Kevin Farnsworth *An edited version of this piece appears in Tribune: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/05/corporate-welfare-is-not-the-exception-its-the-rule Although the present Covid-19 crisis is one of the most serious health crises in living memory, it also threatens to create […]
There has been a great deal of interest in recent years in the direction of travel of the main political parties in the UK. The Conservative and Labour Parties have both been accused of harking […]
Source: Revealed: global video games giants avoiding millions in UK tax | Games | The Guardian
We have written before on the way in which governments subsidise aircraft manufacturers. To build an aircraft requires huge investment and risk and both are beyond many companies. Governments also have an interest in continual […]
One of the UK’s biggest providers of probation services has collapsed. Working links, an employment and probation services company entered administration on 15 February. The outsourcing company had been severely criticised by inspectors. The Chief […]
Serious crime committed by offenders on parole increased by 50 per cent following the Government’s reforms to the probation service. The official data for England and Wales refers to Further Serious Offence reviews (SFOs). An […]
Almost one quarter of public sector contracts awarded in 2018 went to sole bidders. The Financial Times reports that the number of contracts awarded without competitive tender rose to 23 per cent in 2018. In 2016, […]
Universities offer the opportunity to gain new knowledge, learn new skills, and to build the foundations for future careers. But these opportunities come at a cost – universities, perhaps often seeming like unflappable, unwavering institutions, […]
Amazon is set to receive around $4.6 billion in corporate welfare from the US taxpayer, reports Good Jobs First. These subsidies are used by states to entice Amazon to locate operations and investment within their […]
The Centre for Health and the Public Interest (CHPI) has recently published a report on private finance initiatives (PFI). The report, intended for policy-makers, outlines five options for coping with PFI and its lasting effects, […]
FirstGroup made a £40m dividend from Great Western Railway (GWR) last year, despite previously exiting its GWR contract to avoid paying £800m to the government. FirstGroup has run GWR since it was privatised in 2006. […]
The UK government has announced a £350m bailout for the delayed Crossrail project. Crossrail, is a new east-west rail line running through London. The route, to be known as the Elizabeth Line was due to […]
A recent BBC article has shed light on yet another failed PFI contract – this time, involving elderly care in Northamtonshire. Looking at the results of Northamptonshire’s Stabilisation Plan, the BBC report discussed how the 25-year contract […]
Highlighting findings from the Royal College of Radiologists, ‘Clinical Radiology UK Workforce Census 2017 Report’, a recent BMJ news article calls attention to the rising expenditure by the NHS on outsourced radiology patient scans. With […]
Virgin Trains and Stagecoach shared a £51.2m payout from the West Coast Main Line franchise, it has emerged. Together, Virgin Trains and Stagecoach own the West Coast Main Line franchise operator – Virgin Rail Group. […]
The rise of Carillion alongside the UK government’s promotion of private finance initiatives from the early 2000’s may have largely been heralded as a success until Carillion’s unprecedented demise early on this year. As Rebecca […]
In our 2017 company report, we revealed that Nissan UK had received £800 million in corporate welfare from the UK government. The Nissan case shows a pattern of transnational corporations either getting the deal they […]
Interesting and highly relevant account of how Amazon has responded to criticism by increasing wages at the bottom. Next on the list: paying its taxes! Source: Even Amazon must heed the basic laws of politics […]
The UK Government is planning major changes to how farming is conducted and how farmers are paid. Legislation introduced to Parliament on 12 September would replace payments linked to land with funding for providing “public goods”. […]
Many issues cross the political divide, the issue of outsourcing and privatization certainly being one of them. With growing criticism of private finance initiatives after events like the collapse of Carillion earlier this year, it […]
During a time of growing scepticism around private finance initiatives (PFI), Nicola Sturgeon has signalled that the Scottish National Party will be pursuing PFI as a new measure within Scotland’s upcoming programme for government, according […]
The UK Government recently announced that it will reorient its development programme so that it more directly supports UK national interests. Speaking in Cape Town on 28 August 2018, Teresa May outlined a “fundamental strategic […]
The government has announced that another of its flagship policies on outsourcing have come unstuck. Privatising the probation service always looked like a privatisation too far. And now even the Conservative Government agrees. This is […]
The UK’s East Coast rail franchise, failed because the private operator’s revenue projections were “over ambitious”, MPs have concluded. The Intercity East Coast (ICEC) franchise has failed three times in just over a decade. In […]
Wealthy banker and Conservative donor Henry Angest has received £144,140 in CAP payments via an offshore tax haven, reports The Herald. Angest, who is a multimillionaire, is the owner of farming estates in Scotland that are […]
Copyright: Corporate Welfare Watch 2017