This week saw confirmation that, having been given the option to hike council tax by up to five per cent, local authority bosses have not shied away from hammering households.
Official government data has revealed the true extent of town hall tax rises this year, with the average Band D bill now topping £2,000! As the news broke, our team leapt into action issuing a rapid reaction and releasing a campaign video calling out these egregious rises.
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As the voice of taxpayers, our response was splashed across some of Britain’s leading papers and our media phone was soon ringing off the hook with broadcasters looking to get our spokesmen on their shows. Our investigations campaign manager Elliot Keck called out councils, telling GB News viewers across the country: “There is an alternative path. It means cutting down on waste, it means cutting down on those top level salaries.”
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The voice of taxpayers in the corridors of power
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On Tuesday, TPA research fellow Rory Meakin took our views on last week’s budget directly to MPs when he addressed the all party parliamentary group on Taxation. Outlining our response, Rory told parliamentarians that this “mixed bag” budget, along with previously announced decisions, had left “the outlook for taxpayers very bleak”.
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Taking aim at the frozen income tax thresholds, capital gains tax increase, and hikes to alcohol duties, Rory stressed that overall, ”the tax burden will be rising to 37.7 per cent, which is basically what we calculated Corbyn to be promising for the tax burden at the last election”. You can watch Rory’s insightful appearance here.
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TaxPayers' Alliance in the news
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Britain’s spending addiction
Following on from his appearance at our budget briefing event, where our chairman Mike Denham dismantled the government's claims of fiscal responsibility, Mike has written a hugely important op-ed for ConservativeHome.
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Mike forensically examines the various budget measures, clearly showing that the government’s failure to get a handle on spending is driving the ever increasing tax burden. As Mike rightly sums up: “Hunt must urgently rediscover an interest in tax-cutting, supply side reform, and getting a much firmer grip on spending.”
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Preposterous payouts
The latest TPA investigation has shockingly revealed that Cornwall county council managed to spend over ÂŁ4.4 million on redundancy payouts for just 203 employees.
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Our chief executive, John O’Connell said: “Redundancy payments are a normal part of doing business, but local authorities should be expected to keep them under control.”
With the highest payout exceeding ÂŁ94,000, councils must get a handle on these golden goodbyes. Sign our petition here if you agree!
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Expensive delays
With all the pressures on the public finances, you might think getting a handle on the extraordinary costs of HS2 might be near the top of ministers' priorities. Our digital campaign manager Joe Ventre spoke to Nick Ferrari on LBC about the massive price tag for this white elephant.
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As Joe explained: “I think we’re going to see that cost swell, I think we’ll see further delays… Let’s not fall for the sunk costs fallacy. What we need to do now is cut our losses and save tens of billions down the line.” Spot on, Joe!
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Now the dust has settled…
In this week’s blog, our team has taken a deep-dive look at the figures underpinning last week’s budget. From the ballooning tax burden to the latest spending spree, we’ve analysed all the numbers that were lurking beneath the headlines.
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This data-heavy insight exposes the shocking situation we’re in and why the outlook for taxpayers is so “grim”. Click here to read this fascinating blog in full.
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Empty offices
We’ve long been calling out the failure to get local council staff back into offices. So we were naturally dismayed to hear the case of Rotherham council who are splurging £5 million per year of resident’s money on an office that has only a 31 per cent occupancy rate.
If town hall bosses refuse to get their staff back into these expensive offices, they should sell them off and save local taxpayers a pretty penny.
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Benjamin Elks
Operations Manager
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