Short sighted plan to plunge Essex into darkness
Some of the busiest streets in Essex will be plunged into darkness as street lights all over the county are switched off overnight. Read more...
Bristol support for cut to sky-high holiday tax
South West TPA supporters gathered in Bristol Airport calling for a cut in Air Passenger Duty (APD) on Wednesday. Taxes on flights departing from the UK are the highest in the world. Different rates apply according to the distance travelled. Britain’s exceptionally high taxes on flights in though make holidays much... Read more...
Public Accounts Committee right to criticise rural broadband scheme
Responding to the publication of the Public Accounts Committee's report, The rural broadband programme, Dominique Lazanski, Digital Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: Read more...
Are UNISON still in charge in Hull?
It was revealed yesterday that the unions have emphatically rejected changes to their terms and conditions at Hull City Council. This has been a long running saga and something I have written about on many occasions. When Labour took control of the Guildhall in May 2011 from the Liberal Democrats,... Read more...
COMMENT: Energy price fixing and tax hikes would quickly see economic reality bite
Writing in City A.M., Matthew Sinclair argues Labour's policy announcements on Corporation Tax and energy prices would be economically damaging for Britain. Read more...
COMMENT: Ed Miliband’s energy announcement may be nonsense, but it could become popular
Writing for The Spectator's Coffee House, Matthew Sinclair argues that under Labour's new energy plans, politicians will effectively renationalise the energy sector. Read more...
How shall we spend your money?
Lambeth Council recently sent local residents a consultation document asking how they would like £200,000 left over from the Oval Neighbourhood Enhancement Programme to be spent. “You know your neighbourhood best”, says Councillor Jack Hopkins in a letter to residents, “so we asked you what we should do to make... Read more...
Former Hull Council Chief Executive gets a quarter of a million pounds pay-off
Nicola Yates abruptly left her post as Chief Executive of Hull City Council fourteen months ago. The speed of her departure was breathtaking, and for a council that likes to think it is open and transparent, we still don't know the reason why she was shown the door. There were rumours... Read more...
Is Ceredigion Council helping to create a property bubble?
Houses prices in Ceredigion have seen huge monthly increases, in fact the area was ranked in the top ten for August's increases nationally. Potential buyers in Ceredigion faced a rise only 0.2% smaller than those in London for the same period. Ceredigion Council hasn't missed out on an opportunity though to bolster... Read more...