To do this we produced a report that judges the Government's performance on every objective in our manifesto and assigns a score out of five, from zero (no progress at all) to five (where the objective has been satisfied or a clear path has been set out for that to happen). The results are a mixed bag: there's been some great progress in some areas and hardly any in others. For example:
- In tax and spending, the Government has cut advertising spending in half (5/5) and abolished a number of quangos (3/5) but has not scrapped the 50p tax rate (0/5) or instituted clear fiscal rules with expenditure targets (1/5).
- In reforming services, the Government has cancelled Prevent grants through local authorities (5/5) but has kept the 0.7 per cent target for foreign aid spending (1/5).
- In democracy and transparency, the Government have set out plans to publish full data on spending (5/5) but have not taken action on taxpayer funding for the unions (0/5) or started EU reforms (1/5).
To put it another way, the Government scored 26 out of a possible 55 (47 per cent) for achieving our three-month targets. But, of course, there has been some decent progress on our longer-term objectives: we found the Government scored 54 out of 120 (45 per cent) for progress on first-year targets, and 64 out of 150 (43 per cent) on progress on five-year targets. We pleased to say that this assessment was picked up by the national media, with the Independent and Sky News Radio featuring the analysis.
But on the up side we wouldn’t know about all this without transparency so the news was more good than bad. It’s fantastic that they have opened up the books like this, and it means that taxpayers can now hold the department to account. Since the TPA was launched six years ago we’ve campaigned long and hard for spending transparency, so we are delighted that DCLG have taken this important step. Our councils are following suit day-by-day, and the more that join in this transparency revolution the better it is for the British taxpayer. But as well as councils, other Government departments have to follow suit, and there really are no excuses anymore. The DCLG data was laid out in a readable format that was comprehensible to anyone, not just computer programmers or accountants.
Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said:
“It is extremely exciting to see the Department for Communities and Local Government leading the way on spending transparency. Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is spent and transparency can improve results. It both exposes corruption and enables greater scrutiny and broader involvement in decision making. Hopefully, over the coming months, other departments will follow the DCLG’s superb example.”
We will keep campaigning to get the level of transparency across the public sector that taxpayers deserve.
Many people have already confirmed their attendance, and now we're urging you to join us too! The details are as follows:
What?: A campaign action day to oppose additional parking charges in Bridgnorth.
Where?: Meet by the Old Town Hall on the High Street at 10am. Here's a map to help you find us!
For further information, and to confirm your attendance on the day please contact me at fiona.mcevoy@taxpayersalliance.com. It promises to be a real show of strength against our councils who cannot saddle us with these extra charges to make up for their years of overspending.
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