Welcome to the last TaxPayersâ Alliance bulletin of 2024. To those of you who have been with us all the way through and those who joined along the way, we hope youâve enjoyed the ride and the news weâve brought you each week hasnât been too depressing.
From agenda-setting research to local campaigning to making the case on the airwaves and in the papers, standing up for taxpayers has been front and centre of everything weâve done. Here are some of the highlights.
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Let's start with a big one. Earlier this year we launched our new podcast, a nation of taxpayers. While every pundit and his dog may have a podcast nowadays, all too often itâs the same tired takes and soft-left thinking that dominate. But not this one. Out is the âcentrist dadâ dribble and the constant calls for more government spending. A nation of taxpayers offers straight talking, no nonsense analysis of the big issues that matter to taxpayers, updates on our campaigns, and the latest research.
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This week's episode really isnât one to be missed. Elliot Keck, our head of campaigns, and podcast host, Duncan Barkes, are joined by Reform MP, Rupert Lowe. Covering everything from the calibre of MPs to HMRC to the planned football regulator, this is an absolute corker of an episode. You can catch the conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
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Lifetime tax
In March, landmark analysis from the TPA researchers revealed that the average household will pay over ÂŁ1.2 million in tax in their lifetime, meaning they would have to work for 19.5 years just to pay off the taxman. The bottom 20 per cent of households, or families with a household gross income of ÂŁ19,599, will work for almost 23.4 years to pay off their lifetime tax bill, the longest of any group.
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Over a lifetime, an average household will pay ÂŁ587,760 in income tax; ÂŁ181,590 of VAT; ÂŁ173,235 of employeeâs national insurance contributions; ÂŁ91,230 of council tax; and ÂŁ40,350 of employersâ national insurance contributions. With the tax rises announced in Octoberâs budget, the situation will only have got worse.
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Facing down facility time
As new ministers got settled into their departments, we were on hand to help explain why we donât get the public services we pay for. For starters, tens of thousands of those employed across the public sector are actually moonlighting as trade union officials. Our analysis of the latest figures showed that in 2022-23 there were 23,592 public sector trade union representatives, an increase of 468 from 2021-22.
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Worse still, over 1,000 of them spent 100 per cent of their time on union duties. To be absolutely clear, over 1,000 people employed in roles across the public sector spent none of their time actually doing the jobs they were employed for.Â
Itâs only right that public sector officials are focussed on the job theyâre hired to do and itâs high time ministers clamped down on this questionable practice so public sector employees are actually working for the public, not the unions that hold the country to ransom!
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What a load of rubbish⊠bins
One of the most fundamental responsibilities of town halls is the collection of rubbish. It is probably the service most of us interact with most often, and one of the most frustrating when it goes wrong. Itâs also one thatâs become far more complicated in recent years. The proliferation of bins that councils force their residents to sort rubbish into was laid bare by the TPA wonks in August.
Blaenau Gwent, Cotswold and Merthyr Tydfil, all force residents to sort their rubbish into 10 different types of bin while across the country, we identified 11 different types of bin issued by local authorities.
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We were delighted to see someone in the department for environment, food, and rural affairs paying attention to our research as ministers have now announced plans to make councils cap the number of bins they issue at four.Â
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What really sets the TPA apart from other groups is our commitment to taking our message out of Westminster and into high streets across the country and 2024 was no exception.
When we got wind that Pembrokeshire county council planned a 16.31 per cent council tax increase, the largest in the country, our team leapt into action. Over the course of three days, we delivered thousands of leaflets, and urged residents to use our dedicated campaign website to contact council bosses and voice their opposition to the increase. This short, sharp campaign saw the town hall big wigs back down and slash the tax rise, sparing residents from the worst of the councilâs greed.
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When we launched our online debt clock showing how the UKâs national debt relentlessly ticks up, we knew we needed to do more to force this issue up the agenda.Â
Plastering the horrifying numbers on the side of a van, we took the clock from the computer screen and into the streets. Wherever we went, the reaction was the same - shock. Shock at the sheer scale of the debt, shock at how quickly it goes up, shock at the amount spent just servicing the interest each year (over ÂŁ100 billion) and shock that so few of the politicians in Westminster seem interested in talking about it, let alone dealing with it.
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While the debt is still rising, our efforts kicked off a national conversation. First up, the House of Lords economic affairs committee published a report which raised a âbig red flagâ about the state of the finances. Chairman of the committee, Lord Bridges, even said: âThis report highlights a grim reality: our national debt risks developing on an unsustainable path. This has not received the attention it deserves.â You can say that again. This was followed by the chairman of the OBR warning that the debt could âspiralâ out of control. While Rachel Reeves is yet to get to grips with the debt, itâs now become a key consideration whenever someone demands more spending or higher taxes.
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As we look ahead to 2025, you can be in no doubt that the TPA will always stand up for hard-working taxpayers like you. Can you help spread the word by forwarding this email to your family and friends?
Thank you for all your support over the last year!
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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