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The Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme, more commonly known as the furlough scheme, has been a lifeline to millions of workers during the pandemic. As of Thursday the scheme has been tapered with the amount of government support being cut and due to end completely at the end of September this year.
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There have been calls for the full scheme to be extended despite it already costing taxpayers nearly £66 billion. New research by the TaxPayers' Alliance has shown that were the scheme to be extended to the end of the year, there would be an additional cost of £18 billion.
Our research was picked up in the national press most notably in the Daily Telegraph.
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Furlough has been a lifeline to the businesses and individuals whose livelihoods were interrupted by the pandemic. But with full unlocking in sight, any unnecessary extension of the scheme could leave the taxpayer on the hook for billions more. The chancellor must drive ahead with winding down furlough and focus on letting the economy stand on its own two feet.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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£50 billion lost to fraud and error
A report by the Public Accounts Committee has revealed that taxpayers could be liable for billions of pounds of fraud relating to covid support schemes such as furlough payments and the bounce back loan scheme. Dame Meg Hillier MP, chair of the committee said that "over £50bn worth of public services" has been lost to fraudsters and departmental mistakes.
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Asked for comment by CityAM our chief executive John O’Connell called on the government to act, “Abuse of the Covid schemes will appal hard-working taxpayers, who will ultimately have to foot the bill. Support had to be deployed quickly without reams of red tape tying things up, but the scale of the abuse will shock those who played by the rules while worrying about their jobs and families."
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Our digital campaign manager Joe Ventre spoke to LBC News about the fraud. He expressed his dismay at the "staggering amount" of money that has been lost which has left taxpayers in the lurch. Click here to listen to a clip.
As Britain's waste watchdog we are calling on ministers to protect taxpayers with more stringent measures to fine and prosecute the fraudsters that cheat the system.
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Social distancing costs councils dear
Ever since the start of the pandemic many of us have adopted video conferencing technologies in order to communicate with family and colleagues. Indeed the government introduced temporary legislation to allow councils to hold meetings online.
But as I write for ConservativeHome this week, that has now ended and with social distancing still in force, many councils lack the floor space to hold in-person meetings. Consequently, taxpayers are picking up the tab for a multitude of costs.
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Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council shelled out £6,000 to hold a recent meeting at a local exhibition venue. So too Sefton, Sheffield and Manchester, costing taxpayers £3,000, £10,000 and £7,000 respectively. Across England’s 330 plus councils, it’s very possible that the total bill to ensure meetings are covid compliant could be in excess of £1 million.
It’s frustrating that the temporary legislation couldn’t have been extended. Councils aren’t to blame for this and many local leaders have called for hybrid meetings to continue. It’s not hard to see why – time and money could have been better utilised on frontline services.
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Motorists aren't cash cows
It's not all gloom and doom for councils' coffers though. Local authorities are raking in nearly £1 million a week from bus lane cameras. Naturally many are worried that already over-taxed motorists are being used to prop up finances.
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Joe Ventre took to the airwaves once again to fight motorists' corner. Speaking to GB News presenters Alex Phillips and Simon McCoy, he accepted that there is a need to enforce traffic laws. But "taxpayers don't expect to be treated like cash cows and be taken advantage of!" Hear! Hear!
Councils are making huge sums of cash on everything from bus lane fines to congestion charges and workplace parking levies. The TaxPayers' Alliance is fighting back against these burdensome stealth taxes.
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Loaded luvvies demand tax on smartphones
Actors including Olivia Coleman and Imelda Staunton have signed an open letter calling for a new tax on smartphones and tablets to help the creative industries battle back from covid. They say the money levied would be used to "fairly reward creators and performers in making a living from their content".
Whilst the arts have a huge role to play in British culture and the economy, the TPA didn't delay in calling out this preposterous idea.
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Speaking to presenter Kevin O'Sullivan and hundreds of thousands of listeners on talkRadio I said the last thing we need at a time like this is another tax. The tax burden is already at a 70-year high and increasing the cost of a smartphone or tablet will hurt those on the lowest incomes most of all.
Thanks to our efforts, it looks like this latest tax idea won't get off the ground and we will ensure it stays that way.
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The stamp duty cut success should not be forgotten
The end of June didn't just bring a great result for England against Germany but also a big sigh of relief for solicitors trying to complete property purchases before the stamp duty cut ended. As media campaign manager Danielle Boxall writes, the cut has had an incredible effect on the housing market, despite the potential impact of the covid restrictions.
At a time when family finances have been stretched, removal men have to wear masks and housewarming parties are strictly off-limits, the housing market has in fact come out swinging. We don’t have precise figures yet, stamp duty receipts for May were about £652 million - or a whopping 81 per cent higher than the same time last year.
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Tax cuts like this can change people’s lives, and shouldn’t be abandoned lightly. The housing market needs to normalise, not be pumped up by endless short term boosts. The solution is to make the stamp duty cut permanent.
The savings don’t just enable more people to move. The savings movers will have could be put straight back into the economy, through reworking bathrooms and kitchens, landscaping gardens, or simply buying new furniture.
That's why we're applying pressure on the chancellor to raise the threshold further and ideally abolish this hated tax completely. It would be a game-changer for Britain’s gummed-up housing market.
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Clinical negligence in the NHS
Last Sunday the Express revealed that over the last six years the NHS has paid out £3.1 billion in damages to settle negligence claims. Of that £1 billion was paid to law firms. Discussing the revelations on GB News with presenter Michelle Dewberry, John expressed his concerns at the shocking number and cost of claims.
Furthermore, NHS Resolution has set aside a mammoth £83 billion for claims it believes will be made in the future. Click here to watch the interview.
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These figures are alarming to say the least. Accidents happen but the sheer scale of claims raises questions about the standard of care on offer. The NHS needs to get a grip; Brits expect their taxes to pay for a world-leading health service, not costly compensation and legal bills.
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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