The Telegraph reports that ten hospitals have mortality rates far above the 'expected' level: "The baseline for England is set at 100 and a lower figure indicates fewer patients died than expected, and a higher one means more patients died. The latest Good Hospital Guide, compiled by Dr Foster Research,... Read more...
Some 'Victorian' schools were in pretty good shape The Observer reports that schools aren't being kept in shape: "Schoolchildren are being taught in 'Victorian' conditions in buildings that have leaking roofs, broken windows and slippery floors, according to research by a major teaching union. Almost half of all... Read more...
Hiding away in today’s Metro is an advert for an, all to frequent, non-job - one that’ll leave you with little reason to doubt why the 2012 Olympics is going to be over-budget. Instead of just getting the job done, building the Olympic park and ensuring there’s track to... Read more...
Taxpayers are teetering on the brink of picking up some huge bills to bail out the banks. Somehow we have to make sure it doesn't happen. Read more...
Suffolk County Council is coming under mounting pressure to vote against giving its chief executive a massive £70,000 pay increase. You can read the story here. What’s important is the ruling Tories are starting to recognise the amount of discontent this lavish waste of taxpayers’ money is causing. So... Read more...
From the BBC: "However, specialists say that flying into a foreign city for an operation means that patients are not properly assessed prior to surgery - and not given the right support afterwards. The majority of the 299 people polled by Which? said they were very satisfied with their treatment,... Read more...
When criticising big government, we often use the term “nanny state” to mean the government ordering us around like a nineteenth century nanny. Like all other aspects of government modernisation, even the term “nanny state” has to take new meaning as Islington Council demonstrates this week with our non-job of... Read more...
Each week I hope to be able to bring you a new quango board to illustrate the proliferation of these unelected agencies in our region, and to expose those ‘professional board members’ who are paid for with our money and are increasingly powerful. Read more...
Sandwell Council are at it again. Our supporter drove through the Borough just this morning only to be assaulted by the latest issue from their publicity department. 'Have Your Say!' it proclaims, advertising for Sandwell residents to attend 'Building Schools for the Future' consultations. So where and when are... Read more...
If only we could all manage our tax bills like rich rock stars Did you know that 13% of UK adults face an effective marginal tax rate in excess of 70%? That is, for every additional £1 of income they get, the government will take at least 70p.... Read more...
An excellent article by Tim Montgomerie, editor of ConservativeHome, in the Guardian contains this priceless quote: "The consensus on tax within the political establishment isn't matched by the population at large. The same YouGov poll (pdf) that found strong support for David Cameron's Conservatives found even greater support for tax... Read more...
Buying cheap is the easy bit We've blogged the fantasy Gershon "efficiency" programme many times (see all previous blogs gathered here). As you will recall, this was Brown's 2004 Budget headline to save £20bn pa by improving public sector efficiency by 2007-08. Most of the subsequent "savings"... Read more...
Sandler's the one on the right Given the dire circumstances, Ron Sandler's plan to dismantle Northern Rock is the best taxpayers can expect. He plans to shrink the operation drastically, halving the asset base in three years, repaying the Bank of England loans, and cutting staff by... Read more...
The latest Ipsos-Mori poll on trust in different professions was released yesterday. Once again, politicians do poorly. 76 per cent of the public now don't trust politicians to tell the truth. Surely politicians can't enjoy being trusted significantly less than used car salesmen? If they want to improve things... Read more...
Not a bear to follow What can British taxpayers learn from the Bear's collapse into the arms of JP Morgan? First, let's note the similarity with our own Crock. Here was a bank that was no longer able to borrow from other banks and wholesale lenders,... Read more...
TPA supporter Peter Heaton writes today about how his Parish Council is increasing the parish precept tax as a means of increasing its political 'empire', seeking to do more at a greater cost to the taxpayer. Peter, however, points out that his Parish Council are charging him to so they... Read more...
Two-thirds of us think government taxes and spends too much At last a senior centre right politician has spoken up for lower taxes and smaller government: "Tax policy should help create more wealth not penalise, particularly when it comes to those on low or middle incomes... The government should give... Read more...
Last summer the TaxPayers' Alliance polled (PPT) a number of questions surrounding political management. We found that 63 per cent of the public agreed with the statement that "few, if any, senior politicians have the necessary experience, competence and knowledge to run public services"; just 12 per cent thought that... Read more...
David Cameron is to announce today that company directors should no longer be responsible for maximising shareholder value. Apparently, they should also have all manner of other responsibilities; for fat children, drunks and even recycling. There is even a threat of legislation if bonuses aren't based on these, diverse, objectives.... Read more...
Over the weekend, the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury told the Sunday Telegraph: "If we get into office and we deliver the efficiencies and we put the money in the bank, we put it by and then we go back to the electorate and we say not, 'we would... Read more...
Fraser Nelson has an extended piece at the Spectator website discussing the expert political team Brown is building. Clearly, politicians are starting to realise they need experienced talent to run their own political campaigns - how long before they realise that the public services need the same? How long before... Read more...
Iain Dale, in the Telegraph, sums up beautifully how inexperience leads to incompetence among Government ministers and advisers: "Fewer than 10 out of 350 Labour MPs have ever run a business. Business Secretary John Hutton's qualification for the job is that he was a law lecturer at Newcastle Poly for... Read more...
Our friends at the West Midlands NO! Campaign have some unearthed new information about the forthcoming 'City Region'. A Freedom of Information response has revealed that the City Region will not be funded on a pro-rata basis, and instead costs will be carved up, essentially meaning that the 1m... Read more...
Politicians of all hues seem to assume we can go on increasing public spending by give-or-take 2% pa for ever. After all, the economy will deliver 2.5% pa growth, whatever, so what's the problem? The problem is highlighted in one of the annexes to Wednesday's Budget, punchily entitled the... Read more...