Latest news with #TaxpayersAlliance
South Wales Argus
7 hours ago
- Business
- South Wales Argus
How has the Heads of the Valleys road helped communities?
The Bevan Foundation and the Taxpayers Alliance have come to radically different conclusions on the project. Work concluded in May this year, at an official cost of £1.4bn. The road's dualling of the A465 section was conducted by Welsh Government and cost some £500 million. The complex project ran over budget. The ambitious sections between Gilwern and Brynmawr, running through the deep Clydach Gorge, delayed the project by three years and inflated costs by nearly£150 million. Welsh Think tank The Bevan Foundation, attempting to make sense of the Welsh Government's brake on road building and squaring it with the costs of the mega-investment, concluded the road means yet more investment across the whole area, which is essential to upskill the population and drive growth. In its report, the foundation concluded that much of the poor land and poor built environment needed upgrading, training and skills needs to be led by the Welsh Government and local authorities. By just building a road that has few users in a deindustrialised area, the whole region could be stuck in what economists call the Middle-Income Trap, where countries just reassemble complex goods and add little value and create few high-skilled jobs. Meanwhile, the Taxpayers' Alliance questioned the Welsh Government's whole 'muddled' approach to transport and development. Thay argue it isn't even whether the road cost £1.4 billion or £2 billion, due to a 'dissembling bureaucracy.' They warn Wales needs to learn lessons or it will become saddled with a series of 'sunk cost fallacies.' A spokesman for the group said: "While Welsh taxpayers will be relieved to see roadworks finally completed, they will be aghast at enormous costs and absurd time it has taken to get the project over the line.' Mocking the outcome of a 50mph road after 23 years and a fortune spent, the group said: "Twenty three years and billions spent - upgrading a single stretch of road while essential infrastructure maintenance in other parts of Wales has been ignored! "Ministers in Cardiff need to get their act together and ensure that future projects are kept on time and within budget!" Welsh Government was approached for a comment. They said they will unveil their vision for development of the area surrounding the road network on Thursday, June 12. The Bevan Foundation's report is called A Route to Prosperity.
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The NHS and Royal Mail are a match made in hell
Your bank doesn't send letters ticking you off about your overdraft anymore. Neither does your lawyer, or your accountant, or anyone else for that matter. Even your birthday or Christmas cards typically arrive via your phone's inbox instead of the front door. There is, however, one organisation that still finds a piece of paper delivered by hand to be the most efficient way to communicate: the NHS. Its spending on the Royal Mail is still soaring – with taxpayers footing the bill. The Health Secretary Wes Streeting may still trot out his standard speech about how the NHS is a global leader in new technologies and how Artificial Intelligence will drive a new era of productivity. The reality, as so often, turns out to be very different. We learned this week that the technology that the health service relies on is one from the 1840s: the letter with a stamp on it. Despite pledging to switch to a completely digital way of communicating with patients, according to research from the Taxpayer's Alliance the amount the health service spent on mail punched through £100 million this year, up by 12.5 per cent over the last twelve months. Even though up to a quarter of the estimated eight million missed appointments a year were the fault of delays in the post, hospital managers persist in using letters as their main form of managing the system. The last quarter of a century of technological progress has completely passed it by. Indeed, at the current rate of growth the NHS will be spending £180 million a year by the end of the decade on the postal service, and more than £500 million by the 2040s. Perhaps the takeover of the mail system by the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky makes sense after all. While most of us may have imagined the postal business was in terminal decline, perhaps there is a fortune to be made as the booking system of the NHS. The trouble is that it should hardly come as a surprise to anyone. In reality, the NHS and Royal Mail are perfect partners for each other. They are both relics of a different era, created at a time when we still believed that government-owned monopolies were the most effective way to deliver a product or a service. They are both hopelessly inefficient and riddled with restrictive practices. They are both dominated by trade unions that are resistant to change; that protect their privileges with a single-minded determination; and bask in a sense of entitlement that justifies everything they do. And they are both completely resistant to new technology, even if it could transform both the quality and the efficiency of the service they are meant to be delivering. They could both move with the times if they wanted to. But it would cause too much inconvenience for the staff. Instead, they are perfectly happy to prop each other up – with the long-suffering taxpayer left to foot the bill for both of them.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
NHS spent £100 million on post last year
The NHS spent at least £102 million on posting letters last year despite pledging to go digital because of unreliable deliveries. The amount spent on sending mail, which can regularly arrive late and cause missed appointments, was up by 12.5 per cent on the year before, according to new research by the Taxpayers' Alliance. The research results have been released as the health service is about to get £30 billion more over three years in Rachel Reeves's spending review this week, to the detriment of other public services. They also revealed the NHS could make major savings in electricity and laundry costs, as well as reducing the eight million missed appointments that occur each year. The Telegraph previously revealed that the Royal Mail was introducing a new NHS barcode to cut late deliveries and the risk of missed appointments. But health officials have also pledged to do more to communicate with patients online and through the NHS app. Last week, the Department of Health said the app would become the default method of communication for patients seeking appointment reminders, screening invitations and test results as part of a major investment that would mean 50 million fewer letters are posted each year. The research from the Taxpayers' Alliance found that at least £102 million was spent in 2023-24 across 120 NHS hospital trusts, an average of £850,000 each. The researchers said this was a 'growing expense' with the costs rising by 12.5 per cent on the £90.3 million spent in 2022-23. Previous research found that as many as one in four of the eight million appointments that patients miss each year were because letters to patients arrived after the date of the planned appointment. Simon Cook, a research fellow of the Taxpayers' Alliance, said the public 'expect the NHS to double down on cutting any inefficient and wasteful expenditure'. 'With the health service facing financial pressures, there are huge savings to be made through simple, common sense changes,' he said. 'Ministers must recognise that sometimes the biggest savings don't always require major reforms, just the will to act.' The research paper also found that the NHS could save more than £150 million on electricity costs if it utilised its buying power. It said the average cost of electricity across NHS trusts in England was 30.5p per kWh in 2023-24, which was 'typically the rate that medium-sized businesses pay'. £154m potential laundry savings The NHS is the biggest single employer in Europe and 'if every NHS trust paid the average extra-large non-domestic consumer price of 22.6p, the saving would amount to £154 million in 2023-24,' the researchers said. The researchers also found significant discrepancies across the country in the amount being spent on laundry. While the NHS spent £270 million to launder 555 million items at an average cost of 48.7p per item, some areas achieved lower costs of 25p per item, while others spent £1.20. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'This government inherited a broken NHS with wasteful spending, in desperate need of reform. 'Yesterday, we announced major investment in the NHS app to turbocharge our digital revolution – saving hundreds of millions in taxpayers' money spent on stamps and envelopes, and enabling push notifications and reminders to help cut missed appointments. We are also cutting NHS energy bills through solar power and renewable energy – delivering further savings for the taxpayer. 'Through our Plan for Change, we are reforming the NHS to ensure that every penny is spent on what matters most.' An NHS England spokesman said: 'Millions of patients are already receiving appointment reminders, screening invitations, and test results direct to their smartphones from the NHS, saving millions of pounds, avoiding the need for letters and freeing-up resources for patient care. 'People without access to smartphones and elderly patients will still receive messages through traditional routes such as letters to ensure they don't miss important information. 'The NHS is continually exploring ways to achieve the best possible value for taxpayers, including making targeted investment in technologies that can enable us to optimise our resources and boost productivity.'
The Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
New expenses scandal after ‘penny-pinching' Lib Dem MP makes YOU pick up £154 bill for her Christmas party
AN MP has sparked a fresh expenses scandal after making taxpayers pick up the bill for her Christmas party. Lib Dem Sarah Gibson took her team out to a restaurant for the festive dinner — before submitting an invoice for £154. It was approved and paid by the expenses watchdog IPSA, but appears to be in breach of the rules, the Taxpayers' Alliance revealed. Head of campaigns Elliot Keck said: 'Taxpayers are sick of these penny-pinching politicians tapping them up for a cost they should be bearing themselves. 'This MP in particular gets access to a second home with bills and council tax all covered, yet she can't even pick up the tab for a meal to thank her staff.' Ms Gibson, 59, who represents Chippenham, Wilts, said: 'As a small business owner for many years I have been used to taking my staff for a Christmas meal to thank them for their hard work. 'Though this claim for a modest meal for my team, who were all in London for work purposes, was permitted by IPSA I do accept in retrospect that as an MP the situation is different.' The expense claim read: 'Team Christmas dinner to say thank you for everyone's hard work since July, removing alcohol and service charge.' IPSA rules state hospitality costs for a team meal out at a pub or restaurant are not claimable. MPs can claim the costs of food and refreshments for an office festive gathering — allowed as hospitality. But 'any event or gathering must be explicitly within a parliamentary and work context'. It comes after The Sun on Sunday revealed Labour MP Taiwo Owatemi claimed expenses for 'pet rent' for her cockapoo in London. Nigel Farage's 'fantasy' promises will trigger Truss-style meltdown, Keir Starmer slams Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club. 2
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
London second home owners should pay ‘much more' than double tax, says Khan
Second home owners in London could soon be forced to pay even more than double council tax, Sadiq Khan has warned. The mayor is lobbying central government to give councils the power to charge homeowners 'much more' for leaving their properties vacant. The news will strike a blow to thousands of homeowners in the capital already being hit by four-figure bills. A 100pc council tax premium has already been introduced on second home owners across London, in boroughs including Hackney, Wandsworth and Kensington and Chelsea. They were granted the power to charge the premium from April 1 under measures brought in by the Conservative government. The Telegraph is calling for the levy to be cut or abolished. When asked about town halls charging double council tax on empty and second homes, Sir Sadiq told LBC: 'That's not enough. I want councils to have the power to charge much more for leaving your property vacant.' He said flats in Nine Elms, south west London, were properties 'built like gold bricks investment', but weren't being lived in because owners know the 'equity will go up'. He added: 'Wandsworth, great council, the max they can charge is double council tax. I am not being funny, if you can afford a flat and leave it empty, you can pay double council tax. 'I think boroughs should be allowed to charge much, much more. We're lobbying the Government to give councils more powers to dis-incentivise leaving a property empty.' Elliot Keck, of the Taxpayers Alliance, said: 'Londoners have had to endure a miserable nine years under Sadiq Khan, with services crumbling and crime soaring. 'Now to add insult to injury, the mayor is advocating further punishing those households with second homes in the capital, despite rent already being extortionately high due to his failed housing policies.' It comes after The Telegraph revealed MPs were told they can expense double council tax bills on their second homes. MPs with constituencies outside of the capital are allowed to expense accommodation and the associated costs including council tax. They often opt for flats in Lambeth or Westminster, which are close to Parliament – boroughs which have introduced the levy. In an email leaked to The Telegraph, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) told MPs that their accommodation budget had been 'uplifted by a significant amount' to mitigate the additional charge. Empty properties – unfurnished homes which have been vacant for more than a year – can be also be charged the 100pc premium. It recently emerged that Labour-run Westminster council is plotting to seize control of thousands of empty homes. It has urged the Government to relax rules that allow local authorities to confiscate empty properties from two years to six months. The Mayor of London was contacted for comment.
