High Speed 2 is part of the Government’s effort to increase rail capacity between the North and South of England and to deliver greater economic growth in the North of England. Phase one, from London to the West Midlands, is expected to begin construction in 2017 (presuming Royal Assent is... Read more...
The housing crisis has prompted the government to take a number of policy decisions aimed at making it easier for people to buy a home. Together with policies implemented by local authorities, much has changed in property markets for owner-occupying buyers, landlords and tenants. These changes are not sufficient to... Read more...
As has repeatedly been found amongst countries that have attempted them, sugar taxes have been poor at improving public health. What is perhaps equally important is the damaging effect that the tax has had on employment. Taxes nominally levied on businesses such as Corporation Tax, lead to lower employment and/or... Read more...
The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union so it is essential that politicians put together a plan for growth that ensures the security and stability of the economy. It should also be seen as an exciting opportunity to demonstrate that the UK is ready to do business... Read more...
Several countries tax sugar-sweetened beverages, one of the most recent being Mexico. In 2014, a one peso per litre on SSBs was introduced to reduce levels of obesity within the population. Subsequent studies have indicated that the reduction in soft drink consumption has been small. This note uses the reported... Read more...
In October 2010, the Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude announced that 192 Quasiautonomous Non-Governmental Organisations (quangos) would be abolished and a further 118 merged. What are colloquially referred to as quangos are in fact a combination of nonministerial departments, executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies and others. They have a wide... Read more...
Announced in the 2016 budget, the soft drinks industry levy (the sugar tax), will be paid by producers and importers of “water-based added sugar soft drinks” from April 2018. It is expected that the levy will have two rates (18 pence and 24 pence) dependent on the drink’s sugar content... Read more...
The efficient procurement of defence equipment has long been a challenge for British governments. It is an extremely complex process that is yet to be mastered with vast sums of money invariably at stake – procurement and support of military equipment consumes around 40 per cent of annual defence cash... Read more...
In Windsor and Maidenhead, our approach to Government is to only take in Council Tax what is absolutely necessary to spend to deliver high quality services at a low cost. In many authorities the elected representatives and their officials would say exactly the same thing – but in Windsor and... Read more...
Trafford Council is the third lowest funded Metropolitan District in the country, receiving only £365 per head against an average of £591, an equivalent loss of £49.3 million. However, Trafford also has the 19th lowest Council Tax in the Country, because it has a culture of delivering a high level... Read more...
With Tata Steel putting its Port Talbot steelworks up for sale and saying the value of its UK steel operations are "almost zero", clamours for nationalisation of the ailing industry are growing. This briefing paper discusses the following questions: How important is the steel industry to the UK? Why is... Read more...
New research by the TaxPayers' Alliance reveals the full cost of payments to local councillors - two thirds of a billion pounds over three years. Many councillors receive modest allowances appropriate to the work they do in representing local taxpayers but the variation in what is paid to those in... Read more...
The recent deluge of headlines about Google’s tax settlement with HMRC has once more demonstrated public anger with the tax system. The consensus that substantial reform of Corporation Tax is required has never been greater. The Treasury Select Committee has realised his and opened an inquiry titled “UK tax policy and... Read more...
Successive governments have seen changes to the tax treatment of pensions as a means of increasing revenues. Nigel Lawson introduced a tax on pension fund surpluses, Gordon Brown abolished Advance Corporation Tax and George Osborne has reduced the lifetime and annual allowances by 44 and 84 per cent respectively. Now... Read more...
This research paper looks at compensation claims made against local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales in 2013-14 and 2014-15. It gives details of payments made by the authority or its insurers (including outstanding estimates) as well as details of the claim. Where the authority has paid out or made... Read more...
Last year, the Prime Minister and Health Secretary both ruled out imposing a "sugar tax" on drinks and foods with high sugar contents. A sugar tax would be regressive and ineffective. Nevertheless, public health campaigners have remained persistent in their calls for a sugar tax. Given the enormous administrative and... Read more...
Since 2010, central government has offered grants to local authorities to freeze or cut Council Tax. Additionally, local authorities wishing to increase Council Tax by 2 per cent or more must seek the approval of their residents to do so through a referendum. The effects have been an end to... Read more...
The TaxPayers' Alliance's Public Sector Rich List is the largest project of its type ever undertaken. Through the Freedom of Information Act we have obtained details of tens of thousands of public sector workers earning more than £100,000 a year. We reveal the job titles and full remuneration of thousands... Read more...
For the first time, the TaxPayers’ Alliance is able to reveal the full extent of taxpayer subsidised trade union activity in Northern Ireland. The subsidy considered here takes the form of the socalled "facility time" in which public sector employees undertake trade union work in place of their regular duties.... Read more...
The mandatory five pence charge for plastic carrier bags is unlikely to achieve lower resource use and less waste, it is an ill-considered and complicated policy and significant costs will be borne by consumers. There are other measures which have, in the past, been successful in reducing plastic bag use... Read more...
It will come as little surprise to the public that the government owns a substantial portfolio of art. Given that museums and galleries such as the British Museum and National Portrait Gallery form part of the public sector, neither is it surprising that some such works of art are of... Read more...
Despite the myriad problems across the continent, it seems that the European Union’s (EU) wasteful spending continues apace. New TaxPayers’ Alliance research via official European sources reveals that more than £2 million has been given in grants to video game productions. These subsidies are unacceptable. Read the full research note... Read more...
Despite the myriad problems across the continent, it seems that the European Union’s wasteful spending continues apace. New TaxPayers’ Alliance research via official European sources reveals that more than £10 million has been given in grants to TV productions, including children’s cartoons and politically motivated documentaries in the first year... Read more...
British taxpayers have always been reluctant shareholders in RBS. Bailing out this bank, and for that matter Lloyds was never an "investment" in the typical sense of the word; it was part of an emergency recapitalisation plan. The government’s decision to start offloading taxpayers’ shares in RBS is a welcome... Read more...