The Guardian today carries a story that the Liberal Democrats are to soften their stance on replacing Council Tax with a local income tax.  Similar to William Hague’s strategy with regard to the Euro, Vince Cable – the Lib Dem economics spokesman – has suggested that the party will wait a parliament before implementing any changes to the Council Tax system.

What used to be a cornerstone of Lib Dem policy, triumphantly used by former leader Charles Kennedy, seems now to have been shelved – which is good news for taxpayers.

All a local income tax would do is shift the burden of tax.  It wouldn’t provide an incentive for Councils to root out waste and inefficiency and lower the tax burden on all.  After all there’s no game the unreconstructed, populist Left are better at than attacking the ‘rich’ to pay ‘their fair share’. 

Whilst providing some tax competition, for instance those with higher incomes would move to different areas with a lower local income tax, it wouldn’t go as far as pressuring Councils to streamline and provide genuinely lower taxes. 

Taxpayers will need assurances that local taxes will fund local government.  Central government’s unfair granting mechanism is quite clearly used as a redistributive tool to hike taxes in richer areas and have them squandered in poorer ones. 

Those seeking a sounder solution should note Douglas Carswell’s excellent paper on a local sales tax that would replace VAT and wholly fund local councils.  No more playing politics with granting formulae.  Simply where you spend your money, you contribute to the services of that Council. 

For example, if you buy a loaf of bread in Thurrock, and it’s cheaper in Havering, you’ll go to Havering next time.  Havering gets its money that goes towards service provision, Thurrock doesn’t.  There’s then the incentive for Thurrock to lower its sales tax in order to attract the custom because if people aren’t buying in Thurrock, businesses suffer and leave town. To compete, therefore, it needs to sort out its services, sack the non-jobbers and get its priorities in order so it can lower its sales tax.  Clearly the rationale is there for Councils to cut out the waste whilst providing a frontline service.  It isn’t that difficult a task, though you’d be hard pressed to believe it with the wasteful attitudes of some Councils.

A TPA supporter emailed in a letters page recently (see below) that reveals a quite startling revelation from the Leader of East Herts. District Council.  In responding to a constituent’s letter decrying the high taxes and services in East Herts, Councillor Tony Jackson states the following:

“Three examples of issues that he suggests highlight EHDC’s “misappropriation of council tax”.  However, the first issue relates to a school – which is the responsibility of the county council; the second point is about highways – again, a county council issue; and the third about the post office – which is something in the domain of central government.  While these issues aren’t areas for which EHDC has direct responsibility…”

Talk about shifting the blame.  Nevertheless, although Councillor Jackson admits EHDC has very little responsibility, he’s still entitled to a ‘special responsibility’ salary of £27,022 on top of the £5,404 paid for by the taxpayer.

Perhaps on his admission that bodies elsewhere take responsibility for major policy areas, he should forego his ‘special responsibility’ salary?  Why not ask him? Anyone want to take odds that he doesn’t…

Yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph had an interesting piece of investigative journalism that revealed that the Government has spent £2 million funding commerical television "documentaries" to promote their own policies.

Seemingly independent programmes on everything from PCSOs to immigration officials are in fact paid for using our money on the basis that

it allows the Government to have more air time and get its message across to people.

This is not what our money is for, and is a disgraceful twisting of the concept of informing people to actually mean promoting the Government. The fact that the Government’s funding and indeed direct involvement with the making of the shows were kept covert is particularly shocking and underhand. There are serious questions about the efficacy of PCSOs, for example, that the Government should engage with, not try to extinguish with propaganda.

This is a non-job special blog after being tipped off by a supporter for this job at Moray Council:

“Street Football Co-ordinator
£19,887

Job Purpose

Working closely with partnership groups to lead the development and delivery of the street football project to improve the health and well being of children and young people in Moray.

Major Tasks and resposibilities

To assist in the planning, planning promotion and delivery of the street football project in Moray.

To liaise with the partnership groups and other relevant organisations to increase the opportunities for young people through this project.

To develop links with appropriate organisations to deliver this project in the most effective way in Moray.                                             

Skills and Experience

2 years experience in sports develelopment / youth work with young people

Flexible and willing to travel and work unsociable hours.”

Can you contain the rage?  This is unbelievable.  Councils now engaging in planning and funding ‘street football’.  All you need for football is a few jumpers for goalposts and a ball.  You certainly don’t need a Town Hall lackey earning off the taxpayer to organise something that happens already without government interference.  It defies belief, it really does.

Feel free to politely inform the convenor of the council (i.e. leader of the council) Cllr George McIntyre of your displeasure by sending an email to [email protected]

Believe you me when I say this job is going in our non-job report in December.

It’s the biggest issue facing households this week.  That gas prices have gone up again is cause for concern, with forecasts that some gas bills will reach over £1,000 a year.  At £20 a week, it’s clearly a particularly troubling for those in fixed incomes, notably pensioners.  Yet this raises a few issues.  Today the Government (read – pressure from the left wing of the Labour Party) are mooting the idea of a windfall tax on gas companies.

This ignores the structural factors in the gas market as well as the threat of companies passing on the cost of the tax to the consumer.  If the former rings any bells, just look at how the government’s fuel tax has backfired, with the tax comprising more than half of the price of fuel at the pumps. 

That we cannot store gas here, we get it transported through Europe.  Furthermore, as it has to travel the furthest from the East, we end up getting the surplus gas from other countries, paying a price for it.  The more prescient point is in the purchase of gas.  Companies buy it wholesale, and the price isn’t at current rates, but is speculative.  Now factor in the hysterics from the Green lobby, that everything will run out and how driving a car and using natural resources has turned into an Enviro-Crime, and you can see why speculators have put prices up.

Nevertheless, the government can do something about the current problems.  They could cut fuel tax for starters.  Rural communities in particular don’t use gas to heat their homes, resorting to oil heaters.  Then they could also cut non-essential spending, as we put in our Council Tax uncovered series of papers, the savings of which could be passed on in tax breaks to the British people.  Quite easily, these savings could offset any temporary peaks in fuel and gas prices.

Finally, a wider policy rethink is needed.  The Daily Mail wrote this week how the government’s green policies are putting an extra £50 on fuel bills through their fight against climate change.  But as usual, the British people have to tighten their belts and look on aghast as the government spend as if in a Boom, playing conscience politics with taxpayers’ money. 

A debate is raging in America about offshore drilling, which has led to a recent drop in oil prices.  Speculation always responds favourably to good news.  So perhaps if the Green lobby weren’t so ‘the end is nigh’ we could put forward ideas and policies for lower taxes and lower fuel prices: unless they’d prefer it if we all lived cold and in the dark.  Thomas Hobbes, after all, called life in a state of nature “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short”.  Fuel for thought, perhaps.