TAXING TIMES..

Just when we taxpayers thought the MPs expenses row had been sorted, a couple of things come along to remind us that there is still a way to go.   The last few days have seen some startling throwbacks to those heady days when our news was dominated by taxpayer funded duck houses, moat cleaning and late night adult film viewing.   Yesterday we had the jailing of cheating ex-Labour MP David Chaytor, who quite blatantly swindled the taxpayer out of something like £30,000, so although there are still a handful of court cases pending, at least one of the accused MPs has had his collar felt followed by his just desserts.

But perhaps more worryingly for those who thought the expenses business was now under control, we have had a series of `minor` MPs bleating about the activities of the Independant Parliamentary Standards Authority, set up to independantly deal with the whole business of their expenses.   I suppose to some extent, IPSA might be independant, but given that it was set up by the Government in the first place and also given that Tory mediocrities like Nadine Dorries have threatened that IPSA `will be sorted` if it doesn`t do what such mediocrities are demanding, I have some fears for its wellbeing as a truly independant organisation. 

MPs have reduced IPSA staff to tears over the elements of the expenses rules they object to – including those relating to their family life, the definition of the 'London area' and the budget for renting a constituency office.   It seems to me that our elected representatives should have rather more pressing matters to concern themselves with, rather than whining about their expenses claims, especially when they enjoy decent salaries, subsidised everything and a lifestyle that most of us can only dream about.

BUT - and it`s a big but - to be fair, there is a system in place to independantly monitor the expenses antics of our MPs.  It may have its faults, it may need the odd tweak to make it work properly, but at least it`s there.   All of which is a far cry from the shameless gravy train that continues to chuff along in the EU, where sadly little or no attention is given to the excesses that go on in that remote Alice-in Wonderland.  

Closer to home, we have now seen the Budget for Kent County Council for the coming financial year. It was launched at a televised press conference the other day and whilst it might not have been the most riveting news item of the week, it was probably the most photogenic.

Now I confess not to have studied the small print, but it`s a budget that seeks to attack the spending restrictions imposed by the Government whilst at the same time keeping Council Tax in check and maintaining essential services.   No easy task and, perhaps predictably but very sadly, 1500 KCC  jobs are likely to go, causing the inevitable problems for those staff directly affected.  

Now, like our MPs and the mandarins of the EU, our Kent County Councillors are entitled to expenses of their own - attending meetings, travelling, subsistence, conferences, study tours, hospitality and the rest.   I just wonder whether, buried away in their huge budget, there is any hint that our elected councillors are making at least a gesture of understanding towards the local taxpayers by volunteering the odd cutback in their own claimable expenses.   If so, what an example it would set, not just for the taxpayers of Kent but also for those further up the food chain who cannot be taken seriously as elected representatives all the time they whine about having to do the right thing by those who elect them.   After all, we`re all supposed to be in it together in this Big Society.  Aren`t we?