It was a double whammy from the TPA this week exposing the cost for taxpayers of the woke agenda.
Kicking things off, a TPA investigation revealed that local councils have spent almost £52 million on equality, diversity, and inclusion staff since 2020-21. The figures also showed that councils have nearly doubled their spending on these non-jobs from £12 million in 2020-21 to £22.8 million in 2022-23. The number of roles leapt from 474 to 717 over the period.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, some of the worst offenders were town halls whose finances have already come off the rails. In 2022, now bankrupt Birmingham city council hired an Assistant Director Community Services and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, on a salary between £82k and £123k. As the saying goes, ‘go woke, go broke’.
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The astonishing numbers, courtesy of our investigations campaign manager, Joanna Marchong, splashed the front page of the Daily Mail, Britain’s most read newspaper. Joanna gave the findings both barrels telling Mail readers: “With the cost of council tax soaring and the mounting debt councils are sitting on, taxpayers will be astonished by the money wasted on council non-jobs.”
The TPA wonks then took up the baton with their hotly anticipated exposé of the subsidies given to the charity Stonewall. The controversial campaign group received over £1.1 million of taxpayers’ cash in 2022-23 from publicly funded organisations.
£530,000 of this went on membership for 165 public bodies to Stonewall’s contentious Diversity Champions scheme. A shocking 72 educational organisations were members of the scheme which recommends schools stop referring to pupils as boys and girls.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds were also given in the form of grants. Speaking outside the foreign office, which gave over £170,000 in grants to Stonewall, our finance director, Emma Bennett, explained: “Stonewall uses this money to regularly lobby ministers and cast judgement on government policies.” Check out Emma’s video here.
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Far too much taxpayers’ cash is being splashed on these right-on roles and lavished on groups who then campaign against government policies. We think it’s time to ditch the diversity demagogues. If you agree with us, sign our petition here.
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Threshold freezes and rate cuts
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With the chancellor failing to unfreeze thresholds in his budget, our research fellow, Rory Meakin, has analysed the impact of the personal allowance freeze on earners in a new briefing paper.
The personal allowance was 82 per cent of a full-time minimum wage earner’s income in 2015-16 but will fall to 56 per cent in 2024-25, meaning low earners are paying tax on far more of their pay packet. Meanwhile, the higher rate threshold was 83 per cent above full-time average earnings in 2010-11 but is expected to drop to just 34 per cent in 2026-27. The higher rate threshold is simply no longer for the very well-paid alone
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Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, our head of research, Darwin Friend, made that exact point: “Whatever their income, taxpayers are being hammered by frozen thresholds. The point at which someone is considered to be a high earner is being lowered by stealth with modest income families increasingly being taxed as if they were rich.”
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Do MPs deserve a pay rise?
When it emerged that MPs are in line for an inflation-busting pay rise, it’s safe to say we were less than impressed. Our chief executive, John O’Connell, rightly pointed out to the Sun that “While households struggle to stay above water due to frozen thresholds, MPs are set to benefit further from the linking of their salaries to public sector pay.”
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Elliot Keck, the TPA’s head of campaigns, took to LBC News to call out the latest hike: “It is MPs largely that are responsible for the pretty shoddy economic situation… I think taxpayers will look at the performance of MPs and really question whether this pay rise is warranted.”
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Pointless pricey parklets
Joanna was clearly working overtime this week with yet another investigation making headlines. Local authorities have dished out almost £5 million in the last three years on ‘parklets’ (on street seats and planters) that often sit unused or in a state of disrepair.
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As Joanna told the Times: “Councils may have thought that these communal areas were worthwhile during the pandemic. However, with Covid behind us, the cost for them to stay is unjustifiable.” These supposedly cash-strapped councils need to crackdown on pointless pet projects!
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British governance needs to decentralise
This week’s blog comes to us from Charles Amos, author of the Musing Individualist substack. Charles agrees with the TPA view that government is too centralised in Westminster.
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Citing international comparisons Charles argues: “Devolving both spending and financing to local councils would ensure a better allocation of public services, more competition between local authorities and a greater level of accountability from politicians to the people too.”
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Local authorities are not often known for acting quickly (unless it’s chasing council tax of course), but High Peak borough council really take the biscuit with this week’s War on Waste story.
‘Temporary’ traffic lights have been in place (at the expense of local taxpayers) for three years on the high street of Chapel-en-le-Frith to deal with a structural problem of a building but the work is still yet to begin.
Councils must make every effort to deliver for local residents quickly and efficiently.
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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