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TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 25th February 2011 Supply teacher spending On Thursday we released research showing that secondary schools in England spent £293 million on supply teachers last year. It comes after the Department for Education released extensive data on schools' spending. Our paper was the first to present an analysis of the data, highlighting key factors such as spending on teaching and the number of pupils on free school meals. Full time parent Simon Cook, who authored the paper, found that schools in deprived areas spent an average of over £140,000 each on supply teachers (the average for England is £100,000). This suggests that the pupils who need stable teaching the most do not get it. There's been much talk of the Government introducing a 'pupil premium', but we found this already exists as schools with higher numbers of poorer students received an income of over 26 per cent more per child. The report shows what can be done when government departments release full data. Read our report in full. The report was mentioned on BBC Radio 4's Todayprogramme and covered in many national newspapers. The Guardian compared the figures from our report with resultsaround the country (pictured). It's great that these findings got people talking. Simon Cook, author of the report, said: "This new information on school budgets offers an invaluable insight into how our education system is functioning. It is clear that schools in more deprived areas are getting a substantial premium in terms of funding, but most aren't able to overcome the challenges of working with more deprived children and deliver better results. It is really important that more information like this is released so that we can have a real, informed debate about how we can make public services work." Say No to EU Tax Here in the UK we are already over-taxed. We've been strong critics of the rises in VAT and fuel duty, which have both pushed up the cost of living. One area we have, and will continue to, highlight that adds an unnecessary burden of tax on the UK is the EU. You may have seen Dr Lee Rotherham speaking about the cost of the EU. Now the EU would like to add to that burden, and plans to introduce direct taxes on financial transactions, electronic communications and CO2 emissions. Not only that, Brussels wants us to increase the VAT contributions that we already give over to the wasteful and unaccountable bureaucracy at the EU Commission. We think these plans are a disgrace and they would mark a huge turning point that would be difficult to reverse. We want our supporters to join us in saying NO to the EU tax, you can sign a petition here. It's crucial to get as many voices behind this as possible to stop Eurocrats raiding the pockets of hard pressed UK taxpayers. TPA in action around the country Lee Canning, TPA Coordinator in Cardiff, was interviewed for BBC Wales Today. He rightly described the recently announced Council Tax hikes in Wales as "a true slap in the face to the Welsh people". Other councils in Wales have managed to freeze rates, there's no excuse. Any increase in Council Tax is something families will struggle to afford. Watch Lee Canning speaking on BBC Wales here, read more from Lee on his blog. New Grassroots activist, Anna Bailey, wrote her first blog post for us this week. Anna is currently finishing a PhD, and getting involved in TPA campaigning for her home county of Leicestershire. She knows the Nottingham area too, and she posted on the shameful decision of the City Council not to publish all spending above £500 online. If you are a taxpayer in Nottingham write to your councillor here and let them know that you want to see how your money is spent. You might remember from last week's Best of the Blogs that Tameside TPA coordinator Liam Billington's investigation had uncovered a silly waste of taxpayers' money. The blog titled How Tameside Council Spent £5,000 on Teaching Staff how to Walk was reported in the Manchester Evening News. This discovery became a big news story as it emerged that this wasn't a one off mistake but that other public sector bodies around the country were spending your hard-earned taxes in this ridiculous way, then the Mail on Sunday, and The Sun ran the story. Liam was also interviewed by radio stations in the Manchester area. The media reaction showed what a disgraceful waste of money this scheme was. If you have a good story of waste in your area, share it with us by contacting our National Grassroots Coordinator Andrew Allison. MP appeals jail sentence This week we've heard that David Chaytor, the former MP, will be challenging the 18 month jail term handed out in the courts after he was found guilty of fiddling his parliamentary expenses to the tune of £22,000. This is an unfortunate setback in the cleanup of MPs' expenses. The judge had said Chaytor's custodial sentence would help restore public confidence. This delay and further cost to the taxpayer is a step backwards in this recovery. Emma Boon writes about her reaction to this development in the case here. Chaytor's application will be heard by judges at the Court of Appeal on March 22nd, they will then decide whether or not to let him appeal his sentence. Challenge your council over LGA membership Residents of Windsor and Maidenhead, will be glad to know that the time has almost come for the council to leave the LGA. After providing the statutory 12 months notice of intention to leave, the council has spent the interim period assessing the benefits of membership against the huge £40,000 annual cost to taxpayers. They have concluded that this is an easy saving to make. The LGA is a trade association representing almost all councils in England and are always there to defend the actions of councils, whether in the interests of residents or not. The LGA act as a barrier to accountability, and councillors should answer directly to their residents rather than relying on the LGA to put out responses on their behalf. Other councils should follow suit, and if your council hasn't then you should write to them by clicking here to ask them why not. Best of the Blogs 2020 Tax Commission: Left Foot Forward continue to be confused on the 50p rate - More misinformation on the 50p rate - Matt Sinclair takes Left Foot Forward to task Better Government: TPA reply to REC criticisms of education spending paper - Simon Cook on the Recruitment and Employment Confederation's confusion over our school spending paper Campaign: Public sector pensions need reforming - Charlotte Linacre on resistence to increasing pension contributions and need for reform of this ticking timebomb Campaign: Reaction to Charity Commission release- Matt Sinclair has responded to The Guardian's smears - read the real story on our blog Grassroots: Non-job of the week - Andrew Allison with another non job - Surrey County Council take the title this week 2020 Tax Commission: Strong revenue in January doesn't mean the 50p rate is working -January revenue figures don't mean the 50p rate has been effective, explains Matt Sinclair Better Government: Using competition for taxpayer value in public services - Rory Meakin on the Government's plans to overhaul public services Grassroots: St Valentine's Day Massacre - In a sombre mood, TPA supporter John Martin describes Norfolk County Council's budget meeting and its aftermath. Grassroots: The war on non-jobs and waste- Andrew Allison with an update on our war against non-jobs Grassroots: South Somerset outrage - Tim Newark on the eyewatering sums given to South Somerset District Council's outgoing executives