Well the long-awaited and massively over budget Birmingham City Council website was launched this week and went down like an absolute lead balloon with local experts who believe that, once again, taxpayers have been fiddled out of £2.8million for a completely substandard facility. Back at the beginning of August... Read more...
This morning, the Local Government Chronicle published an article titled "Tower Hamlets counters anti-terror cash claim". It is important to make it clear that the council don't appear to have contested any of the claims in our report. Here is their statement: "A council spokeswoman said the foundation had... Read more...
With over 500 government jobs this week it means that the government roster just keeps on growing. Feel like you’re getting value from that? Well, let’s discuss it with the job that gains the prestigious title of ‘non-job of the week’. This week’s winner comes from Newham, one of the... Read more...
There have been a number of interesting responses to our report on the Prevent strategy, released yesterday. This is exactly the kind of debate that we were hoping to start by revealing how Prevent money has been spent - hopefully experts will continue to look into the groups and we can build up... Read more...
The Treasury have proudly announced that they are giving out the first round of payments under the Child Trust Fund, £250 for each seven-year old: "From this month onwards, children who turn seven will get a £250 birthday boost to their Child trust Fund account. The extra money will... Read more...
The Town Hall Rich List has always generated a lot of media attention. Boomerang bosses and scandalous rewards for failure are often the headline, but the principal purpose has always been to allow people to find out - if they want to - just how much their council executives really... Read more...
Over the past year Essex Police force has put 238 more officers out on the beat. Funding hasn’t increased, and there have been no cuts to services or front-line duties, so how have they done it? Quite simply through better management, a genuine focus on cutting waste and bringing... Read more...
Today members of Warwickshire County Council will vote on whether cabinet members should receive a 13.87% or 15% special responsibility allowance rise, based on savings made at the council. Despite the fact the Independent Remuneration Panel in Warwickshire seems to have previously recommended that the number of people with... Read more...
It is reported in the Daily Mail today that the new speaker John Bercow is hiring a new PR guy on approximately £100,000 per year. Mr. Bercow's office have claimed that this pricey spin doctor is needed to handle the press fallout after the Kelly Commission delivers its findings... Read more...
In politics, pensions are a minefield into which no-one wishes to tread. Any talk of reforming public sector schemes provokes angry accusations at best, full-on strikes at worst. Discussions of what to do with the state pension takes the whole thing to an even crazier level. Immense complexity, vested interest,... Read more...
The Prevent Strategy is part of the Government’s response to the threat of terrorism from Islamist extremists. Aimed at stopping people from becoming terrorists, the Government has given Local Authorities money to fund projects administered by community groups, as well as giving out grants themselves directly. However, there have been... Read more...
Still a bit thin and droopy Yesterday George Osborne was interviewed by Andrew Marr (watch again here), and although most of the interview all too predictably got stuck on bankers' bonuses, Osborne did give us a quick flash of his pencil, and how he's been wielding it to pencil in a list of... Read more...
The International Policy Network have released an excellent new report which looks at how DFID use taxpayers' money to support political causes here in Britain. Some of the facts they've found are real shockers: "£1.2 million given to the Trades Union Congress (TUC) since 2003 for activities including: lobbying, hiring... Read more...
EU foreign service now costs £3.4 billion a year The property portfolio of EU embassies is worth £55 million EU ambassadors earn up to £244,000 a year Former ambassador to Washington DC expresses concern at report's findings A new study by the TaxPayers' Alliance reveals the huge size, scope and... Read more...
Thank you Mr McKinsey... and what do I cut next? According to today's leaked McKinsey report, "NHS hospitals in England are rife with waste and inefficiency". Among other things, McKinsey found: low staff productivity - "doctors and nurses in the worst 10 per cent of hospital trusts deal with less... Read more...
What a rush of non-jobs there were this week. This from the papers today – a deputy Twittercrat for the Cabinet Office earning £75,000 a year – came astonishingly close to being the non-job of the week. Our non-job, however, comes from one of the 406 government jobs available in... Read more...
The Public gallery opened this weekend to mixed reviews, and so begins the mad rush to make this thwarted venture a success. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays interactive art enthusiasts can view the entire gallery free-of-charge, and for those who can’t make it along or don’t want to forget the... Read more...
On 22nd July a copy of Michael Frater’s Report – "Diagnostic and stocktaking" landed in my lap and was headlined in the local press on the 24th. It devastatingly revealed a long-standing whole system failure of Surrey County Council. A great deal of activity ensued on our part with myself,... Read more...
The Government's energy policy is disastrous. By trying to push renewables into action prematurely, on a massive scale, they have imposed huge costs on businesses and ordinary taxpayers. 14 per cent of the average household electricity bill is now the result of climate change regulations, the figure is even higher at... Read more...
Some good news on the quango front, this week. It turns out GOD is supportive of our drive to reduce their wasteful spending! According to this month's Prospect magazine, Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell (known in Whitehall as GOD thanks to his fortuitous intials) has forbidden all quangos from... Read more...
When are politicians going to get real and start confronting excessive public spending? With the high-speed rail announcement earlier this week, it appears that they are still living in a fantasy land where such ambitious and enormously expensive schemes can be announced without a word about where the money is... Read more...
In another article for the TPA, our supporter John Martin wants to know who, on the IRP, decides the pay of Norfolk's county councillors. In the next two or three months, Norfolk County Council (NCC) will decide whether its councillors should have their allowances increased. This will follow on from a... Read more...
The Climate Camp, which has been the focus of much overblown angst amongst the police this week, has finally revealed its secret location: Blackheath. The site has apparently been chosen for its historical connections, as the place where Wat Tyler rallied his army during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381. But is Wat... Read more...
There's an excellent article in the New York Times from Michael Lynch that comprehensively refutes the idea that we should be really worried about reaching, or having already reached, "Peak Oil". That argument is often used to support the idea that we should impose greater green taxes or regulations like the Renewables Obligation and... Read more...