Research by the TaxPayers' Alliance

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Structure of Government 2: The Failure of Government Management, July 2008: The second paper in the Structure of Government Series reports the findings of a survey by the TaxPayers’ Alliance of the UK’s 100 top business leaders.  It reveals that Government management practices fall far short of the minimum that FTSE 100 Chief Executives believe is necessary to effectively manage large organisations.

The Cost of Big Brother Government, July 2008: This report analyses the effectiveness of the different measures the Government has used to combat the terrorist threat to Britain and finds that the cost of “Big Brother Government” has reached almost £20 billion.

The Cost of Crime, July 2008: With crime levels top of the list of voters’ concerns, this paper, for the first time, details the cost of recorded crime per person in each of the police force areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2007, the latest year for which data is available.

The Looming Winter of Discontent, May 2008: This report sets out how Britain faces a looming winter of discontent as public sector pay costs have increased massively in recent years, leaving little money left, and public sector staff are going on strike far more frequently than their private sector counterparts.

Structure of Government 1: The Unseen Government of the UK, May 2008: The first report in the Structure of Government series sets out how huge numbers of quangos are becoming the unseen government of the UK; with more power, staff and funding.

The Great British TaxPayer Rip-Off, May 2008: Written by former Treasury civil servant Mike Denham, this report establishes the vast scale of Britain's taxpayer rip-off with taxes rising, charges rising and services cut.

Public Sector Strikes, April 2008: The report shows that public sector workers have gone on strike 25 times as frequently as workers in the private sector over the last five years and 100 times as frequently over the last year.

Council Spending Uncovered 5: The Ten Per Cent Challenge, April 2008: The fifth Council Spending Uncovered paper challenges councils to save 10 per cent in several key non-priority budgets and shows how that could allow them to cut Council Tax bills.

The Cost of Crime in London, April 2008: The report presents the first estimates of the cost of crime in each of the 32 London boroughs. The total cost of crime for London was £3 billion or £400 per person last year.

Council Spending Uncovered 4: Town Hall Rich List 2008, March 2008: The fourth Council Spending Uncovered Paper and the second Town Hall Rich List provides details of over 800 local authority employees with remuneration packages of at least £100,000, including 14 earning more than the Prime Minister.

The Economic and Political Case Against Higher Fuel Duty, March 2008: The report shows that people living in marginal constituencies are more likely to drive to work and how motorists are already paying too much tax. It calls on the Government to abandon the 2p rise in Fuel Duty set for April.

Budget 2008 Report, March 2008: The report shows how higher spending on public services has failed to deliver results and how controlling spending and reducing taxes could deliver significant economic benefits. It also sets out the savings from not rehiring the quarter of civil servants due to retire over the next decade.

Council Spending Uncovered 3: Pension Contributions, February 2008: The third paper in the Council Spending Uncovered series reveals that local authorities are spending £1 in every £5 of council tax revenue on employer pension contributions.

£1 Million NHS Pensions, February 2008: The research note finds that there are 8,500 retired NHS employees with pension pots of at least £1 million.

HM Prison Service is failing: a new approach is urgently needed, February 2008: The first paper in the Failure of Politicians series is written by Lord Ramsbotham, the former Chief Inspector of Prisons. It provides a powerful critique of political management of the prison system and recommends reforms to give prison managers the freedom and incentives they need to improve prison rehabilitation programmes and cut re-offending.

Council Spending Uncovered 2: Middle Management Pay, January 2008: The second paper in the Council Spending Uncovered series examines the increase in town hall spending on middle and senior management, giving details for all local authorities in the UK.

Wasting Lives: A statistical analysis of NHS performance in a European context since 1981, January 2008: The report sets out the ongoing failure of the NHS to match European levels of healthcare performance and the inability of new money, since 1999, to rectify the situation.

Funding Hate Education, January 2008: In the first of a series of papers analysing the effectiveness of expenditure on overseas aid, the report reveals disturbing evidence showing how British taxpayers’ money has been spent helping to fund hate education and promote violence in the Middle East.

Annual Non-Job Report 2007, December 2007: The latest in the non-job series presents the salary bill for jobs advertised in Society Guardian and picks out the most egregious examples of jobs that have little if any value for taxpayers.

The Tax on Christmas, December 2007: The research note, authored by former Treasury economist Mike Denham, shows that the average household pays £225 in indirect taxes over Christmas, making a total of £5.65 billion.

Rewards for Failure: Hospital Acquired Infections, December 2007: Presents a list of the 25 NHS trusts with the worst C. difficile hospital infection rates and compares these infection rates with the pay of the trusts’ Chief Executives.

£1 Million Civil Service Pensions, December 2007: The research note finds that there are 3,700 retired civil servants with pension pots of at least £1 million.

Council Spending Uncovered No. 1: Publicity, December 2007: The first paper in the Council Spending Uncovered series examines the doubling of council publicity spending over the past decade and gives details for all local authorities in the UK.

Public Sector Rich List 2007, November 2007: The second edition of the annual Public Sector Rich List presents a list of the 300 most highly paid people in the public sector, all earning above £150,000 a year.

Council Mileage Allowances, October 2007: The survey of councils in the West Midlands reveals that all but two pay their staff more per mile than the HMRC approved rates.

Pre-Budget Report Projects 30 per cent Council Tax Rise, October 2007: TPA calculations show that the 30 per cent rise in council tax pencilled in by the Government over the next five years would lead to an average Band D bill of almost £1,700.

Total Lifetime Tax, October 2007: The 2007 Total Lifetime Tax update shows that the average household pays over £630,000, in today’s prices, in direct and indirect taxes.

The Bumper Book of Government Waste: Brown’s Squandered Billions, October 2007: The third in the Bumper Book series finds £101 billion of government waste in 2007. 

Response to the Conservative Quality of Life Policy Group Report, September 2007: The TPA attacks the intellectual assumptions behind the report and argues that the Policy Group’s recommendations would lead to more tax, regulation and bureaucracy, would curb vital infrastructure development and would undermine free trade.

The Case Against Further Green Taxes, September 2007: The first comparison of official and academic estimates of the social cost of Britain’s carbon emissions with the revenue raised from green taxes shows that environmental taxation is already above its optimal level. The report also presents an audit of current green taxation, showing that each green tax has major flaws.

Green Tokenism: Government Cars, August 2007: The research note finds that if the Government had not bought hybrid cars, it could have planted 74,000 trees with the money saved, a far better environmental move.

The Non-Courses Report 2007, August 2007: A list of university “non-courses”, together with the cost to the taxpayer.

Effect of the 2012 Olympics on Construction Inflation, August 2007: The research note calculates that the London Olympics will add £4 billion to construction inflation in London and the South East.

The Cost of the 2012 Olympics, July 2007: The research note, released for the launch of the TPA 2012 Watchdog, reveals how the Olympics budget has been allowed to spiral out of control and presents worrying indications that the final bill could be even higher.

Cost of Government Day, July 2007: The research note extends the concept of Tax Freedom Day and estimates the date in the calendar year when the average person has earned enough to pay of his share of government spending and regulation.  In 2007, Cost of Government Day falls on 23 July.

The Global Warming Industry in Local Government, July 2007: The research note gives details of employees working to reduce carbon emissions in a random sample of 25 local authorities.

Beyond the Dome: Government projects £23 billion over budget, July 2007: A systematic investigation into cost overruns in over 300 public sector capital projects over the last two years reveals a £23 billion total.

Response to Tax Freedom Day, June 2007: The TPA response provides indicative estimates of tax freedom day in other OECD countries, putting Britain in its international context.

Tax Burden Highest for the Poorest Households, May 2007: The analysis of OECD data over the last 20 years shows that the poorest fifth of households pay the greatest proportion of their gross income in direct and indirect taxes, and that the gap has widened under Gordon Brown.

Councillors’ Allowances, April 2007: A joint publication with Isitfair, the campaign for reform of the council tax system, giving details of councillors’ allowances in town halls across the country.

Dynamic Model of the UK Economy, April 2007: The TPA commissioned the Centre for Economics and Business Research to build a dynamic model of the UK economy. The first simulations show that reducing the main corporation tax rate to the Irish rate would deliver immense economic benefits.

Budget 2007: Tax Cuts Abroad, March 2007: With Britain’s tax burden rising, the research note gives details of 13 advanced economies that have reduced taxes in the past year and 24 that have reduced taxes in the past two years.

Town Hall Rich List, March 2007: A groundbreaking study, using the Freedom of Information Act, listing the names, positions and total remuneration of all staff in 230 local authorities earning over £100,000 a year.

£1 Million Lifetime Tax by 2015, February 2007: The research note shows that, on present trends, the total amount of tax paid by the average household would reach £1 million over a lifetime by 2015.

Response to the Strike by the Public and Commercial Services Union, January 2007: The TPA points out that the strike, coming on the day of the self-assessment deadline, will unfairly hit tens of thousands of self-employed taxpayers and that public sector workers already get a better deal than their private sector counterparts.

Better Government report, January 2007: The first report of the new “Better Government Campaign” shows that public services are failing because politicians lack the management experience and subject knowledge to run them effectively. Patrick Barbour’s report is described as “a rattling read” by Labour MP Frank Field.

The Political Payroll 2006, January 2007: Written by William Norton, a member of the James Review of Taxpayer Value, the research note compiles a line-by-line picture of the rewards paid out to members of the Government.

An Analysis of the More Government/Less Government Balance on the Today Programme, January 2007: The survey of a week of Today Programme broadcasts finds that bigger government messages dominate smaller government messages and that, therefore, the programme is biased towards higher taxes and higher government spending. 

Annual Non-Job Report 2006, December 2006: Presents the salary bill for jobs advertised in Society Guardian and picks out the most egregious examples of jobs that have little if any value for taxpayers.

The Real Cost of Gordon Brown, December 2006: The research note shows that if the tax burden as a share of GDP had stayed at its 1997 level, the basic rate of income tax could be reduced to 10 per cent.

Moving Britain Backwards, December 2006: Written by former World Bank economist Keith Marsden, the paper tears apart Gordon Brown’s economic record and shows how Britain’s economy has become less competitive and less able to meet the coming challenges.

The Hundred Club: Whitehall Pensions, November 2006: Presents a list of 100 senior civil servants with pension pots of at least £500,000.

Public Sector Rich List, November 2006: The first ever rich list focused exclusively on the public sector. Lists 170 people earning over £150,000 a year in government departments, quangos and other public bodies.

Life is easier in the public sector, October 2006: The research note shows how public sector workers enjoy higher pay, fewer hours, more days off sick and more generous pensions than their private sector counterparts.

Response to the Independent Tax Reform Commission Report, October 2006: The TPA welcomes the recommendations of the Tax Reform Commission report to reduce and simplify taxes, but argues that the report could have gone further in several areas.

Total Lifetime Tax, October 2006: The first reported calculation of the total amount of tax paid by households in different quintile groups over a lifetime.

Flat Tax: Towards a British Model, February 2006: Written by economist and journalist Allister Heath, the book makes the case for a flat tax and sets out how it could be practically achieved in the UK.