The Times reports that SATs are going to be scrapped: "National school testing for 14-year-olds in England is to be scrapped as part of a major shake up of testing in primary and secondary education, the Government announced today. Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, said that Key Stage 3 National... Read more...
The Highways Agency have caused a stir by confirming that they will be taking almost half of the office space at the much anticipated The Cube building when it opens in 2010. The Cube is the final stage of the high-end Mailbox development, which also boasts many restaurants, luxury... Read more...
The Telegraph reports on another Government data loss scandal: "Last week the Ministry of Defence said a computer hard drive with the private details of 100,000 members of Army, Royal Navy and RAF personnel, of all ranks, had gone missing from the premises of contractor EDS in Hook, Hampshire. Defence... Read more...
News broke yesterday that another disgraceful and dangerous loss of data had taken place at the MoD. The personal details of up to 1.7 million people who had applied to join the armed forces have been stolen. Even more astoundingly, particularly for a military department, it's "unlikely" that the data... Read more...
The Telegraph reports today that inflation will reach 5%. With an interest rate cut, you could expect that. The reason I point this out in this news cycle to trump all news cycles is that we’ve recently been lobbying council leaders to advocate an absolute freeze in council tax rates... Read more...
We often draw attention to the way that some people get rewarded for doing a bad job - which is bad enough - but there is another, even more unjust, side to Government in play, too: punishing people for doing a good job. A prime example is in the news... Read more...
Northumberland County Council, who lost £23 million of taxpayers’ money in Icelandic banks, is having a Public Question Time at on Wednesday, 5 November 2008 at 4.00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Morpeth. Please visit this link for details about putting your question to the Council leader... Read more...
Since we issued a call to action for our supporters and activists to hold the council leaders who had lost your money in Icelandic banks as well as those London councils who opposed a tax freeze, we’ve had a few responses from London council leaders opposed to the rise. ... Read more...
If only a few more people had listened As we understand it, our £37bn bank equity injection will be on significantly less favourable terms than Warren Buffett's deal with Goldman Sachs. As BOM readers will know, for his $5bn, wily old Warren got preference shares paying a 10%... Read more...
Yesterday saw my first contribution to ConservativeHome's Local Government blog - who have kindly invited me to write a weekly column on local government finance. You can read my first article here. Each week we'll be picking up an example of good or bad practice, waste, innovation, inefficiency, mismanagement or... Read more...
Having been caught out appallingly by the collapse of Iceland's banks, councils and the Local Government Association have been reaching for the fat file marked "excuses" with a vengeance over the last few days. Given the range and variety of excuses and buck passing that's going on, we thought it... Read more...
We might have expected fuzzy concepts like 'happiness economics', and the idea that economic growth is overrated, would be dropped as the economic crisis bites and more tangible concerns return to the foreground of British politics. However, the BBC asks whether "with so many political certainties being shredded, perhaps there... Read more...
How bad is all this going to get for UK taxpayers?We've already taken on a huge stack of bank debt - provenance unknown - and now we're heading into the worst recession since the 30s. Public spending will soar and tax revenues will plummet, racking up public debt way beyond... Read more...
How you can help in the fight for lower council tax George Osborne had barely sat down after committing the Tories to freezing council tax for two years when 16 London councils rushed out to denounce the proposed freeze. So it’s up to us to fight for a freeze... Read more...
Below you will find all the councils who lost your money in Icelandic banks. You will also find the contact details of the leaders of the respective councils. Have our 10 Per Cent Challenge to hand when you write to them, telling them where they can cut spending so they... Read more...
In what looks – from the outside – like another effort to burn a bit of time and cash, the Birmingham Mail has announced today that Sandwell Council and Sandwell Multi-Faith Network are to launch a much needed (ahem!) ‘faith trail’ around the borough tomorrow. Looking at the PDF... Read more...
Mr Brown keeps telling us Armageddon arrived out of a clear blue sky, and it's all the fault of those damned Americans. Does anyone actually believe that?Many people have long been warning about how much debt we've run up over the last decade, and how there would have to be... Read more...
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... Read more...
In the space of a day something incredible happened: taxpayer distrust of local government hit a new low as it was revealed, with each drip of information a new smack to council credibility, that dozens of councils had invested considerable amounts of your money in failing Icelandic banks. After... Read more...
The news has been all over the media today about the tens - and potentially hundreds - of millions of pounds that local councils may have lost in Icelandic banks. As you might expect, the TPA has been out and about representing the taxpayers' point of view. There are... Read more...
Within the modern political lexicon the term 'guidelines' is a particular favourite. These aren't orders,but if they aren't obeyed ... well ... there's the door. Guidelines are the distillation of the government's infinite wisdom, the hand gently (but firmly) steering the unenlightened in the right direction. Ed Balls, Secretary... Read more...
In one of the latest examples of government failures, the Government admitted yesterday that nearly 111,000 students have yet to have their applications for Education Maintenance Allowance processed. These grants exist to help underprivileged 16 to 18 year old students to stay enrolled in classes and a classic case of... Read more...
Tony Benn in his diaries talks of a 40-year rule. Every 40 years, give or take, there are political events that change the face of British politics. The repeal of the Corn Laws in the 1840s split the Tories, a rump of which joined with the Whigs to form the... Read more...
Download the full paper (PDF) The TaxPayers' Alliance today publishes a new briefing paper on the financial crisis, which forms the basis of our response to the bail out plan and which we hope will be of use to journalists reporting the issue. The briefing also outlines several ways in... Read more...