Good news for shoppers this week as the government confirmed, following our campaign, it was scaling back the planned new wrapper tax.
Our research from mid-March revealed that the new charges, part of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, could cost households an extra £96 on their bills. The TaxPayers’ Alliance warned that food and drink industries are the largest users of packaging, meaning the tax is likely to hike the cost of grocery shopping.
This could see households paying an extra £5,280 over their lifetimes. And this was despite the costs of rubbish collection already being included in council tax bills. Madness, especially at a time of cost of living crisis!
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Thankfully, the government has seen sense and scaled back EPR plans, delaying the implementation and shaving £1 billion off the estimated costs. A step in the right direction, limiting the damage from this harmful wrapper tax.
The TPA fights constant battles, both big and small, to protect taxpayers from evermore stealth hikes.
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More than half of band D council tax bills are over £2,000
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Wednesday morning saw the latest publication of council tax data for England. Our team pored over the data and we soon fired off a press release to the nation's media. Our comments and analysis were featured in The Sun, The Daily Telegraph and Daily Express to name just a few.
Out of 309 local authorities in England, 171 (55 per cent) are now charging over £2,000 for a band D bill. This compares to 104 in the previous year. Please use our interactive heat map to see how your council compares with the rest of the country.
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Residents in Rutland will have the highest band D tax bills in the country at £2,300. The lowest tax bills came in at £866 in Westminster.
With the average band D bill for England now at £1,966, our analysis suggests it will likely exceed £2,000 next year. Indeed since council tax was introduced in 1993, the average council tax charge has increased by nearly 250 per cent in cash terms.
Is it any wonder though that bills are shooting up given the lack of care many councils afford taxpayers' cash? An investigation by The Mail on Sunday revealed the huge sums of money sending council representatives to MIPIM, an annual property conference in Cannes.
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According to Susie Coen, deputy investigations editor at The Mail, "One council spent £100,000 of taxpayer cash on Mipim. It put up nine staff in a luxury four-star hotel and hosted a cocktail reception."
With millions of households struggling to make ends meet every month, this gross misuse of their money is truly contemptuous. Once again, the TaxPayers' Alliance is urging councils to focus resources only on essential frontline services and not annual jollies to the south of France
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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MPs' pay rises despite cost of living crisis
One group not so badly affected by the current surge in living costs is members of parliament. As millions across the country were hit with high council tax and energy bills, MPs were treated to a £2,200 pay rise.
Taking to the airwaves our media campaign manager Danielle Boxall joined former MP Ann Widdecombe to discuss the issue on GBNews.
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Danielle stood up for taxpayers pointing out they "will feel like they’re getting the short end of the stick here when they are facing rising energy bills and taxes. There are a lot of pressures facing households at the moment." Click here to watch a clip from the interview.
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One billion PPE items sitting in storage
The Daily Mail reports that "the government's stash of wasted PPE includes over one billion visors still sitting in warehouses and shipping containers". Of the 1.1 billion visors ordered less than per cent have been used to date.
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Speaking to the paper our chief executive John O'Connell was damning of the over-purchasing, "Ministers understandably had to work at pace to arm healthcare workers with the equipment they needed, but taxpayers will be suspicious that so much was needlessly stockpiled."
This is exactly why an efficient, swift and decisive inquiry into the handling of the covid crisis can’t come soon enough.
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Government needs to "stop tapping up taxpayers" for more cash
Ahead of next week's rise in the rate of national insurance, our digital campaign manager Joe Ventre urged the chancellor to get a grip on wasteful spending. Speaking to GBNews viewers he explained that the "binary choice" presented by the Treasury that we either raise taxes or borrow more money is flawed.
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Joe rightly pointed out that getting public sector spending under control would be a far better approach, telling presenter Darren McCaffrey, "Billions upon billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are wasted every year - I think a much fairer and more logical approach would be to tackle that waste!" Click here to watch a clip from the interview.
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Transport for London treated commuters as "cash cows"
Freedom of information requests by the TaxPayers' Alliance have revealed that Transport for London Transport raked in almost £60,000 in fines from passengers not wearing face masks during the Omicron wave.
A total of 554 fines were issued, amounting to more than £1,000 per day brought in by TfL enforcement staff.
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Commenting on the findings to MyLondon, our investigations campaign manager Elliot Keck said, "Covid rules shouldn't see commuters treated like a cash cow. Conditions of carriage already allowed enforcement officers to refuse service or to eject passengers failing to wear a face covering, without reaching for fines. With the pandemic behind us, public bodies must ensure all unnecessary Covid regulations and charges are brought to an end."
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Death by committee
Ahead of the bread and circuses of the spring statement, the chancellor announced a new efficiency drive. The Efficiency and Value for Money Committee - which he will chair and which will be specially tasked with rooting out wasteful spending. As Elliot writes this week, there are plenty of savings available which will benefit taxpayers.
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From quangos to NHS spending and cutting down on fraud billions of pounds can be saved every year. The committee must not pull its punches!
If Rishi Sunak and the government want to cut taxes properly then savings must be deep, ambitious and meaningful. And the TaxPayers’ Alliance has plenty of ideas! Click here to read more.
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Bank of England governor claimed £83 on "work-from-home comforts"
Despite enjoying a pay package of £575,000, the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, claimed £83 in expenses for "home office equipment".
Freedom of information requestions from the Mail on Sunday show that the Bank "allowed staff members a budget of £375 each to cover the cost of home-working office equipment." Once again it shows the disconnect between those in the public and private sectors.
Asked for comment John told journalist Georgia Edkins, "At a time when many businesses were struggling to stay afloat and taxpayers were facing economic ruin, Bank of England bureaucrats on supersized salaries were kitting out their home offices. Public bodies should consider these sensitivities before claiming work-from-home comforts."
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Harry Fone
Grassroots Campaign Manager
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