Friday, 7 August 2009

TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 7th August 2009
 
New research: the scandal of taxpayer-funded lobbying
 
A new TPA report, released on Monday, used the Freedom of Information Act to expose the full scale of the really scandalous way in which the Government and its agencies spent over £37 million in 2007-08 on lobbying and political campaigning. This is not just a waste of money, it is a perversion of the democratic process. Whilst it is almost laughable that quangos are spending their budgets on lobbyists to persuade ministers that they don't receive enough funding, it is downright anti-democratic for government to fund nominally independent pressure groups and think tanks who produce work which is supportive of the Government's own policies.
 
The key findings of the report were:
  • Public sector organisations spent over £4 million on hiring political consultancies.  More than twice the amount found in earlier research by the Conservative Party.
  • 77 public sector organisations were found to be spending on political consultancies.
  • 13 consultancies received more than £100,000 in payments from public sector organisations.
  • 3 trade associations have a combined taxpayer funded income of more than £23 million (Local Government Association, Association of Police Authorities and NHS Confederation).
The report also looks at the amount of taxpayers' money given by public sector organisations (including the EU) to nominally independent groups, whose primary focus is campaigning for policy change, including political campaigns, lobby groups, think tanks and charities:
  • Nearly £1.8 million is spent on health policy campaigns, including £515,000 paid to Alcohol Concern, £191,000 paid to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and £130,000 paid to the Family Planning Association.
  • Environmental policy campaigns received over £6.7 million, including funding for the Sustainable Development Commission, Friends of the Earth, the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences and numerous other groups.
  • Using Freedom of Information requests to key quangos and government departments, the report found £1.6 million in taxpayer funding for major think tanks – Demos, the New Economics Foundation; the Institute for Public Policy Research and the New Local Government Network.
    The New Economics Foundation, which was paid £601,518 in 2007-08, is responsible for the Happy Planet Index, which places Saudi Arabia and Burma above the United Kingdom and Sweden in terms of “achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet’s resources”.
  • Some of these organisations make misleading claims about their funding.  For example, the Institute of Alcohol Studies claims “We are lucky in being one of the few organisations that do not depend on the Government or the alcohol industry for funds – so that we can be an independent voice on alcohol policy.”  They have received taxpayers' money directly and through the Alliance House Foundation.
The report was picked up across the media, including:
 
New research: The case against boosting MPs' pay
 
Another new research note, released today, seeks to put paid to suggestions of a pay rise for Members of Parliament by revealing the true scale of their pay packets, and comparing them to Parliamentarians abroad. As you will have seen, some MPs have had the gall to try to use the recent expenses crisis as justification for a hefty pay rise. They claim that the reason that so many of their colleagues dipped their hands into the till is that they are underpaid! This new research demonstrates beyond all reasonable doubt that they are extremely well paid - even when compared to other politicians internationally.
 
The report reveals:
  • An MP’s basic salary - £64,766 – places them in the top 3% of the British population by earnings. By comparison, last year the median gross annual earnings for UK adults in work was £25,100.
  • On a comparison of basic salaries, British MPs are the fourth best paid in Europe, with only their counterparts in Italy, Austria and Ireland earning more.
  • Once the heavy taxpayer subsidy for MPs’ pensions – worth £17,468 a year – is taken into account, an ordinary backbencher actually earns £82,252 a year.
  • 131 MPs receive salary top-ups called ‘Additional Payments’ for their Parliamentary work over and above the basic backbencher’s salary. This total consists of the Prime Minister, 60 Government ministers and Under Secretaries, 26 select committee chairmen, 37 standing committee chairmen and 7 other MPs. In total, these MPs received £3.5 million in extra payments in 2007-08.
The report also lists the full range of Commons jobs that receive Additional Payments. You can read the full report here.
 
Some of the coverage achieved for the report's findings included:
TPA spokesmen were also interview on broadcast outlets, including SunTalk and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

What a shower in Bath

On Wednesday our grassroots coordinator, Tim Aker (pictured, right, with local community activists), was in Bath to speak against the Bath Rapid Transit scheme at the Bath and North East Somerset council planning committee.  Back at the meeting in July, the committee voted 6-5 against the plans, but the council decided simply to change the membership of the committee and re-run the meeting and subsequent votes until they got the answer they wanted.  You can read Tim’s report of the day's events here and be shocked at the state of democracy in Bath.

Independent Remuneration Panels - get involved!

We had a very good response to our appeal last week for TPA supporters to apply for the Lincolnshire County Council Independent Remuneration Panel.  These panels are very important indeed.  They judge and recommend what pay, perks and expenses councillors get, so it’s a prime opportunity for you to have a say on the quality of service your councillors are providing. For details about how to apply, see our blog here. 

Leaflet delivery in Hove

On August 19th we’ll be in Hove handing out leaflets and posters detailing MP Celia Barlow’s expense claims, letting local people know exactly how their MP has spent their money.  If you are in the Brighton/Hove area and would like to help out, we’re meeting at Hove railway station at 12 noon. Please RSVP to Tim Aker tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com

Posted by Britannia Radio at 21:06