The coalition government has very much hit the ground running with regards to proposals to decentralise government spending and give those "on the ground" more of a say in where their taxes are spent. However, will we ever truly see a decentralisation of public-sector spending and will those in specific areas of the UK really have more of a say?
The coalition government's decision to drop the Audit Commission in favour of a forecast £50 million a year saving has caused many eyebrows to be raised. The very nature of the Audit Commission is to oversee how taxpayers money is spent by the government, something which David Cameron and George Osborne appeared to be very keen to continue. However, the decision to disband the Audit Commission and lay off potentially 2000 staff leaves UK taxpayer interests relatively unprotected in the short-term.
Sir Alan Budd, the outgoing chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has today entered the public domain again suggesting he has regrets regarding the release of an early report from the OBR which was consequently used by David Cameron in a PMQ session. This led to the independence of the OBR being called into question which many believe eventually led to the resignation of Sir Alan Budd.
The coalition government is this weekend standing accused of looking to privatise various areas of the UK state sector without officially confirming this. Only a few days ago we saw the proposed sale of a NHS recruitment company which is state-owned and supplies staff to a great number of hospital trusts around the UK. Only last week we also saw the proposed abolition of the Audit Commission in favour of private one-off investigations, carried out by private sector companies, on the half of individual local authorities.
The UK Audit Commission, which is to be closed by the UK government, has this weekend refuted a number of allegations suggesting that taxpayers may not be getting value for money. Eric pickles, the communities secretary, suggested that the Commission have become something of a "creature of the Whitehall state" rather than a watchdog championing the causes of the UK taxpayer. However, upon further investigation this may not be the case.
While the Conservative government initially created the idea of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) there is no doubt that this particular initiative flourished under the former Labour government. However, there are major concerns as the short-term cost savings from many PFI projects are turning into long-term liabilities for departments such as the NHS and Education.
HM Revenue and Customs have recently issued a statement regarding scam websites targeted at people looking to reclaim money from the tax authorities. While these websites look and feel apart, they are nothing but a front for online fraudsters looking to harvest your personal details and then go ahead and apply for finance in your name and clear your bank accounts. So how can we protect ourselves?
Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, has today announced that the Audit Commission will be scrapped saving the UK government around £50 million a year. This is a body which has been in place since 1983 and basically overlooks the quality of service offered by local authorities around the UK. Despite the fact that the Audit Commission had already been looking towards transferring many of its functions to the private sector this particular news item came out of the blue.
HM Revenue and Customs has today confirmed that nearly 200 bogus tax return websites have been close down as cyber criminals target those looking to reclaim money from their tax returns. The so-called "phishing" e-mails sent out by many of these websites have attracted the attention of consumers in the UK who are looking to reclaim money from the tax man. However, the reality is very different!
Ken Clarke, the justice secretary, is tonight facing up to a potential £2 billion reduction in his £9 billion departmental budget. A letter has been leaked to the unions which would indicate that the £2 billion reduction in spending would need to be achieved over the next two years and could result in 15,000 job losses from the department's 80,000 workforce.
