The BBC licence fee is set to rise to £159 from April 1st and the news has once again raised questions about its suitably for the modern day. Although only a rise of £1.50 since last year another hike in the hated TV tax is the last thing struggling households need.
There is no denying that the BBC does some excellent programming and some people are happy to pay the charge. But many viewers are fed up with seeing the Beeb splash the cash on loaded luvvies, politicised programming and generous expenses for BBC bosses. Our joint investigation with the Daily Mail revealed Auntie splurged £300,000 on 5-star hotels and business class flights to Hollywood.
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Whichever way you look at, the licence fee is not fit for the 21st century. You shouldn't have to pay an annual tax for owning a television. Brits have more viewing choice than ever before, some services are free and others paid for. As our chief executive John O'Connell told The Sun, the Daily Mail and the Express this week, "It’s time to scrap the licence fee and let the public decide what’s worth paying for.”
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Labour tells Rishi not to increase taxes
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As I wrote last week the TPA is campaigning tirelessly ahead of the Budget to ensure Brits don't get stung with tax hikes. And it seems that the Labour party is backing us. Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds told Rishi Sunak, "We think that [tax hikes] would be very damaging because our economy is in a very weak situation."
Kier Starmer echoed this, calling for a business rates relief extension and VAT cut at Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday. He was right to do so. These measures would ensure that the upcoming budget provides a much-needed rescue for struggling sectors.
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The message to the government couldn't be clearer. Virtually everyone in Britain - from small businesses to the shadow chancellor - is warning against any immediate tax hikes. Taxpayers know that raising rates will put the kibosh on a post-covid recovery.
The TaxPayers' Alliance is urging the chancellor to use his budget to give families and businesses a respite from taxes, offer a rescue for struggling sectors and look to revive jobs and investment in the economy.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Barking mad
Given the devastating impact the pandemic is having on taxpayers you'd think Downing Street would be keen to trim the fat. But no, The Mirror revealed that No. 10 has three "official" photographers on its books costing somewhere in the region of £100,000. And what did they get for their money? Well most recently, arty photos of Boris Johnson's dog Dilyn and Larry the cat were sent to the press.
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Speaking to The Sun our media campaign manager Danielle Boxall expressed her outrage at this largesse, "Number 10 must be barking mad if they think taxpayers will be happy funding photos of the PM's dog. Budgets are tight, so if these costs do end up being paid for by the public purse, it'll seem that Downing Street isn't getting the picture. Politicians' personal shoots should be funded from their own coffers."
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A bitter taste in the mouth
Sticking with ludicrous spending, it was revealed that an employee at the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) splashed £6,000 of taxpayers' cash on luxury chocolate. According to The Daily Telegraph, an internal investigation has been launched after "the data watchdog admitted £6,248.40 had been spent" at Hotel Chocolat.
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Our research director Duncan Simpson was highly critical of the spending telling reporter Matthew Field, “This purchase leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. The ICO has a vital role to play in holding public bodies to account, so they must always be the exemplar of how to use taxpayers' money. The individuals responsible for this abuse must be swiftly reprimanded as and when a breach in the ICO's finance policies is found.”
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Sky-high council tax
The Daily Mail has discovered a huge increase in the number of districts facing council tax bills in excess of £2,000. Bills for a band D property will exceed this amount in 95 authorities, if tax is hiked by 4 per cent or more.
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Speaking to Mail reporter Dan Martin I expressed my anger at these rate rises, "Sky-high bills will feel like a kick in the teeth to taxpayers. The pandemic has destroyed many households' finances – the last thing they need is an even bigger council tax bill."
The TPA is telling councils they must root out wasteful spending, make savings and stop these huge hikes.
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What a load of rubbish!
Just when you thought things couldn't get any crazier, Redcar and Cleveland council is planning to retro-fit rubbish bins with "refuse radios". According to the Express the devices will "collect real-time data relating to bin collections, such as the number of bins collected at any given time and average weights, along with information on recycling rates."
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Asked for her thoughts, Danielle told the Express readers. "Taxpayers will be feeling rubbish when they learn their bins are being bugged. With budgets tight, local authorities should be prioritising keeping essential services like bin collections going, not installing refuse radios. Councils must put a stop to this kind of wasteful spending and recycle the money elsewhere."
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Beginners' Guide to Government Waste Factbook
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The TaxPayers’ Alliance is Britain’s waste watchdog. From exposing cost overruns of major government projects to our town hall campaigns, we have revealed billions of pounds of wasted taxpayers’ money over the years. As part of our War on Waste, we undertook a landmark investigation with the Daily Mail in the autumn of 2020, uncovering £5.6 billion of profligacy.
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We've put together a factbook which contains a small selection of examples from that project. Download your FREE copy here to arm yourself with facts about how councils, quangos and the government squander your money.
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Parish profligacy
In his last blog for the TPA before he moves onto pastures new, our policy analyst Jeremy Hutton has written a blog detailing some of the worst examples or parish profligacy. His findings about Trowbridge are particularly concerning:
"Trowbridge Town Council has the dishonour of being Britain's most indebted parish council. To fund a new civic centre, councillors borrowed £5 million. For a small council, this seems bad enough. However, compounding the pressure on taxpayers is the decision to repay that loan over half a century at an interest rate of 4.7 per cent... after interest the total cost will be just shy of £13 million pounds."
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The problems of the UK’s parish councils may seem trivial when newspaper headlines talk about figures in the millions and billions. However, at every level, taxpayers are in need of proper representation. And as Jeremy makes clear, they are frequently failing to receive it. Click here to read more.
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It's not their money, it's taxpayers' money!
As I wrote for ConservativeHome this week, many councils still don't seem to grasp the need to spend taxpayers' money sensibly. Fylde Borough Council has recently awarded a three year contract worth £65,000 on a chauffeur service for the mayor.
Sadly it gets worse. Residents in Sandwell are set to fork out £10,000 so the council can employ a lighting company to project messages onto buildings that “will encourage the community to think about what they would like to tell themselves in a year’s time once things have changed and some sort of normality is hoped to have resumed.”
With millions of Brits struggling to pay their bills, it is completely unacceptable that councils are spending money in such a reckless manner. The TaxPayers' Alliance is leading the charge against spendthrift local authorities.
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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