Friday, 23 September 2011

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TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 23 September 2011

Liberal Democrat Conference

The party conference has season kicked off with the Liberal Democrats gathering in Birmingham – and we were out in force to emphasise the importance of local councils delivering value for money for taxpayers. TPA Director Matthew Sinclair chaired our fringe meeting in the Freedom Zone – a day-long programme of events put together by the Freedom Association – on the theme of how to cut spending and deliver lower taxes at a local level.

Edward Lord, the chairman of Capital Ambition and a leading Liberal Democrat in the Local Government Association, castigated councils of all political colours which fail to countenance contracting services out to the private sector. He said councils must not be fixated on owning, providing and running all services themselves, concluding: “How can ensure you are getting efficiency and value for money for local people unless you market test?”

Mark Littlewood (pictured) of the Institute of Economic Affairs spoke about his desire to see local authorities being given responsibility for raising more of the money that they spend – and then more power over how they spend that money; whilst TPA Research Director John O’Connell shared a variety of suggestions as to how councils can deliver best value, including the importance of outsourcing, transparency and stealing good ideas from other councils which are delivering higher quality services for a lower council tax.

TPA at Conservative Party Conference

The Conservative Party conference is fast approaching and you will be able to find us in Freedom Zone again this year. You don't need a conference pass to get into this area, which is just outside the secure zone in Bridgewater Hall. If you are in the Manchester area between Sunday 2nd and Wednesday 5th October do come and say hello and meet the team. There are also lots of exciting speakers you can hear:


Monday 3 October 11.30am
Cutting Council Spending and Delivering Lower Taxes
Emma Boon (chairman) – Campaign Director of The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Cllr David Burbage – Leader of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council
Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh – Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council
John O’Connell – Research Director of The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Bob Neill MP – Minster for Local Government


Monday 3 October 2pm
We Need to Talk About Europe (and event with the Daily Express)
Matthew Elliott (chairman) – Chief Executive of The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Douglas Carswell – MP for Clacton
Patrick O’Flynn – Chief Political Commentator of The Daily Express
Tim Montgomerie – Editor of ConservativeHome
Priti Patel – MP for Witham (pictured speaking at the Rally Against Debt)

Tuesday 4 October 1.45pm
The TaxPayers’ Alliance: Digital Policy Under the Coalition
Dominique Lazanski (chairman) – Head of Digital Policy at The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Jeff Lynn – CEO of Seedrs Limited and Chairman of The Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec)
Andrew Orlowski - Technology reporter at The Register
Nick Pickles – Director of Big Brother Watch

Tuesday 4 October 2.45pm
The TaxPayers’ Alliance: How to Cut Taxes
Andrew Allum (chairman) – Chairman of The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Allister Heath – Chairman of the Tax Commission and Editor of City AM (pictured on the right)
Sajid Javid – MP for Bromsgrove
Graeme Leach – Commissioner on the Tax Commission and Chief Economist and Director of Policy of The Institute of Directors
Matthew Sinclair – Director of The TaxPayers’ Alliance

You might also be interested in this event which features our Chief Executive Matthew Elliott, discussing his recent sabbatical:

Tuesday 4 October 4pm
NO to AV: Winning Campaigns: How the AV Referendum was Won and Lost
Jonathan Isaby (chairman) – Political Director of The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Lewis Baston – Political Analyst and author of Don’t Take No For An Answer: The 2011 referendum and the future of electoral reform
Matthew Elliott – Chief Executive of The TaxPayers’ Alliance
Nick Wood – CEO of Media Intelligence Partners

FiReControl - half a billion and counting

A scheme introduced to merge 46 local fire control rooms in England into 9 new regional control centres has cost the taxpayer nearly half a billion pounds and was slammed as a “complete failure” by the Public Accounts Committee (PACS) this week. In their report on the FiReControl Project PACS branded it as “flawed from the outset” while a former project director looked back on it and said "In hindsight, if we had not ever started the project, then that would have been possibly the best course of action”.

The scheme has already wasted £469 million of taxpayers' money and the 8 control centres that sit empty are estimated to be costing a further £4 million a month. John Prescott, who was responsible for a large proportion of the scheme, went on the Today program to blame the civil servants, the following morning former civil servant Sir Richard Motram was on the program to pass the buck back to ministers.

Despite the huge losses to the taxpayer and the repeated failures of the project none of those involved seem to have had their careers affected. The PACS committee tried to hold senior civil servants to account for a project the committee chairman, Margret Hodge MP, branded as “one of the worst we have seen for many years”, lamenting that “No one has been held to account for this project failure”.

Unsurprisingly taxpayers are still waiting for someone to apologise or face any kind of penalty for the shocking waste involved in this disaster.

Grassroots

This week we have found out how much full-time union convenors cost taxpayers in Hull, that Calderdale Council employs a Regional Reputation Manager, and we know how much Surrey County Council paid for a video to promote an Eco Park. All of this was down to supporters like you sending Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and passing the responses on to us. If you want to do some digging in your local area, we have a FOI template ready for you to use. Contact Andrew Allison, National Grassroots Coordinator, if you would like to be sent a copy.

Waltham Forest Council has been in the news this week for all the wrong reasons. It wasted £15,000 on trying to prosecute a business owner because a box she gave to a passer-by bearing her company's name was found at a fly-tipping black spot. The council tried to prosecute her for illegal disposal of business waste. Think of that the next time you ask for a cardboard box at your local supermarket! Thankfully, the judge threw the case out of court. The average Band D council tax in Waltham Forest is £1,500. This means ten families have paid their council tax for this act of stupidity. If you have come across any similar cases, please let us know, and we will highlight them next week. With millions of families struggling to pay their bills, idiocy like this is the last thing they need.

Best of the Blogs

Burning our Money: Non-job of the week - What on earth is a Regional Reputation Manager?

Burning our Money: New LGA Chief hired on package worth nearly £200,000 - The Local Government Association recruit and expensive new leader

Grassroots: More councillors not paying council tax - Tim Newark has uncovered yet more local councillors in the South West failing to pay their council tax on time

Economics 101: The Government isn’t tackling the fundamental obstacles to growth, prosperity and employment - Rory Meakin blogs on the issues the Government aren't tackling

Better Government: Health and safety gone mad (with our cash) - The Health Protection Agency spends £1200 on four star hotels and £600 at a garden centre

Posted by Britannia Radio at 16:16