Yesterday the Public Administration Select Committee put out a press release: "The Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) today publishes the first parliamentary assessment of the idea of “user involvement” in public services, potentially a new model for public service delivery that promises improved services and greater user satisfaction." Apparently, getting... Read more...
The Hertfordshire TPA began initially at a meeting of activists from St Albans and Hatfield and now stretches all over Hertfordshire. The group have been campaigning since last summer, building a successful Yahoo Group site and a branch with well over 100 supporters – and growing. Please join the Group... Read more...
“Let ‘em ‘ave it”, came the response to a suggestion I put to an activist over whether we should start directly lobbying local councils. Everyone I spoke to was furious when councillors in Bournemouth increased their pay in the same year they hiked Council Tax by 4.9%. Something had to... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance Grassroots Campaign holds protests in support of taxpayers taken to court over Council Tax issues. To date we have had four protests: one outside the Treasury, two in Barnet – though for different cases – and one in St Albans. Here are clips from two Council Tax... Read more...
To date we have amalgamated two regional low-tax groups into our campaigns and have three strong, county wide branches up and running as well as newly formed groups in Wolverhampton, Telford and Worcester in the West Midlands TPA. As local membership grows and participation in grassroots campaigning increases, we will... Read more...
The Norfolk branch of the TaxPayers’ Alliance came together in October 2007 through an alliance between Folk Against Council Tax (a local campaign against high Council Tax) and the TaxPayers’ Alliance. It runs a variety of campaigns, from lobbying to letter writing and recruiting to the cause. Here is our... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance grassroots campaign is where you make your voice heard. We are steadily building a strong grassroots campaign to keep an eye on those who tax, spend and waste our money. Have a read through our grassroots pages, see what our campaigners are up to and if you... Read more...
South West Surrey Organiser Peter Webb updates us on the SW Surrey TPA Campaign for April. 2nd: PW letter to MP Jeremy Hunt pointing out lack of answers to 13th Feb 5 questions and challenging his letter of 31st March with its unsubstantiated “clear policies”..This ended up with a time-limited... Read more...
The TaxPayers’ Alliance Grassroots Campaign holds protests in support of taxpayers taken to court over Council Tax issues. To date we have had four protests: one outside the Treasury, two in Barnet – though for different cases – and one in St Albans. Here are clips from two Council Tax... Read more...
One of the criteria for a job to qualify as the non-job of the week is whether we could live without it. This week, see for yourself from the Guardian Society pages: “Community Capacity Building Officer £25,320 - £31,606 pa (pay award pending) Ref: CS85 Fixed term post for 3... Read more...
The front page of the Metro newspaper today reveals that police guidance instructs rank and file police not to register car vandalism as a crime. In sharp contrast, Gwynneth Lester is fleeing the country because she faces arrest over £1,200 of unpaid Council Tax. According to local newspapers, the 59-year-old... Read more...
Hard on the heels of last week's teachers' strike, we've had news of school pupils being paid to take lessons in place of qualified teachers: "A school is paying sixth-formers as young as 16 to teach lessons instead of hiring qualified supply staff. It has put a team of 24... Read more...
Fortnightly bin collections increase fly-tipping, more than doubled over the last three years, risk becoming an environmental nuisance and pose a serious inconvenience, particularly for larger families. It has emerged, today, that the number of councils only providing fortnightly collection has been rapidly increasing: "Almost 20 million people have their... Read more...
Yesterday a WMTPA supporter forwarded some information confirming that Sandwell Council really have taken meddling to a whole new level. Whether you’re in a clothes shop or a supermarket, a bank or a shopping centre, or even ordering online, the chances are if something goes wrong you only have to... Read more...
The Telegraph reports that many parents are struggling to find the right primary school for their children: "Many more have been forced to accept second, third or fourth choice schools amid unprecedented demand among parents, it is claimed. In some areas, more than 200 four and five-year-olds have yet to... Read more...
Further to my comments on the Fabian Society's attempts to "defend inheritance tax" and launch an anti-taxpayers alliance, Nick Cowen over at Civitas has written up an account of the Fabians' debate on the topic, held last night. It's an amusing account, and lays out several crucial arguments against both... Read more...
Have you ever heard of RegenWM? Well you’re paying for them so pay attention. Here’s their mission: Read more...
On Monday we launched the Ten Percent Challenge - throwing down the gauntlet to councils by identifying savings from non-essential and over-inflated budgets that could be used to reduce council tax by 3.5% across England and Scotland. As you might expect, the reactions of people around the country has been... Read more...
The real tax grab This morning Gordon Brown was interviewed by John Humphrys on BBC R4 Today. Unfortunately John Humphrys allowed him to get away with a number of infelicities that should have been properly challenged: "Tax is only 37% of GDP" - when Humphrys put it... Read more...
For all of those who criticised our Council Spending Uncovered paper on publicity spending, take a look at our non-job of the week: “Publications Editor£26,067 - £27,584 (pay award pending) This is your chance to get involved in producing our Council publications. In our county, effectively communicating... Read more...
The Telegraph report that the definitive guide to British laws has doubled in size over the last twenty years: This is a crushing burden of new regulation. Ordinary people and businesses have an ever-expanding variety of laws that they are expected to obey. The vast complexity of the... Read more...
According to Mark Mardell’s blog on the BBC News website, West Midlands in Europe, our local money-guzzling Euro-quango, have been busy hosting a climate change seminar in Brussels. In case you don't know them West Midlands in Europe are, of course, partnered by two of the usual suspects –... Read more...
A WMTPA activist called today to draw my attention to the plight of his local council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, as reported in Friday’s edition of the Leek Post & Times. So the story goes, central Government owe the council no less than £2.8million for their commitment to investing... Read more...
New Conservative plans, reported in the Telegraph, for detailed, public crime mapping could do great things for the relationship between ordinary people and the police. Particularly if they are combined with the election of local police chiefs: "The maps would have to be updated each month, while police would have... Read more...