In which area of work could you overclaim from a generous system of allowances, be found guilty of said offence, go to jail for it, not pay the money back, and return to work later as if nothing had happened? The House of Lords. Since the expenses scandal, there has... Read more...
Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis has responded to our report showing the unions getting a £113 million backdoor subsidy. He claims that the facility time reduces industrial strife, and leads to fewer strikes. If that was the case, then surely the public sector - where staff take three times as... Read more...
In one of the most extensive Freedom of Information campaigns ever carried out, the TaxPayers' Alliance has calculated the value of the direct grants and paid time off that trade unions receive and found that it has increased significantly from last year to £113 million. There are now at least... Read more...
In case you missed it, our recent report into the excessive motoring taxes paid by British drivers took centre stage in Parliament on Wednesday. We found that the residents of Maldon in Essex are clobbered by higher motoring taxes than anyone else in the country, so their local MP, John Whittingdale,... Read more...
Today we announced our Pin-up and Pinhead of the Month. The pinhead was Cllr Jason Kitcat, a Green Party councillor from Brighton and Hove, and the portfolio holder for Finance and Central Services. His council is not going to take up the government's offer of extra cash in return for... 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...
Lewes District Council is looking to employ an Equalities Officer whilst the existing officer is on maternity leave. According to the job advert "this post co-ordinates the development of our Equalities work, Impact Assessments and equalities policies. It identifies and introduces practical steps and monitors our success so we make... Read more...
Finally, a response, on appeal, to my Freedom of Information request about Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) councillors not paying their council tax. Shockingly, it has revealed that one Bath councillor has had to have legal action taken against him or her to recover the outstanding council tax. Who... Read more...
Today has seen the publication of the report from the Committee on Standards in Public Life into political party finance. You can read the full 116-page report here, but to cut to the quick, the proposal which will alarm taxpayers up and down the country is for political parties to... Read more...
Fact finding missions have long been the butt of many jokes. You name the subject, and it seems an elected or unelected official has been forced into arduous foreign travel to get that final piece of information to complete the jigsaw. In our report earlier this month, we highlighted the foreign... Read more...
Earlier this week, I appeared on Sky News to debate aviation taxes with John Stewart, Chairman of Airport Watch. We were asked whether we supported scrapping Air Passenger Duty - a tax that, according to the Government's own research, is excessive compared to the emissions aviation creates. In addition to... Read more...
Most councils are coping well with current level of cuts but the future could be challenging, according to findings of a new Audit Commission report. It says well-managed councils are weathering the current economic storm far better than others. They claim:“big expenditure cuts are always hard but auditors feel that... Read more...
Today the Guardian reports that, while the MoD cuts the number of front-line troops, £564m has been spent on consultants in just two years. Spending has increased from £6m in 2006 to £267m in 2011 – a 4,350 per cent rise. The huge increase has been blamed on the Framework... Read more...
According to a report in the Leicester Mercury this week, the elected Mayor of Leicester is in line for a 78% pay rise. Sir Peter Soulsby (who stood down as MP for Leicester South to run for the job this May) currently receives a salary of £56K a year. The... Read more...
Click here to read the full reportClick here for the complete press releaseTaxPayers' Alliance says carbon floor price will: Increase total global greenhouse gas emissions Threaten tens of thousands of jobs as activity contracts in the UK Raise significantly less tax revenue than expected as major firms move energy intensive... Read more...
West Country MPs are up in arms over any proposed rise in petrol duty. Speaking out in the House of Commons debate this week, Bridgwater & West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said he would rebel against the government if they put up petrol prices by 3p in January. The debate... Read more...
It is a long time since Northern Rock was last regularly hitting the headlines, as its funding dried up at the start of the credit crunch. Then politicians were busy playing down the cost of the bailout. But we weren't convinced. TPA Research Fellow Mike Denham argued that we would... Read more...
A non-job of the week with a twist today. Barnet Council do not like criticism, and it seems the council will go to any lengths to make sure it silences its critics. A local blogger, writing under the pseudonym Mr Mustard, criticised Barnet Council for hiring a Change and Innovation... Read more...
Last week, we revealed the excess motoring taxes for each council area. Yesterday there was a major debate in the Commons about the extent to which high taxes are making life much too hard for drivers getting to work, and stopping the haulage industry keeping the economy moving. Using this... Read more...
Over the weekend Kamal Ahmed, Business Editor at the Sunday Telegraph, reported that the Government is slowly moving towards simplifying the tax system by at least merging the administration of Income Tax and National Insurance. Our research on the growing complexity of Britain's tax code shows that an ambitious attempt... Read more...
Campaigning for the tax system to be more transparent and simpler has always been one of the core missions of the TaxPayers’ Alliance. And so in broad terms we very much welcome the consultation which was launched this morning by Treasury Minister David Gauke entitled Modernising the administration of the... Read more...
A BBC Politics Show South East report last weekend explained how Brighton & Hove City Council plan to increase council tax by 3.5 per cent. They are one of the only councils to publicly admit to rejecting money from the Government to freeze tax instead.As Helen Drew explains, the council could have... Read more...
Yesterday the Audit Commission (AC) released its annual report into fraud against local authorities, with a chilling warning that councils had detected ‘just the tip of a very large iceberg.’ Out of an estimated £2.1 billion lost in fraud from council budgets, just £185 million was detected – the profits... Read more...
Council standards committees were set-up as a way of disciplining councillors who have brought their office into disrepute. They were designed as a way of investigating sleaze. What happened at a meeting of the Standards Committee in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) yesterday proved once again that they... Read more...