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TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 18th March 2011 Town Hall Rich List Yesterday the TPA launched one of our biggest reports – our annual Town Hall Rich List. It is the most comprehensive list of council pay packets, showing all council staff across the UK who are in receipt of pay and perks worth over £100,000. A record 2,295 council workers were listed this year, that's up 1 per cent from last year. The report also shows that salaries for individual senior staff had increased by a staggering 3.8 per cent; a particularly shocking number considering our report covered a period of recession. Whilst much of the private sector workforce had their pay frozen or even cut, town hall staff were still getting pay rises. At a time when councils across the country are making very necessary spending cuts, this new research raises important questions about where senior council workers' real priorities lie. The numbers show that council management has remained relatively well cushioned from the recession, and there is plenty more to be done before councils complain that they have no choice but to cut services. Watch Chris Daniel TPA Policy Analysis and author of the report on ITV Meridian(pictured). Presenting this new research Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Councils should be scouring every inch of their expenditure to identify savings, so taxpayers will be staggered that so many council employees are still getting such a generous deal. Councils insist cuts can only mean pressure on frontline services but they clearly have money to spend when it comes to paying their own senior staff. It is crucial that some of these senior council executives set an example and ensure they have the moral authority to lead spending cuts by taking a pay cut themselves. Households have seen their Council Tax bills double over the last decade and deserve better value. Proper transparency is an essential first step so that residents can decide for themselves if town hall bosses are delivering the results to justify pay at these sorts of levels." Our report was well received by both the national and local press and local broadcast media, with TPA staff battling it out on the airwaves in live debates with council leaders and chief executives. Here are a few highlights of the coverage: BBC News website: Thousands of council staff get £100k payouts Daily Mail: Labour let one council boss a day join £100,000-plus club as six-figure deals soared Daily Express: 2,295 council fat cats on £100k The Daily Telegraph: Rise in Council bosses earning more than £100,000 The Scotsman: 128 council bosses earn £100,000 or more Belfast Telegraph: Revealed: council chiefs with more than £100,000 in their pay packets City A.M.: Council staff paid £100k surge The Sun: Slash & Earn BBC London television, BBC Look North Breakfast, ITV Central, ITV Meridian, Sky News Radio, BBC Radio Northern Ireland, BBC Radio Devon, BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Radio Lincolnshire, BBC Radio Liverpool, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Surrey, BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Radio London, BBC Radio WM, BBC Radio Humberside, LBC, BRMB, Heart East Anglia, Real Radio North East, Norwich 99.9FM, North Norfolk Radio, The Beach, Dream 100, Kestral FM, Town 102, Wolf FM, Beacon Radio, Pirate FM, Jack FM, Southend News Radio, High Peak Radio, Mid West Radio, Radio Forth Winning the argument on spending The Guardian released a poll on Monday and focussed on findings like the fact that most Europeans see themselves as socially liberal and are pessimistic about their future economic prospects. What they didn't mention was that their study found most British people support the need for spending cuts. Their poll showed that groups like the unions and UKuncut opposing all spending cuts are a small minority. Matthew Sinclair wrote a post for our blog about the poll with a number of graphics showing the results. Later that week he wrote about how the OECD had reiterated their view about how important it is to get the deficit under control as well. While there is still an important debate about where spending cuts should fall, the public are rightly convinced that they are necessary and aren't listening to unrealistic claims that those hard decisions can be ducked entirely. Round table internet disco Not a party, but crucial discussion that took place earlier this week. Our Technology Policy Analyst Dominique Lazanski, attended an Open Internet Roundtable discussion with Ed Vaizey, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Dominique was representing the TPA among organisations like Amazon, BBC, Google, Virgin Media and many more. Prior to the event, Dominique wrote a blog about the dangers of trying to regulate the internet – the open internet we enjoy today is extremely innovative, and that could be crushed by so called 'Net Neutrality' proposals, read more here. Join the Club There are more ways to keep in touch and hear about the TPA's campaigns and latest developments in the battle to get proper value for taxpayers' money. It's also great to hear what our supporters think and get your input on breaking stories about wasteful spending or local government. We check the Facebook page and Twitter feed regularly, so you can suggest things in real time as we act to protect taxpayers' interests. The TaxPayers' Alliance Facebook page is a good place to offer your feedback, share ideas and see what other supporters are doing to get involved. If you use Facebook then go to our page and click "Like". If you are a Twitterer you might be interested in following some of theTPA team: Matthew Sinclair(@mjhsinclair) Director of the TPA,Emma Boon (@emmaboon) Campaign Director, Charlotte Linacre(@charLOTTlinacre) Campaign Manager, Chris Daniel (@chrisdaniel88) Policy Analyst and Dominique Lazanski (@dml) our Technology Policy Analyst, who was in on twitter so early she has a three letter account. Twitter offers another great way to get quick updates on our work and current events. You'll find TPA staff mixing the serious work of our campaign and stories we are interested in personally with light humour and often 140 character debate. Campaigning round the country Andrew Allison our National Grassroots coordinator has been fielding media enquiries about the Town Hall Rich List and commenting on TV and Radio. A true activist Andrew has taken on Hull City Council over their remuneration, and the employer contributions to senior staff pensions, which ultimately taxpayers are paying, at 25 per cent of total salary every year. These contributions are double that of neighbouring East Riding where they contribute 12.5 per cent. He'll update us on their explanation next week. Tim Newark, (pictured) our coordinator in Bath & the South West would like your help. We have many supporters in this region, and Tim could really use your 'eyes and ears', so contact us to alert him to breaking news stories, and any frustrating examples of waste you come across that need attention and action. It's great to be able to raise issues on your behalf and highlight examples of inefficient government or public services and sneaky council charges. No matter where you live, if you see examples of waste or profligate spending, then flag them up. And if you would like to do more to help us in our campaigns, do contact us. Best of the Blogs Campaign: Responses to the Town Hall Rich List - Councils still attempt to evade accountability over senior staff pay, and aren't happy when they're caught out, explains Matt Sinclair Grassroots: Non-job of the week - Oxford, Medway and Leicestershire councils all feature in this week's non-job 2020 Tax Commission: Budget whispers - John O'Connell points out that most of those affected by the 50p rate are not bankers and many entrepreneurs have been hit by it Campaign: The awful results of hate education in the Palestinian Territories - Matthew Sinclair on taxpayers' money helping to support violent organisations in the Palestinian Territories Grassroots: Cycling at our expense - Tim Newark on Bath Council's £3000-per-cyclist transport scheme failure 2020 Tax Commission: Listen to Clegg on the personal allowance, Mr Osborne - Nick Clegg is right to call for a faster rise in the personal allowance, but is he going far enough Grassroots: Accountable Servants - Lee Canning with two particularly shameless examples of expenses abuse 2020 Tax Commission: Tax policy decisions should be devolved, not harmonised across the EU - Rory Meakin asks: Is Dublin's refusal of EU help is the right approach? Campaign: Net Neutrality and basic economics - Those debating net neutrality are still struggling to grasp the basics, explains Dominique Lazanski