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TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 26 May 2011 ­ -  BBC and S4C spend millions on private healthcare -  Lord Hanningfield convicted, David Chaytor released ­-  Unveiling a statue of Ronald Reagan ­-  Carbon Trust loses its core funding ­-  Grassroots -  Best of the Blogs   BBC and S4C spend millions on private healthcare We’re always digging around for examples of wasteful spending and this week we’ve uncovered that the BBC and S4C, the Welsh language channel, have spent more than £2.3 million on private health insurance for staff in the last three years.  In 2010 alone 532 BBC staff received private health insurance, at a total cost of £761,438 - equivalent to 5,233 TV licences. Matthew Sinclair, Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It’s crazy that the BBC and S4C have spent millions in recent years on private health insurance for staff.  Viewers already pay for the NHS through their taxes and if it’s good enough for us then it’s good enough for them.  Cutting costly healthcare perks would be a quick and painless saving.  Expensive extras like this are unaffordable and should be scrapped; both organisations need to acknowledge the wider financial crisis and tighten their belts several notches." Lord Hanningfield convicted, David Chaytor released Former Essex Council leader Lord Hanningfield has been found guilty on six counts of false accounting, for nearly £14,000 of parliamentary expenses.  The peer at one point submitted a series of Parliamentary Questions in an attempt to attack us for submitting Freedom of Information requests, perhaps now we finally know why he was so opposed to transparency in the public sector. Emma Boon, TPA Campaign Director, pictured discussing Lord Hanningfield above, gave this reaction to his conviction: “Lord Hanningfield was in a position of trust both at Essex County Council and as a peer.  He abused that position by making fraudulent expenses claims and wrongly taking money from taxpayers and we welcome this guilty verdict.  Since charges were first announced the public has had a long wait to see Lord Hanningfield face justice.  Even a Lord is not above the law and this former pig farmer must now receive an appropriate sentence for sticking his snout in the trough.  It’s disappointing that Hanningfield still does not recognise that he has done anything wrong.” While one disgraced politician awaits his sentence, another is already getting out.  After only a quarter of his 18 month sentence David Chaytor has been released from prison, and released early with a tag.  Pictured right speaking on ITV Granada, Emma Boon responded for the TPA, saying that: "Chaytor might not be considered a threat to the public, but prison isn't just about protecting society from dangerous criminals.  It's also there to offer a deterrent to those who would commit further crimes, and it's there as a punishment.  Given the seriousness of the offence, taxpayers will ask if this was a serious enough punishment or deterrent.  He stole thousands of pounds from taxpayers and in doing so he seriously damaged public faith in the parliamentary system.  Taxpayers will be rightly angry that Chaytor has served less than half his sentence."   Former cabinet minister David Laws has been suspended for 7 days and police are looking into his case. To watch Emma discuss former Cabinet Minister David Laws' expense claims with Lib Dem peer Lord Razzall on BBC News, pictured right, click here.   Unveiling a statue of Ronald Reagan We have received a very special invitation, and been asked to pass it on to you.  TPA supporters are invited to the unveiling in Westminster of a statue of the late President Ronald Reagan.  As he was the man who not only defeated Communism but also enacted the largest tax cut in US history, we thought some of you might be interested in attending.  The picture below shows Matthew Elliott and Matthew Sinclair at the table where Reagan signed the largest tax cut in US history. The event will be held on Monday 4th July at Grosvenor Square in London at 10.00am. Louis B Susman - the US Ambassador; Condoleezza Rice - former United States Secretary of State; and William Hague, Britain's Foreign Secretary, will all be there. You can't just turn up, for security reasons unfortunately, so you need to register online for tickets before Friday 10th June at www.reagancentennial.com using the ticket code TPA100.  You will receive an official ticket but you need to arrive by 9.30am and bring photo ID will you on the day. We look forward to seeing some of you there!   Carbon Trust loses its core funding When we ask for your support signing petitions or writing letters to politicians, we want it to be because your actions can make a difference.  Last year, our Director Matthew Sinclair wrote to the ministers responsible about a number of quangos which were under review and that we felt should be abolished.  We asked you to follow up with your own letters.  One of the bodies we targeted was the wasteful and inscrutable Carbon Trust.  Now the Guardian has reported that the organisation is losing its core funding, it will have to try and win competitive bids for specific projects like any other business or charity. Another quango you helped us urge the Government to abolish is the Equality and Human Rights Commission.  At the moment, they're just proposing inadequate reforms.  We will keep up the pressure and submitted a response to their consultation this week. We are also keeping an eye on the planned Green Investment Bank, which could see £3 billion of taxpayers' money sunk into an organisation not subject to FOI, Matthew Sinclair wrote for ConservativeHome about how that could turn out to be a sweetheart deal.   Grassroots Many thanks to supporters for getting in touch regarding waste in their local councils. Just this week, we have discovered Barking and Dagenham Council spent nearly £6.5 million on external consultants in the last financial year. Thanks to a supporter leaving a message on the TPA Facebook page, we are investigating large pay-offs to council directors in Wiltshire, and the non-job of the week came courtesy of a supporter who sent a message to Andrew Allison on Twitter! As you can see, there are a variety of ways to contact us. Please continue to send us results from your Freedom of Information requests, and links to local news stories. Whatever you think is useful, please get in touch. We are the only grassroots campaign group fighting for taxpayers' interests. The more information we get from you, the more effective our campaigns will be.   Best of the Blogs Burning our Money: Councils splash-out over £2 million on away days - Local councils spend thousands of pounds on away days - to discuss ways in which they could save money! Economics 101: If the OECD is a source of "wise advice", maybe Ed Balls should listen to it? - Matthew Sinclair points out that the OECD do support getting the public finances under control Burning our Money: Non-job of the week - Communications managers and typical EU largesse Campaign: Say no to eurozone bailouts with British taxpayers' money - Please sign and share our petition opposing eurozone bailouts Better Government: Transparency would help solve the £500m a year wasted on inefficient NHS consumables purchasing - Too often we hear about cuts being 'savage' - but the NAO estimates the NHS wastes £500 million per year through inefficient procurement Campaign: The effectiveness of speed cameras, what the numbers do and don't show - We got better results before with a more balanced approach says Matthew Sinclair Grassroots: Wiltshire Council Fat Cat U-turn - It takes media intervention and public outcry to convince this six figure salary boss not to take a further pay rise