Another victory for taxpayers!

There was excellent news for the taxpayers of Sunderland this week as the local council announced plans to slash councillor allowances to the tune of £140,000 <[link removed]>. Council leader Graeme Miller wants to slash 17 Special Responsibility Allowances to "deliver better value for money for the taxpayer".

The TPA recently helped to expose wasteful spending by Sunderland City Council

This follows extensive work by local campaign group Sunderland For Transparency <[link removed]> (SFT) who have exposed many examples of council waste alongside the TPA. Colleagues and I recently campaigned alongside them in Sunderland. A spokesperson for SFT said:

"We have made a huge effort in recent weeks to highlight excessively wasteful claiming of such expenses and raising awareness of this to the general public. SFT's latest leaflet 'How Sunderland Council Wastes Your Money!' has been hitting letter boxes around the city prior to this announcement. We will continue our campaign to help eradicate more wasteful spending"

This is an important step in the right direction and I congratulate SFT on their success. I look forward to campaigning with them again in future.

Do let me know if you'd like the TPA to campaign in your area <mailto:[email protected]>

Grassroots news

Conference season

On Monday my colleague James Roberts and I ventured outside the M25 to attend the Liberal Democrats' party conference in Bournemouth. It was a great opportunity to engage with delegates about the issues that matter to them. Many were concerned about how business will fair after Brexit and are keen to see policies generate prosperity and help entrepreneurs.



Looking further afield TPA staff will be attending events at Labour Party conference, as well as hosting a series of panel discussions at Conservative Party conference. Do come along and say hello if you are attending either conference.

TaxPayers' Alliance in the news

NHS staff in £214 million fraud

There was worrying news this week as The Daily Mail revealed that "crooked GPs and dentists" are defrauding the NHS out of £214 million a year <[link removed]>. According to reporter Sophie Borland "they are claiming money for non-existent services and appointments – and submitting invoices for patients who have died." Worse still, total fraud for the NHS is estimated at £1.3 billion a year which could have been used to hire 48,000 junior doctors.



Our chief executive John O'Connell expressed his anger at the revelations, "This is an absolutely scandalous waste of taxpayers' cash. Something has gone drastically wrong in the NHS when supposed upstanding employees are able to steal such large sums of money. Radical overhaul of auditing is needed to ensure this doesn't happen in future. In the meantime these fraudsters should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

What would you do to stop fraud in the NHS? <mailto:[email protected]>

Funding social care

On Thursday lunchtime our research director Duncan Simpson was a guest on Kelvin Mackenzie's LoveSport radio show to discuss how best to fund adult social care.

Duncan suggested that there is no easy or quick fix. Rather, a combination of higher contributions from individuals, coupled with better use of technology and automation in healthcare, should put the system on a more stable financial footing. Click here to listen to a clip. <[link removed]>

<[link removed]>

Do you agree with Duncan? If not, what should be done? <mailto:[email protected]>

Council tax debts

A freedom of information request has revealed that councils in Kent have used bailiffs more than 42,000 times in 2018-19 to recover unpaid council tax <[link removed]>. In a radio interview for KMFM and Kent Online I explained that council tax is a huge burden on households which many struggle to pay. Indeed between 1997 and 2017, council tax rose by 57 per cent in real terms <[link removed]> across England. Therefore it is vital that councils do everything possible to keep taxes low by eradicating wasteful spending and increasing efficiency. Click here to listen to a clip. <[link removed]>



Blog of the weekWe need a 'Saving Plan' not a Spending Plan

Recently the chancellor Sajid Javid outlined his plans to "turn the page on austerity" by unveiling a series of increases in government spending. TPA volunteer Mungo Fenwick argues that we need to save money rather than splashing the cash <[link removed]>. Indeed he suggests that reorganising government departments could save billions of pounds for taxpayers:

"The number of government departments in the UK today stands at 25, in comparison with the United States which only has 15 departments <[link removed]>, despite having a population five times greater and an economy almost £14 trillion bigger than the UK. This difference in the number of departments has led even senior politicians to question why the UK needs so many in order to function effectively <[link removed]>. The Chancellor has the chance to cut and merge government departments."



For example abolishing the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport would save £6.7 billion per year. Click to find out what other savings can be made. <[link removed]>

If you would like to write a guest blog do let me know. <mailto:[email protected]>

War on WasteCheshire council urged to put the brakes on

In August 2018 the TPA published a report examining spending by local councils on mayoral cars <[link removed]>. We found that local authorities spent £4.5 million (between 2015 and 2018) chauffeuring mayors. These generally mundane and little cared-for functions do not require the purchasing or leasing of luxury vehicles to convey minor politicians.



One of the most interesting revelations from the report was the cost of operating a Bentley Flying Spur by Cheshire East Council. A freedom of information request revealed the council spent a total of £67,980.50 running the luxury vehicle between April 2015 and March 2018. There have been calls by councillors to scrap the mayoral position thus making the car redundant. However, there has been strong opposition from councillors who are urging the council to keep its ties with Bentley. <[link removed]>

If you are a resident served by Cheshire East Council please write to your local councillor and demand this frivolous waste of taxpayers' money be done away with. Click here to find and contact your local councillor. <[link removed]>

Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign ManagerDonate to the TaxPayers' Alliance <[link removed]>



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