Public Spending

  • PoliticsAOL

    Britain facing 'five more years of cuts'

    Public sector spending cuts could continue for another five years whichever party is in government, the outgoing head of the civil service has said. Sir Bob Kerslake, who stepped down as head of the home civil service as part of a Whitehall

    2-min read
  • NewsAOL

    Debt advice demand soars over cuts

    Thousands more people are seeking debt advice as public spending cuts force an increasing number of poorer households into paying council tax. And Conservative-run councils are the most likely to seek to impose bills on the least well-off

  • LifestyleAOL

    Video: Parents create pop-up zebra crossing

    Horrified at the ludicrous alleged cost of a council-installed zebra crossing, some parents have resorted to a DIY version. The Highways Agency says that the cost of a zebra crossing is £114,000. Presumably that is £14,000 for the crossing and

  • TechnologyAOL

    New Apple iPads for MPs

    Taxpayers' will shortly cough up well over £400,000 for new iPads for MPs. Strictly in the interests of MPs being more productive (plus all that Tweeting). That £400,000 or so is just the hardware, not the cost of on-going monthly

  • BusinessAOL

    Scrap top tax rate pronto, Osborne told

    Drop the top 45p tax rate threshold immediately or lose more tax revenues. The warning has come from several top accountancy firms who think many 50p tax payers may defer taking income until the rate drops, at a later date. That, accountancy

  • NewsAOL

    Cameron urges pay-as-you-go roads

    New private 'Lexus lanes' could be introduced by the government in order to get traffic moving - but only, it is likely, for the affluent. A part-privatised road network would, David Cameron hopes, improve road capacity and journey

  • BusinessAOL

    Tax avoidance or tax planning?

    Is it difficult to know which is which? With Nick Clegg wanting a Tycoon Tax to trap the super-wealthy - many thousands of millionaires still pay less than 30 per cent tax, depriving the UK tax base of millions a year - the issue is in the news.