Alliance launched to give taxpayers a voice

Friday 06 April 2018

Tired of seeing taxpayers' money "wasted" by the government, an islander has invested £50,000 to launch the Jersey Taxpayers' Alliance (JTA), a non-political body whose objectives are "reforming taxes, cutting spending and giving a voice to taxpayers."

Feeling that islanders' confidence in the States had reached a low, Roger M. Bale decided to set up the JTA last year and invested £10,000 of start-up capital as well as £40,000 to provide a startup base and staff.

Now he's on the look-out for likeminded islanders to join him on his mission to scrutinise area of concern - including the millions spent on lawyers' fees in the Care Inquiry - as well as future whistleblowers, whose reports they promise to investigate "confidentially".

Explaining his motivation for setting up the Association on its website, Mr Bale wrote: "States Members were not vigorous enough in examining projects and States expenditure. Put another way, States members gave the impression that they were preoccupied with spending taxpayers’ money not saving it as evidenced by black holes and non-replies by Ministers to questions from the public."

Pictured: The Jersey Taxpayers' Alliance was launched by islander Roger M. Bale.

Detailing some of the perceived "waste", he hit out at the £2,000,000 sum the Health Minister, Senator Andrew Green MBE, spent on overseas consultants regarding the location of the new hospital. "He spent this money with a result that appears no different to the location recommendation, which had already been paid for and presented to the States on September 5th 2014. The £2,000,000 could have purchased medical equipment for which there is a current patient waiting list."

He also expressed frustration over the final bill for the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, which was over £21m, including nearly £14m in lawyer’s fees, even though the States had originally agreed on a budget of £6million. Mr Bale says this should be investigated without delay and those responsible for it named, especially if they wish to stand for election. "The taxpayer has a right to know how and why this vast overspend could happen and was not stopped before the budget total was reached. What is the point of States budgets unless they are limits not to be exceeded?"

The website also states the intention to look at overseas aid budgets, as well as fees charged by consultants in other fields. "Why, given that Jersey has many residents who have made their fortunes in various relevant fields, do we always seek advice off-Island without first seeking home resident sourced advice?"

Pictured: One of the JTA's areas of focus will be the £14million spent on legal fees as part of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry.

Inspired by the model of the UK Tax Payers’ Alliance, which reported 80,000 supporters in 2016, Mr Bale decided to take matters into his hands and launched the JTA, which was registered with the JFSC in September last year. He is now hunting for supporters and volunteers to help with research and communication and has recently been sending letters to islanders to gauge their interests.

Mr Bale said: "I have for years been concerned about the waste of taxpayers funds by the members of the States of Jersey. I have now founded the Jersey Taxpayers' Alliance, which is a non-political body, to provide a platform in order to be able to make those States Members responsible for wasting Island funds accountable to the taxpayers of Jersey."

He adds that he will soon be inviting interested parties to a meeting in order to present the Alliance and create a working committee. Mr Bale hopes to form Leadership, Research and Campaign Teams to achieve the JTA's objectives. One of those is to ensure "ordinary taxpayers" are no longer ignored by politicians. The Alliance will also fight for "lower, less complicated taxes by exposing waste and holding tax funded institutions accountable for their performance."