The Taxpayers’ Alliance have revealed that in 2022-23, twenty leading civil servants had an average pension pot of £1.1 million, a combined amount worth £21 million. Currently, the lifetime pension pot allowance is set at £1,073,100…

Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office had the largest accrued pension of £102,500, despite the fact he’s been the one to oversee the surge in illegal channel crossings. Sir Philip Barton, permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, had a pension pot worth over £2,016,000. The retirement pension for these 20 civil servants is expected to average £65,921, double the amount the average gross UK private sector salary in 2023. Nice work if you can get it…

Wonk world has reacted to Hunt’s Autumn Statement, the general consensus from the free market think tanks being that there’s  a few positive announcements, though not enough to be excited about. Guido gives you the run down…

The Institute of Economic Affairs’ Mark Littlewood welcomes the NI cut and permanent full expensing, though cautions that there is far more work to be done to reduce the tax burden and decrease spending. He called the statement “a step in the right direction, not a leap”…

The Taxpayers’ Alliance called the statement a “mixed bag” of good and bad news. Chief executive John O’Connell said, “Cuts to taxes for businesses and workers will be warmly welcomed, but the fiscal drag of frozen thresholds means the UK is still on track for an even bigger tax burden by the end of this decade.” Not a huge cheer from the TPA…

The Growth Commission points out that “while the cut in National Insurance Contributions by 2 percentage points will add 0.6% to GDP per capita after 20 years, it needs to be borne in mind that the freezing of tax allowances had already cost 1.3% of GDP”. Co-chairman Douglas McWilliams says the measures “are falling short of getting us out of economic stagnation”.

The Centre for Policy Studies welcome the permanent full expensing, something they’ve been campaigning for for many years. However, they warn against the decision to maintain the triple lock which “prioritises older people at the expense of younger workers”. Robert Colvile, CPS Director, cautioned: “The economy, and our long-term growth prospects, are still far from where they need to be.” Still much work to be done…

The Adam Smith Institute‘s Maxwell Marlow says “there is much to be positive about this statement“, praising the announcement of “a number of pro-business measures”. Though he cautions that Hunt will still need to “plan for public spending restraint”. The invisible hand will do its work… 

The campaigners over at Stop the Taxi Tax say that Hunt’s pledge to consult on the 20% non-Black cab taxi VAT is “good news, but there’s no time to waste to stop this damaging tax“.

Director of Onward, Sebastian Payne welcomed the measures, saying, “Today’s Autumn Statement showed the best of moderate conservatism – combining bold measures to boost growth and slash taxes, with support for struggling workers and families.” Optimistic tone from the wets…

Douglas McWilliams, Co-Chairman of the Growth Commission says

“… there was little acknowledgement of just how high the public spending bill now is – and the impact such a large state has on the prospects for economic growth. My overall sense of this statement is that the Chancellor has taken a loaf of bread from the taxpayer and given us back a couple of slices.”

Not a full return to tax-cutting Tories…

New research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance shows that global quangos raked in £85 billion from the UK government from 2009 to 2021. £7.5 billion is set to be spent every year from 2022 to 2027. That’s equivalent to a 1p cut in income tax…

The figures come from the TPA’s new “Global Quangos Uncovered” factbook which is documenting the increasing influence and cost to the taxpayer of unaccountable international quangos. The IMF alone got £2.1 billion from the UK taxpayer from 2012 to 2021. The TPA points out that out of 28 forecasts for the UK economy issued by the IMF between 2016 and 2022, 25 underpredicted growth compared to actual results. Taxpayers are coughing up quite an amount for pessimistic doomsaying of the UK economy…

The IMF published a “Strategy toward Mainstreaming Gender” last year and the WHO is spending most of its time attacking vaping. John O’Connell, TPA chief executive, says “Whitehall has handed ever more powers over to unelected international bodies… it’s high time the government looks again at our relationship with some of these organisations“. Calling time on the gravy train…

The BBC is reporting today that Welsh Water, which supplies drinking water for most of Wales, has been illegally releasing untreated sewage instead of treating it for five years. In Cardigan, toxic sludge was spilling into natural water 200 days a year. Welsh Water is regulated by Natural Resources Wales, a taxpayer-funded body which received 57 per cent of its funding from the Drakeford’s Government in 2020-21. The TPA is kicking up a stink after digging out the pay of their executive team – five of them are raking in over £100,000 and chief executive Clare Pillman took home at least £185,000 in 2020/21. The TPA’s Conor Holohan says the regulator is clearly asleep at the wheel and that it’s “time for pay to reflect performance across all regulators“. With their pockets spilling over it’s no surprise the regulators have their eyes off the ball…

As the dust settles on Rishi’s Net Zero rollback, the prevailing sentiment among the majority of Tory MPs, think tanks, and industry leaders alike is mostly positive – apart from a few squawky outliers. While the likes of Zac Goldsmith and Chris Skidmore aren’t happy, Guido hears most Tory MPs see it as a pragmatic move. One told Guido “it’s been relatively well received so far [and] they’ve got the tone right”.  As always, Guido brings you the low down on the reactions over in Wonk World:

The Taxpayers’ Alliance Chief John O’Connell reacted as expected, saying the TPA is pleased that Brits won’t have to dig deeper into their pockets: “Brits will be relieved by these sensible moves to take the heat off household budgets. Families and businesses want solutions to the real problem of climate change that go beyond asking them to dig ever deeper into shrinking pockets. The prime minister is right to approach this issue with hard-pressed households in mind.”

The Institute of Economic Affairs’ Andy Mayer welcomed the changes, whilst hinting that he’d like to see more, saying they’re “a welcome step but could go further“.

The Adam Smith Institute’s Imogen Yates points out that “arbitrary top-down targets” are a poor strategy: “We should focus on a carrot rather than a stick approach – instead of having stringent regulations and outright bans, we should harness the power of the free-market to encourage innovation in cleaner technology and limit negative externalities. The government must also now concentrate on building the infrastructure such as EV charging points, and ensuring that our national grid will be able to cope.” Where there’s a will there’s a free market way…

Inevitably the GMB Union weren’t overwhelmingly supportive, attacking the government for not having a “credible plan to tackle climate change“. They did note that their calls to scrap the ban on gas boilers were heeded…

The Countryside Alliance were more sympathetic, saying “The PM is right to provide significantly more time for people to transition to heat pumps, understanding that in some circumstances it just won’t work.”

Toyota also came out in favour of the move, calling the “welcome” changes “pragmatic“. Jaguar Land Rover also agreed. This is despite Ford’s furious comments that the roll back would undermine the government’s “ambition, commitment and consistency”. As Kemi Badenoch rightly pointed out, the auto industry “certainly does not always speak with one voice…”

Driving the agenda…

Not content with slacking off from the comfort of their remote offices, local government fat cats have taken their remote “working” abroad. The Daily Mail today shared damning evidence, compiled by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, showing that Town Hall chiefs across the country are ‘working from the beach’. The report revealed that 708 pen-pushers have been doing their tasks from abroad in the last year, swapping from sofa to sun in warmer climates as far afield as Brazil, Spain and Croatia. The councils claim this will convince workers to stay. As if the six figure salaries weren’t doing that already…