With public spending at 45.1 per cent of GDP it seems that big government is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

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Big government spending items you didn't expect
With the dust now settled on last week’s terrifying, tax-hiking Budget, our team have turned their attention to the other side of the ledger, the Spending Review.

The Spending Review laid out government expenditure for the next three years, so it will be setting the fiscal direction for years to come. Total public spending will be 45.1 per cent of GDP in 2021-22, with a steady rate of over 41 per cent until 2026-27. In other words, big government is here to stay!

But how exactly is all this money being spent? Government departments are set to see a £150 billion a year budgetary boost by 2024-25. When you dive into the data, it’s amazing just how much taxpayers’ money goes on some big-ticket items. ([link removed])
In a number-crunching blog this week, ([link removed]) TPA researcher Scott Simmonds identified some of the biggest outlays, including billions in local government expenditure, debt interest payments and foreign aid.

For example, £12.3 billion is currently budgeted to foreign aid spending in 2024-25 at the 0.5 per cent rate. But Britain will return to spending 0.7 per cent in the same year. So in reality a potential increase of about £5 billion pounds, to over £17 billion, is on the cards.
In a similar vein, local government expenditure in 2020-21 stands at £38.4 billion. That's a 60 per cent increase compared to the previous year due to the government pumping £15.6 billion of covid support funding into local authorities. But despite this millions of households still saw inflation-busting council tax rises.

In line with TPA work like the landmark 2015 Spending Plan ([link removed]) , total spending should be heading towards around 33 per cent of GDP. With big outlays like these, that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon. That’s why the TaxPayers’ Alliance will keep campaigning hard against unnecessary and wasteful spending.
Click here to read more about the big government spending ([link removed]) .
Council tax rises capped but more needs to be done
The government also used the Budget to announce that council tax rises in England will be capped at 3 per cent this year. ([link removed]) 2 per cent will be allocated for general rises with the remaining 1 per cent to cover social care where local authorities provide those services.

Overall this is good news. The TaxPayers' Alliance was hoping for the cap to be set at 2 per cent overall (indeed, a cap of zero would have been ideal) but 3 per cent is much more preferable compared to the 6 per cent rises touted in the press in recent weeks.
But the fight isn't over. Just because councils can raise bills by 3 per cent, it doesn't mean they should. Households have seen their council tax skyrocket in the last 20 years ([link removed]) and can't take much more.

That's why we'll be lasering in on councils who raise taxes unnecessarily. We stand prepared to help people across the country to fight wasteful spending in local authorities.
Please let me know what is happening in your area. (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Council%20tax%20rises)
TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
Beeb's "heavy-handed" enforcement

According to The Sun, "BBC chiefs last year spent £9.25 million on sending 34 million letters demanding licence fee payments." This works out at enough money to pay for 58,000 TV licences. ([link removed]) Despite the BBC freezing the licence fee for two years, this example further highlights the absurdity of its archaic funding model.
A sentiment that our chief executive John O’Connell echoed in his comments to The Sun, “People are being chased for an ever-more expensive TV tax when hard-up households are struggling to make ends meet. Heavy-handed enforcement like this shows why the licence fee has to go.”
Click here to read our research paper on abolishing the licence fee. ([link removed])
Environmental protests cost £70 million

A freedom of information request by the Daily Express has revealed the shocking costs of policing protests by Extinction Rebellion ([link removed]) (XR). The paper reveals that in the last two years, taxpayers have had to stump up £70 million.
Asked for comment, the TaxPayers' Alliance was absolutely damning of XR, "If these egotistical eco-warriors insist on terrorising working taxpayers, then perhaps they should be asked to pick up the tab for the endless disruption and costs to the public purse.”
Whitehall Wokeforce strikes gain

Yet again taxpayers' cash has been frittered away on woke training courses ([link removed]) . The Daily Telegraph reports that "Civil servants have been told not to use the term 'black mark' in a workshop on becoming race allies”. The term is supposedly related to slavery and therefore labelled as "language to avoid".
Once again, John didn't hold back in lambasting this poor use of public money, “Civil servants’ time should be focused on providing high-quality services, not wasted on woke causes. There are extensive laws in place to prevent discrimination in the workplace so training programmes like this should not be required."

The TaxPayers' Alliance is piling the pressure on ministers to axe these sessions and eradicate this sort of woke wasteful spending for good.
Blog of the week
Heat pumps subsidies - are they full of hot air?

As COP26 rolls on, leaders and climate experts from around the world have discussed a myriad of ways to cut carbon emissions. One much-touted method in this country is to replace gas boilers in our homes with air or ground source heat pumps.

As I write this week, the government will subsidise heat pump installations to the tune of £450 million ([link removed]) for households across the UK - enough for 90,000 homes. But the Committee on Climate Change says the UK needs 450,000 gas boilers replaced by 2025 - meaning a realistic bill of £2.25 billion in subsidies.
Undoubtedly, measures must be taken to tackle climate change and help the country go green. But this is still taxpayers’ money. No matter how noble the cause - whether that be defence, healthcare or climate spending - we should always be asking if money is being used as efficiently as possible.

Can we be sure this is the case with heat pumps? Would that investment be worth it, or could the money be better spent elsewhere? So I came up with five other ways that cash could be helping reduce carbon emissions. Click here to read my suggestions. ([link removed])
War on Waste
It's criminal!

Information obtained by The Sun on Sunday has shown that criminals have racked up £794 million in unpaid fines. ([link removed]) Just five years ago this figure stood at £375 million, with officials citing the pandemic making it harder to chase outstanding payments.
As our political director James Roberts told reporter David Wooding, "It’s deeply insulting to both taxpayers and the victims of crime that criminals are getting away without paying up. Failure to collect the fines makes a complete mockery of any punishment and undermines the deterrent the justice system is supposed to provide."

We'll be calling on the authorities to do more and ensure that outstanding debts are collected.
Please send me your examples of public sector waste. (mailto:[email protected]?subject=War%20on%20Waste)

Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager

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