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A spokeswoman for the TaxPayers’ Alliance said the council should have done its utmost to find other roles for the employees before giving them severance packages.

She said: “What the council has done might be within the rules, but it does not seem to be in the spirit of getting the best out of taxpayers’ money.

“A lot of councils have to find millions of savings and that will mean some redundancies, but it is clearly not good value for taxpayers’ money to make people redundant and hire them back in other roles.”

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The TaxPayers’ Alliance yesterday warned that the tax was unfair and denied that it was progressive.

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Jonathan Isaby, political director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “As anyone who has seen the video will testify, the treatment of Mr Whatley in this case was excessive in the extreme. The result is that tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money has had to be paid in compensation – money which would be far better used on providing frontline policing to protect us all.”

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Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the company had a “terrible track record” in managing the rail infrastructure.

“It’s simply unbelievable that bosses have the gall to demand six-figure bonuses in the same week they’ve had to apologise over the deaths of two teenagers,” he said.

“Commuters who have to endure daily delays thanks to mismanagement will wonder how bad things have to get for Sir David Higgins to forgo the bonus on top of his salary.” Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, said: “They are planning to pay themselves more public money for failing to run the railway on time.”

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The four [councillors] have been criticised by the Conservative group at county hall and also the TaxPayers’ Alliance, who said councillors should be setting an example to others.

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A spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Alliance said the reduction was “fantastic”, and urged the council to continue to cut the cost.

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Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘It’s astonishing that Truett Tate could take home a bonus on top of his colossal salary and pension payoff when he’s not even at work.

‘Taxpayers propped up Lloyds TSB at great expense, the bank should pay taxpayers back before it signs off lavish retirement packages for its board.’

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Robert Oxley, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “The Beeb has a strong tradition of an independent broadcaster holding politicians to account. It won’t want to see that reputation compromised by taking euros from the EU.”

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KCC has been slammed by pressure group the Taxpayers’ Alliance, and rightly so. There will soon be 26 directors at KCC, with a combined salary bill of £3 million.

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TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign manager Robert Oxley said: “Councillors have to set an example and pay their council tax. Those not doing so are adding further costs to already hard-pressed taxpayers.”

Councillors facing legal action by their own authority were not credible representatives, he said.

“If politicians are struggling then maybe it will illustrate to them the problems faced by many who have seen bills double in the past decade.”

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HE panel heading to Southport for tonight’s (Thursday) Question Time programme has now been revealed.

International Development Minister Alan Duncan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP, the former head of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) Digby Jones, the creator of Grange Hill and Brookside Phil Redmond, and Emma Boon from the Taxpayers Alliance will face questions from the public in the flagship BBC show.

Host David Dimbleby will chair the debate.

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The TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “It’s astonishing he could get a bonus on top of his colossal salary and pension when he’s not even at work.”

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Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “It’s beggars belief that Whitehall bureaucrats have blown so much money on corporate away days when they should be focused on saving taxpayers’ money.

“Taxpayers already fork out for swanky offices at the Department for Energy and Climate Change, the mandarins there should use those for staff training instead of running up huge bills at football stadiums and luxury hotels.“

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I can’t imagine Mr Fred Goodwin slept too soundly last night. Despite a generous pension cushioning the blow of the withdrawal of his Knighthood, it will still be humiliating to become a plain old Mister again and he will have woken up (if he slept at all) to see his own name on the front of most newspapers.

But the fuss will die down. He’ll get round to changing the name on his bank cards. The whispers and accusing glances in the pub will eventually stop and slowly, life will return to normal. The same cannot be said for taxpayers and the bank he left behind him.

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Robert Oxley, Campaign Manager of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told the Enquirer: “There was little justification for Joanna Killian earning such a vast sum before – now that she has quit her roll at Brentwood her pay cut should properly reflect the change. At the very least her salary should be reduced by £30,000, the amount Brentwood council paid Essex County Council for her services.

“As chief executive of a council that has to find millions in savings in the coming years she should set an example.”

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The Taxpayers Alliance, a spending watchdog and pressure group, wants changes to the local government scheme and is also calling for action to “tackle the growing trend of councillors joining.”

Figures released by the alliance show that in 2007-08 3,527 councillors were members and this had risen to 4,548 by 2010-11. An average of 11 councillors per authority were paying in to the scheme.

Robert Oxley, TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign manager, said: “The increase in the number councillors enrolling themselves on the local government pension scheme represents a rise in the number of professional politicians. Councillors receive allowances not a salary, the increase in those claiming a pension moves away from the traditional idea that councillors are citizens doing their civic duty.”

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TaxPayers’ Alliance campaign manager Robert Oxley said: “Councillors have to set an example and pay their council tax. Those not doing so are adding further costs to already hard-pressed taxpayers.”

Councillors facing legal action by their own authority were not credible representatives, he said.

“If politicians are struggling with their payments then maybe it will illustrate to them the problems faced by many others who have seen their council tax bills nearly double in the past decade.”

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Matthew Sinclair, director of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, added: “Managers need to be stricter about ensuring staff are not off without good reason, but they also need to ensure that they are looking after staff properly so they are motivated to come into work.

“This bill can’t keep on being left to families struggling with their council tax bills.”

Emma Boon, Taxpayers Alliance:

This is clearly the right decision, but removing one man’s gong won’t repair the damage done to our economy by the financial sector.

We need our leaders to move beyond tokenism, tackle the unjust financial rewards still rampant in the City, and ensure the sector pays its share to help people hit by the economic crisis.

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Richmondshire’s decision has provoked an immediate backlash from the campaign group Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA), which announced a “day of action” in Richmond – and now warns it would consider similar protests in York.

The TPA is calling on authorities to freeze or cut council tax immediately, accusing those turning down the grant and raising tax levels of being “out of touch”.

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The TPA said local authorities should instead “learn to work more efficiently”. The campaign group will be holding an Action Day on February 18 in Richmond to protest against the rise.

TPA chief Executive Matthew Elliott said: “It’s incredibly out of touch for town hall bosses to inflict a council tax rise on hard-pressed households, many of them already struggling with the rising cost of living.

“Council tax has nearly doubled in the last decade without a corresponding increase in the level of services. Local authorities across Yorkshire have to find millions in savings and learn to work more efficiently, they need to stop pretending just a little more cash is the answer to all their problems.”

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