It general, I feel the Government must introduce some sort of litmus test which examines "does this initiative just look good on paper - or appeal to our idealogical leanings - or will it make a real difference?"
Localism, for example. Sounds great and, philosophically, I think it's wonderful. But how many of you think your local authority actually does a good job of organising public services in your area? I'm not saying all local government is weak at delivery but alot of it seems to be. And even if good work is done, is it really good value for money to have all those layers of bureaucracy between the Treasury and the "end user" (er - that's you and me)?
Council tax - what a phenomenal waste of time and money (the calculation and billing and collecting and allocation and redistribution). And it's hardly a "fair tax. Just bang it all in income tax and redistribute it from the centre, to areas where it's actually needed.
Policing - (in cities) sell half the cars and get em on bikes ; give them helmet cameras so they don't have to spend ages writing up (probably rather biased) notes. More time on the beat, less time filling out forms, less wasted overtime.
Prisons - close half of them. Revive that "short, sharp, shock" idea for prisons. Plough most of the savings into making the Probation Service more effective, rehabilitation, remedial eduction. Reduce reoffending and therefore reduce the long-term spend on Justice.
I fear the actual policy wont be as good as it sounds but I actually think streamlining and simplifying the benefits system is very sensible. And I think pensions should be brought into this analysis. I wonder - not having access to Treasury data - whether it would be possible to set a fair National Minimum Income that was aligned with the income tax threshold. In other words, we'd make sure everyone over the age of 18 had an income they could live off (and wouldn't be taxed on) but that that was means tested. So: no pension for people who have enough to live off anyway ; likewise child benefit ; like wise incapacity benefits. (rare) Targeted top up payments (for the disabled, for example) would help people whose unalterable circumstances mean their financial requirements exceed the norm.
Take almost all of central Government (Civil service) out of London. I used to be a Civil Servant. Most of the work done in London could be done elsewhere. This doesn't mean "localism" it just means distributing central government around the UK to support employment outside the overcrowded south east. To be fair, this has been tried but, frankly, minimal effort has been applied to overcome the intransigence of Civil Servants.
And as I understand it, there are nearly enough Lt Colonels working for the MOD for every fighting platoon in the Army to be led directly by a Lt Col. The madness of feather bedding in the armed services just has to stop. Scrap our pointless heavy armour brigades. Get rid of any notion of high altitude bombing (doesn't work, laser-guided or not). refocus the Navy on submarines and amphibious warfare and ditch most of the surface fleet. Dont buy eurofighter etc.
Don't build any more roads.
Invest in local renewable generation of electricity and bring the cost of energy (and, therefore, business) down. More profitable business = more tax +less unemployment.
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