The Government today gave the the go-ahead for the £32 billion HS2 high speed London to Birmingham rail project.We have been one of the most active critics of the proposals, following detailed research into the plans. Key findings are: HS2 will be enormously expensive, costing well over £1,000 per family, but only... Read more...
A month ago we commented on Sheffield City Council's decision to send out over 230,000 leaflets to residents asking them for ideas on how to save money. The consultation period has now ended, and the BBC is reporting that only 1900 leaflets (0.8%) have been returned. As it cost £21,000... Read more...
The British Council is the UK's international cultural relations body sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As part of our campaign for better transparency and accountability in Quango spending the TaxPayers' Alliance can reveal the full credit card spending of the British Council for the last two years.Click here for... Read more...
A new year dawns, but unfortunately the same old non-jobs remain. Thanks to an eagle-eyed supporter, I've discovered that 'a central government client' is searching for an Interim Diversity Professional. The daily rate for this non-job is a whopping £375-£400. That's an annualised salary of around £100K for making sure the... Read more...
The Economist writes about a long term challenge for the Chancellor of the Exchequer as people drink less and smoke less, reducing the revenue from duties on cigarettes and booze. More efficient cars could have the same effect. A Citigroup study has pointed out that the lower fueling costs of... Read more...
2012 was supposed to be the year when everything would start to look up for the Government, according to the received wisdom back in May 2010. This was to be the year when the economy would rebound into strong growth, monarchists would celebrate Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee and the gaiety... Read more...
As the New Year celebrations begin, the TaxPayers' Alliance today reveals that the average person must work for 208 days in the coming year to pay for their share of the cost of government spending and regulation. Click here to read the full report This note extends the concept of Tax Freedom... Read more...
Today the TaxPayers’ Alliance announces the latest recipients of its monthly awards to celebrate those in power who have sought to save – and waste – taxpayers’ money. The man, woman or organisation to be congratulated for saving public money or acting in the interests of the hard-pressed taxpayer is... Read more...
Cheshire East Council, which last week revealed it had a serious budget deficit, has rejected an amendment that would have reduced its mileage allowance for councillors to HMRC recommended levels. Council Leader Wesley Fitzgerald has claimed that the agreed cut from 65p to 52.2p a mile is a victory for... Read more...
The Public Accounts Committee has released a new report today looking at how the HMRC works to raise tax from large companies. They have found a number of weaknesses and say that they "have serious concerns that large companies are treated more favourably by the Department than other taxpayers." Looking at... Read more...
The Department of Communities & Local Government has today published plans for councils to keep a proportion of the revenue they collect in Non-Domestic Rates from businesses in their area. Many people will assume that this tax collected by their local council will be spent by that same council, in... Read more...
A new dossier of evidence demonstrating how trade unions are abusing the subsidies they get from the taxpayer has today been published by Witham MP, Priti Patel. Read more...
Over the last week we have seen the end of the Durban summit and a new report from the Committee on Climate Change, trying to play down the extent climate policies are set to push up energy prices. At the TaxPayers' Alliance, we've been arguing online and in the media... Read more...
Christmas greetings from the Midlands, where long-suffering Nottingham taxpayers have been brought a little bit of festive cheer. Nottingham City Council has opted for more frugal celebrations after last year’s splurge on a £5,000 Christmas tree for its headquarters building.According to the Nottingham Post the 2010 tree was rented for... Read more...
As we enter the festive season, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has given residents and businesses in Yarm a very unwelcome early Christmas present. This council is another in the long list of councils who think introducing parking charges is a great revenue raising opportunity. They just assume that everyone will cough... Read more...
Early last Sunday morning Connie Hedegaard, the European Commissioner for Climate Action, wrote on Twitter that: “We made it. EU’s strategy worked.” It was the end of another climate summit in Durban where the parties had been starkly divided into two camps: the European Union and lots of smaller countries... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance today reveals that, on average, 9 per cent of each Police Authority’s budget is spent on the Chief Executive's salary and pension - including an average salary of £90,000 - and members’ allowances cost over £10 million in 2009/10. Click here to read the full report including a full breakdown of... Read more...
South Oxfordshire district council are proposing to cut council tax next year by 2.5 per cent. The Henley Standard says that this would reduce the amount paid by a typical Band D taxpayer from £123.73 to £120.64. The council are able to do this because they have outsourced some services,... Read more...
Today I attended the Government’s meeting on their open data plan. The measures were announced in the Autumn Statement and include opening up more data, allowing for the releasing of transport and health data as a priority, and the creation of the Open Data Institute. The Government made even more... Read more...
As this is the last non-job of the week feature of 2011, I have been looking back at the examples of non-jobs and ridiculously high pay I have highlighted throughout the year. I won't pick a winner as the non-job of the year - I'll leave it to you, but... Read more...
Filton Town Council continues to be troubled by a mysterious container. Sited opposite the council’s Cycle Speedway track, it costs the taxpayer £600 a year to rent and yet no one knows exactly what is inside it. The puzzling container was mentioned at a recent cost cutting meeting. Filton Councillor... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance estimates that around 7,852 council staff could have been suspended for a total of 2,500 working years since 2009. The is a projection based on a sample of 78 authorities in the Midlands which were asked how much had been spent paying the salaries of employees suspended on full pay as well as... Read more...
Hammersmith & Fulham council (H&F) has announced that they are proposing to cut council tax next year by 3.75 per cent. This will be the fifth year in six where the council has managed to cut council tax. This saving is due to several cost cutting measures including combining services... Read more...
Responding to the Goverment's Recall of MPs Draft Bill, Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said:"The public were promised that they would be given the power to kick out bad MPs but now we find out that isn’t really happening. So long as they have enough friends in Parliament,... Read more...