Wild speculation: I wonder if the Economist got a tip-off on the secret Statutory Instrument?

@ Iang,

I would guess that it was entirly predictable, and I have been expecting similar for some time now.

Put simply Gordon Brown (now PM) far from being financial prudent has been the most proflagate waster of UK resources one way or another ever since he has had power.

Having raised taxes to the point he could not raise them further he went on stelth tax raids on UK pensions etc, and now most of the available money pots are dry and the cupbord is bare the only option was to stop paying money out.

Now as most have come to realise a lot of Government spending is realy a bribe to floating voters and vested interests. So cutting down on this is a sure election loser in his eyes.

So this means cutting back on other spending that the UK elector does not directly see.

Welcom to the world of local councils who get a very large chunk of UK taxation to spend localy.

Well as the councils also raise money by local property taxation as well it is an oportunity to "fix things".

When the Deputy Priminister was "two Jags" a series of changes to planning permission where brought in as well as requirments to oversee landlords etc.

The result was back door raising of local council income that was then balanced by a reduction of money from central Gov.

The various "waste incentives" that you have read about are again a way for councils to raise money directly and for less to come out of central government coffers.

Other things that are in the pipeline is for local councils to put a surcharge in property taxes based on "scenic views" and "well apointed homes". Also it has been talked about getting direct access to "store loyalty" credit/debit card info so that more afluent post codes can be identified and local taxation increased in those areas (however no talk about decreasing if you have a chemical plant on your back door and nobody in your post code has the credit rating to get plastic...)

Public transport franchises supposadly can be taken away for poor performance. South West Trains had such poor performance it looked like there was no way they could hang onto their rail franchise. What did SWT do, they said they would pay the Tresury more money than any of the compeating bids and low and behold we are still stuck with their P155 Poor Performance.

Then there is "off book" spending via Public Private Finance/intiatives.

This is where the government does not borrow money by public sector borowing or treasury bonds (the lowest cost option to the tax payer) no they enter into an agrement where they give a company the basic assets (land etc) and they build and manage a school/hospital/etc on it. The company then gets anything upto 25% of the equivalent capital expenditure each year for the next 30 years and gets to keep the assets at the end of it.

The nice thing as far as Gordon Brown is concerned the expenditure is hidden from his public accounts.

He can say he has put an extra 4Billion or whatever into Health or Education forgetting to mention PFI slurps out that and more...

I could go on and on with other examples but I think you get the general idea...

It is getting worse by the day,

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6897641.ece

"Bonuses for lawyers who seize criminal assets 'risk undermining justice'

Crown Prosecution Service lawyers are receiving personal bonuses linked to their success in confiscating criminal assets, The Times has learnt.

About £1.37 million has been paid in personal bonuses to staff over the past two financial years, the CPS disclosed under Freedom of Information legislation. It did not say what proportion was for hitting confiscation targets, but the disclosure will add to concern among lawyers that providing financial incentives to prosecutors could undermine the criminal justice system."

More in the article.

@ gyges,

"Bonuses for [CPS] lawyers who seize criminal assets"

Just goes to show that there is no justice in the UK...

One thought does occure though what happens when assetts have to be returned due to wrongfull conviction etc...

Oh and I would not be to surprised if we went back to the old system where the tax collectors get a percentage of the take.

In all cases expect to see the "street clamper" mentality take over the organisational thinking and coruption to become well and truly entrnched in the system.

... Victimization studies also show that the crime rate in Britain is far higher than in most other European countries. Comparative analyses show England and Wales at the very top of the European crime leagues—and well above the U.S. as well. ...