In an interview with the Times this morning, the OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan said that "if there is not so good news on the growth front" the Government might have to reconsider its spending plans. Ed Balls has got very excited about that and said "it’s now time... Read more...
We have another array of unnecessary jobs this week. Surrey County Council is looking to expand its Change Department - something I have commented on in the past. This time it’s looking for a Change Communications Manager on £54,085 per annum. Surrey is also looking for in Internal Communications Co-ordinator.... Read more...
Last week, I attended the Annual General Meeting of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC). It’s not one of the most exciting things I’ve done in my life, but it’s always good to show your face at these events and let councillors see you are still alive and kicking.... Read more...
At the Rally Against Debt we started a petition against eurozone bailouts. Here is what it says: Contrary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's comment that we "have to live with" the Portuguese bailout, as Alistair Darling signed us up to the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, we believe it must... Read more...
At first, Wiltshire Council Chief Executive Andrew Kerr couldn’t see any problem with his £6,000 pay rise, bringing his annual salary up to £189,000. ‘I've got 15,000 staff,’ he told BBC Points West. ‘This business turns over nearly £1bn a year. We deliver 350-odd different services. It’s a big complex... Read more...
The Public Accounts Committee has published a damning report today into NHS procurement. Among other things, the report cites the National Audit Office which says the NHS is wasting £500 million a year simply by ordering supplies in small, frequent batches rather than less frequently but in larger quantities. “The... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has this afternoon described Elliot Morley’s jail sentence as "justice for taxpayers".But the campaign group said that public trust in Parliament was still being repaired.Today a judge at Southwark Crown Court jailed the former Labour environment minister for 16 months for cheating his expenses. He pleaded guilty... Read more...
George Monbiot has written a column this morning about the increase in road casualties in Oxfordshire following the deactivation of speed cameras. The critical point, as he notes is that you can't learn much from such a small sample:"So far, the sample size is too small and the period too... Read more...
The New York Times reports today that the Metropolitan Police have had to warn Rwandan dissidents living in London that their government may be plotting to kill them: “Reliable intelligence states that the Rwandan government poses an imminent threat to your life,” the warning letters read. They added, “Although the... Read more...
Zoe Williams writes in this morning’s Guardian about Canada’s fiscal consolidation of the 1990s. She believes that we should not learn lessons from their experience, as we are in a very different situation. In our book How to Cut Public Spending, we devoted a substantive section to why there are... Read more...
It is now common knowledge Nottingham City Council is the only council in England not to publish spending above £500 online. It also paid for posters to be printed like the one in the photograph, which in itself was a complete waste of money. Now its business acumen is under... Read more...
In a debate today in the Commons, Rory Stewart MP will argue that the government target for rural broadband deployment needs to expand to include an additional 2 million people. The motion that will be introduced says, "rural businesses and rural communities across the UK are isolated and undermined by... Read more...
Anger in Cornwall about rising parking charges in council-run car parks. More than 5,000 local residents in South-East Cornwall signed a petition against the rise in their area, but Cornwall Council ignored it and doubled the fees in Liskeard, Callington, Saltash and Torpoint. ‘They’re playing into the hands of the... Read more...
There was a time at the beginning of the year when I thought the drought in non-jobs was going to last. With councils having to tighten their belts, it was a reasonable thought, if not rather optimistic. Unfortunately, the drought did not last.A supporter has alerted me that East Sussex... Read more...
The Department for Communities and Local Government released yet more spending data yesterday. They have produced spreadsheets, tables and heat-maps showing how much councils spend per person, and we’d encourage taxpayers to delve into these numbers and find out if they are getting value for money.Are neighbouring councils delivering better... Read more...
Last night the BBC aired The Street That Cut Everything, a reality television show. Nick Robinson opened the show proclaiming: “Welcome to an extraordinary experiment. The people living here are going to have to do a whole lot more for themselves and get used to having have a lot less... Read more...
TPA supporter John Martin appears to be on the receiving end again.Periodically, Norfolk County Council (NCC) tells me off for the number of enquiries, both formal and informal, that I make for information and the number of questions that I ask. It is clearly that time of the year. I... Read more...
It's out with the old, and in with the new in Hull. The ruling Liberal Democrats were booted out, and Labour swept to power in what was a very dramatic election night. Walking around the Guildhall during the count, there were many shocked faces; not only from the Liberal Democrats,... Read more...
Last week we held a brilliant event bringing together different groups opposing HS2. Speakers from the Green Party, the RAC Foundation, the Countryside Alliance, AGAHST - the federation of action groups against HS2, and the TaxPayers' Alliance explained why they thought the project was a bad one. If you weren't... Read more...
Next year Londoners will have a sense of déjà vu when they go out to vote in the Mayoral elections: among a range of candidates, Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone will be fighting each other again. And Ken has kicked off his mayoral campaign by opposing the current plans for... Read more...
It is fair to say the Rally Against Debt was a great success. What we didn’t have were hundred of trade union activists organising the rally at taxpayers’ expense! We can honestly say not a penny of taxpayers’ money was spent organising the rally. We left Old Palace Yard as... Read more...
Today the TaxPayers' Alliance joined the Rally Against Debt, in the shadows of the Houses of Parliament. Hundreds of people young and old gathered to voice their concerns over the size of the debt mountain looming over taxpayers and to argue that spending reductions are essential if we are to... Read more...
On Wednesday the TaxPayers’ Alliance published its one year assessment of the Coalition’s performance measured against our Manifesto objectives. One of the objectives was to introduce elected police commissioners. The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill was quietly making its way through Parliament, so we scored this objective 5/5. But... Read more...
Representatives from different organisations came together this morning to highlight their concerns about the Government's plans to spend billions on the flawed High Speed Rail proposals. The event gave a chance for questions and discussions on this complex issue. As the Government consultation steams ahead it is vital that they... Read more...