I'm pleased to report that - announced under the cover of the Icelandic banks fiasco - the TPA had an encouraging success yesterday, that saved taxpayers £20,000 in one fell swoop.
Regular readers may recall Andrea Hill, the Suffolk County Council Chief Executive appointed controversially on a huge £220,000 salary earlier this year. In defiance of the economic realities of the financial crisis, and in stark contrast to families and businesses in Suffolk who are being forced to rein in spending, Ms Hill this week began advertising for a new addition to her personal office at SCC. A £20,000-a-year diary secretary, to be precise.
Naturally, we were less than impressed that one of Britain's most costly public servants had devised a new way to spend taxpayers' money. As you would expect, we voiced our concerns to the media on Wednesday and, lo and behold, the leader of Suffolk County Council has stepped in and cancelled the new job! So, the TPA have just saved taxpayers £20,000. It may not seem an earth-shattering amount, but with sufficient pressure on the 450+ councils in the land, and with more council leaders like Suffolk's we can really start to add up some big savings. It just goes to show - the campaign works.