Financial markets across Europe and the United States have been in turmoil this week as fears have grown about the ability of the Spanish and Italian governments to repay their debt and the prospect of a double-dip recession in America. The London Stock Exchange’s FTSE100 index closed at 5,393 on... Read more...
Councillors in North Somerset are thinking the unthinkable. Maybe, at 61 members, there’s just too many of them. The local authority needs to make a dent in its corporate services budget of £47.3 million and, in a move that sounds like turkeys voting for Christmas, councillor Mark Canniford suggested starting with... Read more...
Once again central government has come under fire because of one of its costly and failing IT programmes. Unsurprisingly, a report published today by the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heavily criticised the expensive 11.4 billion ‘National Programme for IT in the NHS’ (NPfIT). They’ve said that £2.7 billion of... Read more...
Everywhere you look in local government these days you seem to find change managers. This week is no exception, and once again a recruitment agency is masking the identity of an unnamed London borough council wishing to appoint a Temporary Change Manager paying between £281-£350 a day.Another London council, meanwhile,... Read more...
It's the summer holidays for a lot of people, the children are out of school and MPs are on recess (I'm sure there are a few jokes to be made with that comparison). The end of the school term was always something to look forward to, six weeks of summer... Read more...
Many parts of the UK are covered by unitary authorities, who have responsibilities for all council services. In other areas, there are two-tiers of local government, where districts and boroughs provide services such as bin collections, and county councils are responsible for things like highways and education. Derbyshire is a... Read more...
There was further embarrassment for the taxman this weekend after the Commons Treasury Committee criticised HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for poor performance and ‘endemic delays’.HMRC was formed in 2005 when Inland Revenue and Her Majesty’s Customs and Excise were merged. Like the two organisations that were combined to form... Read more...
The Government’s National Insurance holiday scheme is a "total flop", according to Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls. The scheme, which exempts small firms (those with 10 or fewer staff) from having to pay National Insurance for a 12 month period, has attracted just 5,000 registrations out of a... Read more...
At ConservativeHome I've written an article following on from reports over the weekend that David Cameron is intervening in Australia to support proposals for a new carbon tax. Just last week the Government admitted that bills for large energy intensive companies are set to rise by over fifty per cent,... Read more...
When the Chief Fire Officer of Humberside Fire and Rescue Service retired, the Fire Authority took the decision to temporarily promote four officers. All four were eligible to retire. Anyone who understands the way public sector pensions work (and those councillors on the Fire Authority Board should) will tell you... Read more...
Retailers, as well as the wider rational population, breathed a small sigh of relief on Thursday when Business Secretary Vince Cable announced that the Government will slash the burden of bureaucracy by removing over half the existing regulations faced by the industry as part of the ongoing 'Red Tape Challenge'.... Read more...
After uncovering which websites Department for Work and Pensions staff had been visiting, yesterday we received a Freedom of Information response from the Department for Transport, which covered their six month internet history from January to the end of May this year. There’s some pretty interesting hits in there, such... Read more...
Strong words on Left Foot Forward, Jules Peck - a trustee at think tanks the new economics foundation and ResPublica - has written that: "The TaxPayers’ Alliance merely makes a mockery of citizens as well as themselves by denying this evidence." He is outraged that Emma Boon told the newspapers a... Read more...
Two important stories on competition in healthcare have been reported today. The first is that research from the Centre of Economic Performance at the London School of Economics shows that competition in the NHS, introduced under the last Government, is increasing the quality of healthcare.The authors of the report looked... Read more...
I'm currently appealing to the Information Tribunal against the Department of Energy and Climate Change's refusal to answer a Freedom of Information (FOI) request I submitted about the economic and financial cost of the higher emissions target they want. TPA research suggests that could be extremely expensive. But the Government... Read more...
Figures released on Tuesday show the economy grew by just 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of this financial year. Initial estimates are usually revised up, subsequently. In addition, the Japanese tsunami and earthquake, the Royal Wedding, unseasonal heat and the delay in counting Olympic ticket sales have all... Read more...
A few weeks ago I wrote about the Show Some Sense campaign in Salisbury. I will now bring you up-to-date with the latest developments. I must warn you that you should only read this if you are feeling calm, and please ensure you don't have anything to hand that you... Read more...
For a moment the spirit of the TPA seemed to be with Bath and North East Somerset Council as they discussed the possibility of dumping their ludicrously overpaid chief executive. A report to a meeting of the council’s restructuring implementation committee (big name, little results) asked them to consider reducing... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA) today announces the appointment of Jonathan Isaby to the role of Political Director. Jonathan has previously worked at the BBC, the Daily Telegraph and most recently was co-editor of ConservativeHome. One of the objectives of the TPA has always been to represent taxpayers in the corridors... Read more...
Today we had another sign of how desperate the campaign for the new high speed rail line, HS2 have become. While the Government are sticking to their guns and backing the scheme for now, the public are clearly opposed to this white elephant. A YouGov/TPA poll found that 48% would... Read more...
As reported by the BBC, Gwynedd Council in North Wales is freezing parking charges until a review takes place in February 2013. A report to councillors had this to say:"The review should consider the impact of parking fees on the local economy and the viability of town centres given the possible... Read more...
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets' Parking Services is looking for a Policy and Performance Enhancing Manager. Paying between £42,258 - £44,910, the candidate will have to fit-in with the Service ethos, "firm but fair" (no, I'm not joking!)The council has done itself no favours by giving the role a... Read more...
In a couple of weeks time - 11 August 2011 - Let them eat carbon is going to be released. The next Monday - 15 August 2011, at 6.45pm for 7pm - I'll be speaking to the The Freedom Association as part of their Free Spirits series about the book.... Read more...
Bob Neill MP speaking at the TaxPayers' Alliance 'Cutting Council Spending' event Uploaded on Oct 7, 2011 Minister for Local Government Bob Neill MP speaks at the TaxPayers' Alliance fringe event 'Cutting Council Spending and Delivering Lower Taxes' hosted by the Freedom Association at Conservative Party Conference 2011.Also on the... Read more...