PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Newsletter
TaxPayers' Alliance Bulletin - 1st February 2008
Record-breaking January for TPA
We are pleased to report that it has been a record-breaking month in the media for the TaxPayers' Alliance. We smashed our previous monthly record of 271 hits (set in December 2007) and achieved 336 mentions across the press, radio and television. It was especially pleasing to appear on the front page of the Daily Telegraph three times in the last week, as well as the front page of the Daily Express yesterday (pictured) and in mid-January for our Funding Hate Education paper.
As well as publishing several research papers, we have also featured in recent coverage of the Olympics, Parliamentary expenses, hospital meals, fortnightly bin collections and NHS productivity as well as a host of other issues. We also featured in a recent BBC article about the rise of campaign groups which commented on our ability to "make a splash in the media", so keep a look out for us in coming weeks!
Local Government Middle Management Pay Soars
The second paper in our Council Spending Uncovered series was released yesterday, investigating the growth in Middle Management pay in local councils. We expected there would be some growth in middle management salaries in the last ten years - after all, the economy as a whole has grown - but we were shocked by the sheer scale and pace of the payroll growth.
There are now nine times the number of local council employees earning £50,000 or more than there were ten years ago. For comparison, the number of people earning such salaries in the wider economy has only tripled.
At a total cost of almost £2 billion - around £100 on every band D property's council tax - our local councils have created a whole new class of bureaucrat at vast expense to the taxpayer and with little noticeable improvement in service.
The full report, which can be read here (pdf), contains detailed expenditure for every council in the country, so please write to your local newspaper and local councillors raising the issue and demanding that councils deliver value for money by curbing their reckless spending. Let us know what response you get or if your letters are published.
The report has received widespread media coverage, being picked up by:
- Thousands of council staff are paid more than MPs
- Council tax up to pay fatcats £50,000 a year
- The Town Hall gravy train
- Growth in £50,000 council staff
- Councils pay up
- Council staff on more pay than an MP (no link)
- Town Hall pay soars
- Councils see top salaries increase
- Middle managers eat up council tax
The report has also featured in many local newspapers, and TPA spokesmen have appeared on national and local radio and TV stations.
Grassroots recruitment continues apace
We have had a very good response to our recent publicity in the form of a rush of new supporters, and this week we have had the pleasure of awarding yet another free copy of 'How to label a goat' by Ross Clark to an activist who has recruited ten new TPA supporters. If you would like a recruitment form, please contact TPA's Grassroots Co-ordinator Tim Aker at tim.aker@taxpayersalliance.com
www.taxpayersalliance.com
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