Politicians in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords have spent an astonishing £230,000 of taxpayers' money on a selection of paintings and busts to adorn their offices, the Sun has revealed. Former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett posed for a painting in Parliament costing taxpayers £12,000 and... Read more...
Scotland’s outgoing Information Commissioner, Kevin Dunion, has reportedly spent thousands of pounds on a reception to mark the end of his tenure. According to information released under the same Freedom of Information laws that he championed, his office spent almost £3,000 on a parliamentary reception to mark his departure from office. The... Read more...
The two-year civil service pay freeze in Northern Ireland seems to have come to an end. Taxpayers will now have to fork out for increases of up to six per cent in civil servants’ salaries, something many in the private sector can only dream of right now. The Department of... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance is today demanding that the Government, devolved administrations, local councils and other public sector bodies further reduce the amount of taxpayers' money which they are spending on PR and marketing consultants. The call comes as PR Week publishes in its latest edition "The Top 25 Public Sector... Read more...
Just 16 per cent of the public trust George Osborne to see the country through the recession, according to an opinion poll by ComRes for ITV. Meanwhile, a survey of business leaders for the Institute of Directors found that 54 per cent thought attempts to reduce taxation have been ‘ineffective’,... Read more...
Since May 2007, the Scottish Government has spent more than £8 million on a record numbers of flights – an average of 25 flights for every working day since taking office. Earlier this year, nearly £50,000 was spent on a 4-day trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco where Alex Salmond attended... Read more...
A publicly-owned internet project in South Yorkshire has reported heavy losses for the second year running, forcing councils in Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley to inject tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money into the company and putting its financial future at risk. Digital Region, a Government-backed scheme unveiled... Read more...
Public sector finances figures released yesterday show borrowing of £600 million in July, compared to a surplus of £2.8 billion last year. The Office for National Statistics release also shows how borrowing over the four months from April to July has deteriorated from £35.6 billion this year to £44.9 billion... Read more...
Cornish TPA supporter David Thomas draws our attention to a potentially major misuse of taxpayers’ money in Falmouth. Cornwall Council wishes to fund the dredging of a new channel in Falmouth Harbour. So far, £12m of taxpayers’ money has already been set aside, but the total cost could reach £23m.... Read more...
The Welsh Government has faced demands for a review of taxpayer-funded trade union activity, after it came to light that over the last two years, 91 Welsh Government employees have been undertaking full or part-time trade union duties costing taxpayers £1.25m. Last year, we discovered that trade unions across the... Read more...
Cambridgeshire County Council spent over £1.6 million last year on temporary staff. Freedom of Information requests revealed that seven social care staff were employed by the council on a temporary basis in 2010/11, with the cheapest of them costing an eye-watering £450 a day. Five of the staff had a daily rate... Read more...
We've today launched a major new campaign with the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) to highlight the burden that excessive fuel taxes are placing on motorists and retailers alike. Our latest campaign against high taxes is targeted where they hurt the most, at the pumps. Working with the PRA, over 5,000 Fuel Tax Stands have... Read more...
Last week we produced new research revealing how much North East councils spent on flights to destinations around the world. Most councils responded fully to our request for information in full and on time. But there was one noticeable omission among the 12 local authorities in the region: South Tyneside.... Read more...
Local taxpayers in South Lanarkshire have been lumbered with a bill for half a million pounds after the council’s finance chief walked away from her position with a lucrative, golden goodbye. Linda Hardie was forced out of her Finance Director job into early retirement at 50 after her department was... Read more...
Across England 9,449 parish councils serve around 15 million residents and together they control a budget of around £500 million. But while larger organisations such as district councils, unitary authorities, metropolitan and London boroughs are subject to a good deal of scrutiny, the spending of parish councils has gone mainly... Read more...
Boris Johnson has told the London Evening Standard that Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne should 'stop pussyfooting around' on the economy and take bolder action to restore growth.The Government needs to stop pussyfooting around. The way to get business really motoring in the UK is to cut taxes, cut regulation,... Read more...
Recycling rates in North East Lincolnshire aren't as high as the council would like. Other councils - such as Hull - are currently experiencing record rates of recycling, although when you look at their approach, you can probably see why. For recycling schemes to work, they have to be simple.... Read more...
The English campaign for a plastic bag tax gets enthusiastic support from Bath MP Don Foster. ‘Our streets, landfills and coastlines are awash with plastic bags which are polluting our environment and killing our wildlife,’ he warns. ‘Evidence suggests that a small charge is easy to implement and delivers significant... Read more...
HS2 is recruiting again. Advertising on the Guardian's jobs website, we will shortly be paying for a Senior Press Officer, two Policy Advisers, a Parliamentary Bill Assistant Manager, and a Parliamentary Bill Evidence Manager. Expect more of the same in the coming weeks and months as the HS2 spin machine... Read more...
Monday night’s Dispatches programme ‘Tricks of the Dole Cheats’ documented the experiences of the unemployed in their efforts to find work using Jobcentre Plus. Every claimant of Jobseeker’s Allowance must sign a ‘Jobseeker’s Agreement’ in order to start claiming benefits. It is a contract between the unemployed and the state.... Read more...
Fly-tipping is a big problem in many parts of the country. Those found guilty of littering public places, people's gardens, and the countryside deserve to be punished. Not only does fly-tipping create an eyesore and a potential health hazard, it also means taxpayers' cash is being used to clear up... Read more...
The fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt, has said on this morning’s Today programme that British tax laws have discouraged him from competing here in the past. Under current rules, athletes competing in the UK are liable to pay tax on their winnings in addition to paying levies on any of... Read more...
We can reveal the cost of air travel by local authorities in the North East over the last three years. Our latest research establishes for the first time that nearly £470,000 was spent on flights by councils in the North East of England between April 2009 and February 2012. The destinations include Beijing, South Africa,... Read more...
Last week, Leicester’s elected Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, launched a scathing attack on his predecessors at the City Council over their hapless management of a theatre project. The Curve theatre cost more than twice what was originally budgeted and was labelled as “the most disastrously overspent project in the city’s... Read more...