The TPA’s latest research sensationally revealed the mega sums being squirrelled away by civil servants.Â
Having pored over the numbers, TPA wonks found that just 20 civil servants have combined pension benefits of over ÂŁ20 million! Some of those sitting on the plushest of pensions have come under fire in recent months and years for various policy failures.Â
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Sir Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office, had the largest accrued annual pension at ÂŁ102,500. In 2022 Rycroft was handed a knighthood despite overseeing record numbers of illegal channel crossings. Sir Philip Barton, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had the largest pension pot worth ÂŁ2,016,000 in 2022-23. During the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Sir Philip stayed on holiday until 11 days after Kabul fell.Â
Unsurprisingly, our findings were jumped on by the national media. Our researcher, Jonathan Eida, spoke up for hard-pressed Brits telling Telegraph readers: “Senior civil servants enjoy retirement packages that most private sector workers could only dream of, with the taxpayers who pay for them being crushed under the weight of the tax burden.”
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Why should we be making such a fuss about all of this? Afterall, it’s only 20 people. Well, as our research director, Darwin Friend, explains in a blog post: “What these figures point to is a far deeper problem, which is the escalating costs of civil service pensions. Taxpayers find themselves footing the bill for a system that appears increasingly unsustainable and disconnected from economic realities.”
It simply is not acceptable for taxpayers to be left picking up the tab for these princely pensions. It’s time to reform these overly-generous schemes, and bring public sector pensions into line with similar benefits enjoyed by those in the private sector.
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The prime minister touched down in Dubai on Friday for a quick visit to the COP28 climate conference. Joining him were Lord Cameron and the King, as well as a host of diplomats. Our team was quick out the blocks reminding the PM that “The interests of the global quangocracy are not the same as the interests of British taxpayers.” And taking to the TV studios, head of campaigns Elliot Keck echoed this point, telling Martin Daubney of GB News that while at the summit “Rishi Sunak, his ministers and his diplomats need to ensure they’re putting the British people first.”
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To make sure the government got the message, the TPA’s Tom Ryan also put pen to paper in an op-ed for CapX, warning that “Some politicians might trick themselves into believing that enforcing privations on the British people will win them points abroad and enhance our global green credentials.” COP is just one example of the ways huge, global quangos exert influence over UK taxpayers.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Barmy Birmingham
Despite having recently had to issue a Section 114 notice (effectively declaring bankruptcy), Birmingham city council have now found themselves falling foul of their own Clean Air Zone when they splashed out over £1 million hiring vehicles that weren’t compliant.
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Our media campaign manager, Conor Holohan, slammed the spending to the BBC: “As Birmingham residents prepare for huge cuts to services and council tax rises, news of this waste will only compound their misery.”
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Foreign aid cut retained
After a successful TPA campaign last year to stop the foreign aid budget being hiked back to 0.7 per cent of gross national income, we were pleased to see the chancellor ruled out returning to that level for at least five years.
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Welcoming the move, our chief executive, John O’Connell, told Daily Express readers: “Taxpayers will welcome this healthy dose of common sense from the Chancellor. His promise to get spending under control would not be credible if he wasn’t even able to control foreign aid spending.” Quite right!
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Cosy council staff
A TPA investigation this week exposed almost £450,000 has been spent by just 11 councils paying the utility bills of their staff working from home. Wealden council alone managed to shell out over £245,000! As I said in the Daily Mail: “Taxpayers will be shocked that they're picking up the tab for the basics. Public sector workers already receive higher salaries, better pensions and greater job security than their private sector counterparts.”
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Conor followed up on Talk TV telling viewers: “It’s unbelievable… Taxpayers are paying for office space and heating it for these people to work in but then they’re also paying for their heating at home as well!”
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Welsh council tax reform: A step in the right direction?
Tax reform can be a tricky issue and, if not done well, can lead to people having to fork out even more than they already do. After appearing on ITV Wales to discuss reforms to council tax, in this week’s blog, Elliot takes a look at the proposals in detail and whether they’ll be of benefit to taxpayers.
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Emphasising the need for tax reforms to lower the overall tax burden, Elliot says: “With any changes to taxation the question has to be: what is the overall impact on the tax burden? If as a result of these changes, it goes down, this can only be good news.”Â
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Despite the possible good news above, not all news from Wales is to be welcomed. Caerphilly council has managed to rack up a ÂŁ2 million bill on consultants in the last two years.
Town hall bosses must focus precious resources on local services, not costly consultants!
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Benjamin Elks
Operations Manager
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