Thursday 9 April 2009

TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 9th April 2009
 
Town Hall Rich List 2009
 
This week the TPA launched our annual Town Hall Rich List, which names all those in local government earning over £100,000 a year. As workers in the private sector face the prospect of tough pay deals or unemployment, it is increasingly clear that the rewards for senior staff in councils remain sky high. Generous remuneration for senior staff is difficult to square with complaints from councils that their resources are stretched, and may make it more difficult to control pay for other council staff. As we look ahead to what will surely be some of the hardest financial conditions many people have seen in decades, it is more important than ever that the Town Hall gravy train is brought to a halt and that taxpayers' money is used for public services, as intended, instead of the personal enrichment of a select few on the council payroll.

This year's list was longer than ever, with 1,021 people, up 27% from 818 last year. At least 16 people in local authorities are earning more than the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, who earns £194,250. Over 115 people in town halls earn more than £150,000 a year and 182 people in local authorities are earning more than Cabinet Ministers, who earn £137,579, including their MPs’ salaries.
 
In a major policy victory for the TPA, all three main political parties have now pledged to publish in full all local government pay. Even the Local Government Association has accepted the need for greater transparency.
 
To read the full report and find out how much of your money your council's top brass are getting, click here
 
The report received fantastic coverage in the press, with hits including:
Daily Mail, 1,000 Town Hall fat cats earning over £100,000 
Metro, Council officers' pay is 'staggering' 
Daily Telegraph, More than 1,000 council staff earning over £100,000-a-year 
Daily Telegraph, Philip Johnston: Have a Happy New Tax Year 
The Indepedent, Revealed: the town hall staff who earn more than the PM 
The Independent, Leading article: Public servants – at a price 
BBC News, Council chiefs' pay in spotlight 
Daily Express, The 1,000 council fat cats earning over £100,000 
Daily Express, SCANDAL OF £100K TOWN HALL FAT CATS 
The Mirror, Town halls' fat cats rap 
Beverley Advertiser, Council defends top officers' salaries 
Yorkshire Post, £540,000 package for town hall chief who quit  
Newcastle Evening Chronicle, Pay warning 
Huddersfield Examiner, Boom time for plasterer with extra £42,000 
Huddersfield Examiner, Kirklees worker's £60,000 
Bucks Free Press, Bucks council chiefs' pay "up 28.5 per cent" 
ConservativeHome, Mark Wallace: More than 1,000 Town Hall employees are now earning in excess of £100,000 - and some councils still don't want you to know about it 
ThisislocalLondon.co.uk, Bucks council chiefs' pay "up 28.5 per cent" 
Thebusinessdesk.com, Council bosses' wages on the up 
Local Government Chronicle, Council 'fat cat' salaries defended 
Kent Online, Doubled - the number of council staff on £100k plus 
Politics.co.uk, The town hall workers on £100,000+ 
Somerset Mercury, North Somerset Council chiefs on Fat Cat list 
Shropshire Star, Former council chief on top payouts list 
South London Press, Lambeth spends £35,000 of council tax money... on a buffet 
ThisislocalLondon.co.uk, Council boss: £44,000 pay increase "the going rate"  
Western Mail, Anger at £100,000+ council salaries 
Middlesbrough Evening Gazette, 'Top pay' furore 
The Stoke Sentinel, Twenty-three council bosses on £100,000-plus 
Rochdale Observer, Rich list five in hundred club 
Blackpool Gazette, Shock as council chiefs' annual salary revealed 
Rochdale Online, Council Executives earn a combined £600,000 
Kent Messenger, We have to pay the 'market rate' for salaries - council 
Kensington and Chelsea News, TaxPayers Alliance slams Westminster council bosses 
Swindon Advertiser, Council’s top brass take home over £1m 
Bicester Advertiser, Taxpayers' Alliance reveals that 11 senior council officers in Oxfordshire were paid £100k+ 
Bolton News, Bolton Council chief defends his six-figure salary 
Leicester Mercury, Anger at pay rises for £100,000 staff 
Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph, Are our council chiefs worth their salaries? 
Western Telegraph, Chief Exec's wage hit £162,500, says Taxpayers' Alliance 
Lancashire Evening Post, Calls to freeze council chiefs' pay 
Lancashire Telegraph, Hyndburn and Pendle council chiefs' 'staggering' pay rises 
MSN Money consumer champion, Town hall fat cats paid more than the PM 
Aberdeen Press & Journal, Leader: Rich list of council workers launched 
Pressandjournal.co.uk, Town Hall Rich List 
Aberdeen Press & Journal, We deserve our cash, say town hall chiefs 
The Sheffield Star, Council bosses cashing-in 
Norwich Evening News, Norfolk's highest council earners revealed 
Manchester Evening News, Chief earns more than Gordon 
Wigan Evening Post, Council chiefs' pay rises slammed 
The Herald, One Scot in top 100 council earners 
Manchester Evening News, Greater Manchester's top council earners revealed 
New Post Leader, Northumberland council officers paid more than £100,000 
Kent Chronicle, Sevenoaks councillors award themselves huge increases 
Wokingham Times, Council fat cat salaries revealed 
Waltham Forest Guardian, Inflation-busting pay rises for council officers revealed 
Lewisham News Shopper, "Secretive" council slammed by tax watchdog
TPA spokesmen also appeared on More 4 News, TalkSport, ITV Meridian, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Humberside, Colourful Radio and Swansea Sound to discuss the findings of the report.

Councils not complying with Freedom of Information law

Along with our Town Hall Rich List, we revealed the councils who refused to comply with Freedom of Information law by failing to supply us with the information we asked for. You can find the councils who didn’t obey the law as well as the contact details of the council leaders here. We need as many of our supporters as possible to write to these council leaders and ask them to reveal the information. The public deserve to know what the top earners in local government get paid - so take action now and hold your council to account.
 
MPs' Expenses - the row continues
 
This week has seen a continuation of the MPs' expenses row - with cabinet members exposed for their grasping behaviour left, right and centre. There has been Jacqui's patio set and antique fireplace, '3 homes' Geoff Hoon and Alistair Darling, and even the Prime Minister getting in on the act by having two taxpayer funded homes. The TPA has been vocal in the press as ever, calling for increased transparency and accountability and an urgent and complete overhaul of the current expenses system that leaves taxpayers footing the bill for everything from bath plugs to barbequeues. 

Hits include:
Sunday Express, EXCLUSIVE: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN... JACQUI CLAIMED BARBECUE ON EXPENSES 
Sunday Herald, Scots authors back plans for public cash scheme 
Sunday Times, Nice little earner for three-homes Geoff Hoon 
Daily Mail, Leader: How MPs' gravy train railroads public trust 
Daily Mail, MPs save more than £10,000 by claiming stamp duty on second and third homes on expenses 
Daily Telegraph, Alistair Darling claims thousands for 'third home' 
Daily Telegraph, Speaker's exotic trips around world with his wife and entourage cost £150,000 
The Sun, Jacqui's grilling  
The Mirror, HOME SEC'S BBQ EXPENSES ROW 
The Mirror, HOON IN RENT EXPENSES ROW 
Daily Star, Gord's £100k exes for second home 
Daily Express, We fork out for MPs' food 
Daily Express, Speaker had £150k jollies 
Daily Express, How Brown is driving the Cabinet Gravy Train 
Evening Standard, £1.4m five-star trips for globetrotting MPs 
Daily Telegraph, MPs cap prices in canteen 
Newcastle Journal, Taxpayers fork out for North’s peers 
The Mirror, Tories accused of hypocrisy after Shadow Cabinet take £500k in expenses in perk Cameron wants banned 
Daily Express,TAXPAYERS PICK UP £1.4 MILLION BILL FOR MPS' 5-STAR TRIPS 
Daily Mail, Sinn Fein MPs claim £500,000 of your money to pay for London flats (even though they never go to Parliament) 
Daily Telegraph, MPs spend almost £1.4m on overseas fact finding trips 
Daily Star, £1.9M JUNKETS... ON THE TAXPAYER 
The Sun, Anti-sleaze MPs claim £4million 

The sooner the guilty parties realise that people around the country will not put up with this exploitation, the better. So write to your MP today and let them know this behaviour is unacceptable and cannot continue.
 
Danger of shared spaces very real indeed

Regular readers will have noticed our campaign with the West London Residents Association and Guide Dogs for the Blind against the dangerous and expensive shared surface schemes in Kensington and Chelsea.  You can read about the issue here and here.

Our worst fears about the shared surface scheme very nearly came true this week.  TheLondon Informer reveals a near miss outside Sloane Square station:“At around 10am on Thursday, the campaigners' worst fears nearly came true. A couple accompanied by two small children, one in a pushchair and a boy aged around four, met outside the station. Mr Terblanche, who stands outside the kiosk when families are around, spotted the older child running towards the road. On Monday, he said: " I caught him just on the edge, about six inches from the car. I just put my arms around him. I was willing for the car to hit me in order to save the boy. He was inches from being badly hurt."
 
Please take this crucial opportunity to contact Kensington and Chelsea’s councillors about this.  Their contact details can be found here.

Council Tax Protest – Haywards Heath, 16 April

Next Thursday, 16th April TPA supporter Terry Reilly will be in court protesting his council tax bill and we'll be there to support him. We need your help to make a stand with Terry! After ten years of soaring council tax, with increase after increase, he's had enough. So if you'd like to show your support for lower taxes and come and give Terry some support, please join us at the Crawley Magistrates Court, Bolnore Road, Haywards Heath RH16 4BA - map here.  We'll be meeting outside the court at 10.30am, with Terry's court hearing at 11.15am. Please do bring placards of support and banners. We’ll be providing leaflets that will make people aware of the soaring tax bills they’re being forced to pay. RSVP to our grassroots coordinator Tim Aker, tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com.

Swanage Action day

This coming Tuesday, TPA supporters will be Leafleting in Swanage, Dorset, on 14th April.  We’re meeting at 11.15am at The Mowlem, Swanage - map here.  RSVP to our grassroots coordinator Tim Aker tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com.  For details of how to get there by car please contact Mike Hobson on 01929 439 099. 

Sutton Campaign Day

On Friday 24th April TPA supporters will be in Sutton's high street to campaign against high taxes. After an above inflation tax increase, we'll be out calling for lower council tax and an end to wasetful spending. Please come and join us to recruit more members to the cause. We'll be meeting outside Sutton Railway Station, Brighton Road, Sutton 11am on Friday 24th April. If you plan to attend or would like more information, please email our grassroots coordinator Tim Aker at tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com.

Campaign against the Cambridge congestion charge

TPA supporter Brian Macdowall is running a campaign with the Association of British Drivers against proposals for a congestion charge in Cambridge.  If you live in the area and want more information or to get involved then you can contact Brian via email on snapspeed@googlemail.com or by telephone on 0779 4314 077.  Remember that grassroots action defeated the Manchester congestion charge - just because the politicians want to squeeze us for more money doesn't mean they'll get away with it.  Let’s keep up the fight and see it defeated in Cambridge too!

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Posted by Britannia Radio at 15:07