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The latest TPA investigation this week revealed the shocking numbers of council staff not simply working from home, but actually working from abroad. Sifting through hundreds of freedom of information responses, we uncovered more than 1,350 cases of council employees being given permission to work from overseas, with 708 in 2022 / 23 alone. Staff expected to deal with local issues have been allowed to work from places such as Spain, Portugal, India, Brazil, and Australia.
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Our findings splashed the front page of the Daily Mail, and TPA chief executive, John O’Connell, blasted: “Residents forking out record rates expect officials to be using the office space taxpayers are footing the bill for. Council staff should get off the sun loungers and get back to town halls.” The story clearly hit a nerve as editors from the Times, Independent, and many others all gave the revelations prominent write-ups.
Inevitably, it wasn’t long before the broadcasters wanted a slice of the action. Our head of campaigns, Elliot Keck, kicked things off speaking to Times Radio listeners. As Elliot explained: “We need to look at some of these examples, we need to look at this massive shift in working practices and really interrogate whether or not they are providing the best deal for taxpayers.”
In the evening, TPA media campaign manager, Conor Holohan, joined Nigel Farage live in the GB News studio. Highlighting the disconnect between staff abroad and local communities, Conor told viewers across the country: “If you’re not feeling the potholes under your car and you’re not in the local area feeling the issues that matter there, how are you going to properly do the job?”
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Council staff are there to deliver local services for local taxpayers. It’s hard to imagine that laying on a sun lounger with a laptop helps them do a better job. With council tax on the rise and budgets being squeezed, ratepayers expect these costa-del council officials to get back behind their desks and start delivering for residents.
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It was another busy week for our campaign against plans for a public sector clock off.
With the help of bulletin readers using our tool to contact their council leaders, more have signed our pledge to not bring in a four-day week. There are still plenty who have yet to sign up so if you’ve not contacted your council, click here. We’ll be paying a visit to some of those who refuse to rule it out so be sure to watch this space.
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Meanwhile, the ‘independent’ report from the Bennett Institute that supported the four-day week trial in South Cambridgeshire was under fresh scrutiny this week after the TPA uncovered emails showing council officials were invited to edit the report ahead of publication. In one email, a representative of South Cambridgeshire claimed there was “too much detail (given that the report is going to be published and there will be a lot of people who are keen to rip the 4DW [four-day week] apart)”
As Elliot told the Times: “There were already serious suspicions about the cherry-picked nature of the data in this report. Now it seems the council and Bennett Institute were working hand in glove to manufacture its contents.”
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Birmingham goes bust
In all too familiar fashion, yet another English council issued a Section 114 notice this week, effectively declaring bankruptcy. Birmingham city council, Europe’s largest local authority, must now cease spending on all but essential services and local taxpayers face rate hikes for years to come.
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Whilst a mega £1 billion equal pay bill has undoubtedly contributed to Birmingham’s demise, as our policy analyst, Tom Ryan, explained to Talk TV viewers: “They’ve had 10 years to be dealing with it. The Oracle IT system has gone five times over budget so I think it’s the case that the council really isn’t managing its finances properly.”
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Discount dinners in parliament
With rising food bills hammering hard working households, the TPA team were shocked to learn that our parliamentarians are being sheltered from these price hikes by their taxpayer subsidised meals. Food and non-alcoholic drink prices for ordinary Brits have increased by 14.9 per cent but parliamentary meals by only six per cent.
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Not mincing his words, John took aim at this raw deal for taxpayers telling Sun readers: “While Brits tighten their belts, Parliamentarians eat for cheap. It’s high time to bring an end to this perk.”
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Costly consular curators
When every penny counts, you might think plastering the walls of embassies with pricey pictures would be pretty far down the priority list. Unfortunately, the foreign office has shelled out almost £700,000 shipping artwork to ambassadors around the globe.
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Tom saw red when he heard the news, raging: “These huge sums don't paint a pretty picture… Time for the government to reign in these costs and call time on consulate curators.” Hear, hear!
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The War on Waste Blog: July and August 2023
In our latest War on Waste blog, Elliot takes a look at the team’s war on waste campaign over the months of July and August. He details the unbelievable waste uncovered across the public sector, from £800,000 spent on a paint-job to £700,000 for home internet expenses for council staff and councillors.
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Commenting on the investigation which revealed 26,000 hours of lost staff time for NHS staff network events Elliot writes: “As well as wasted cash, there was wasted time. Time is money after all. And the amount of time wasted by the public sector is nothing short of scandalous.”
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Benjamin Elks
Operations Manager
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