If a company fails to deliver on a contract with another firm in the private sector, there are normally three kinds of consequences: they don't get the money they would have been paid; they will have to pay additional compensation either thanks to legal action or penalty clauses in the... Read more...
In January HS2 Ltd were advertising for Community Liaison and Stakeholder Managers and Advisers, and Community Forums Managers. I commented in May they were also recruiting a Head of Public Affairs. Of course, recruitment is still ongoing as the Government intends to carry on with this huge and wasteful vanity... Read more...
With only ten days to go until the Olympic opening ceremony and London already grinding to a halt, it will be months until we know the true cost of hosting the Games. But the direct costs of stadia, accommodation and security aren’t the only things for which taxpayers have to... Read more...
With the total bill for hosting the Olympics spiralling out of control and way beyond initial estimates, taxpayers might well fear being on the hook for more bills for the high-profile G4S security blunder. The firm had been entrusted with providing security for the Games in a contract worth around... Read more...
For the 24th year in a row, the Department for Work and Pensions has failed to have its accounts signed off, according to the National Audit Office. Colossal losses to fraud and error, worth £4.5 billion in the last financial year, have stopped the DWP from achieving an unqualified sign... Read more...
The Government has saved over £4,500 for every family in the UK thanks to its decision in 2010 to link public sector pensions to an alternative measure of inflation. A recent report from the Office for Budget Responsibility shows the switch from the Retail Price Index (RPI) to the Consumer... Read more...
A report was quietly slipped out by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills last week which shows just how damaging an effect this Government's climate change policies are having on British industry. BIS commissioned the 231-page report from ICF International and I daresay that the findings will make less... Read more...
Last week our submission to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee was published. We submitted our concerns regarding the Draft Online Infringement (Initial Obligations) (Sharing of Costs) Order 2012. This draft order lays out how the costs will be shared for the implementation of the Digital Economy Act (DEA). Though the... Read more...
Responding to the Government’s publication of its Consultation on reform to Trade Union facility time and facilities in the Civil Service Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) said: This consultation has been a long time coming but we welcome its publication. It’s absolutely right that the Government should... Read more...
Taxpayers in Crawley have been left to pick up a £600 bill for translating just one copy of their quarterly magazine into Urdu. The 12-page publication, which is sent to all Crawley Homes’ tenants, contains advice on renting and lifestyle tips, ironically including advice on prudently managing finances. Of course... Read more...
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has cut staff numbers by 28 per cent over the past year alone, according to their Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12. Headcount at the end of March 2012 was 3,597, down 1,419 from the 5,016 in 2011. This solid performance in bringing... Read more...
Writing for Conservative Home Matthew Sinclair looks at why voters would not see tax cuts as a lurch to the right:When I was reading Stephan Shakespeare’s fascinating recent article about people’s perceptions of “left” and “right”, some advice he once gave me about polling started to ring in my ears.... Read more...
The Libor scandal is being mistakenly linked to a myth that the financial crisis was the result of too little regulation, writes Matthew Sinclair in City A.M.PRICES keep markets sane. The information they provide connects the decisions made by traders, investors and managers to reality. Markets become delusional, and can... Read more...
It's out with the new and in with the old at Hull City Council. Last Friday, it was announced that chief executive, Nicola Yates would be leaving the authority with immediate effect. She has only been in post for just over two years. No-one from the council will officially state... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) can today reveal for the first time a substantial rise in the number of former council staff drawing pensions compared to the number in work and paying into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The new research also reveals that when the one million deferred members of... Read more...
The abolition of the UK’s eight Regional Development Agencies (RDA) was always going to cost more in the short term, but taxpayers expected to save money in the longer term. But the Daily Mail has revealed this week that former RDA bosses received substantial pay-offs only to walk right into... Read more...
As councils across the UK look for more imaginative ways to make savings, sharing senior management with neighbouring authorities is increasingly common. Local authorities sharing senior management and Chief Executives now include: South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse; South Northamptonshire and Cherwell; and Havant and East Hampshire. Unfortunately... Read more...
Senior policemen in Avon and Somerset are getting upset at what they see is an unfair shift of taxpayers’ money from their region to areas where police authorities are stockpiling cash. ‘This is about an unfair tax fund transfer, in which residents in this area are paying for other parts... Read more...
To find out how dangerous your council's pensions time bomb is, simply enter your postcode below. For full details, see the full Council Pensions Time Bomb report. Read more...
The front page of the Guardian today brings to the fore the ever increasing costs of the 717 Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts across the UK which are being used to fund our schools, hospitals and other public facilities. The total capital value of PFI projects across the country is... Read more...
Executives at taxpayer-owned Scottish Water paid themselves more than £1.5 million last year, including £369,000 in bonuses. Despite a wider public sector pay freeze, the quango’s accounts show that the 12 board members earned an average of £131,000 in 2011-12, up seven per cent on the previous year. Included in... Read more...
The National Audit Office has today published a report ‘Securing the future financial sustainability of the NHS’. The report found that although there was a surplus last year of £2.1bn across the NHS as a whole, 10 NHS trusts, 21 NHS foundation trusts and 3 Primary Care Trusts reported a... Read more...
Thousands of council documents are due to be shredded in Waltham Forest because asbestos has been found in the town hall. This however has not gone down well with local campaigners who have requested copies of election expenses return forms from 2010. They suspect irregularities, and are concerned the council... Read more...
Harrow Council recently chose not to renew their housing repairs contract with Kier, opting instead for three smaller providers who will compete with each other for service satisfaction. The move is expected to save the council around £800,000 of their £4 million annual repair bill, or 20 per cent. Residents... Read more...