Give us your suggestion - big or small - of where public money could be saved

[dotnet]

Mine would be - turn heating down by 5 degrees fahrenheit - or a little more - in all our hospitals.

Sick people don't need to be cooked, it doesn't help - and if any patients really do NEED to be kept in a blazing hot temperature, have a few designated 'hot' rooms per hospital and turn up the radiator valves in there.

Dont worry if the Tories have their way poor pensioners will be dying of hypothermia again as they did in Thatchers Britain, this will suit the Tories plans as pension money will be saved.

Not necessarially hypothermia. The choice as to whether they will freeze to death, or starve to death will be entirely their own.

Consumer choice, tory style

High scoring post there newwave.

No new suggestions about decreasing spend per the interesting OP but thanks for:

"poor pensioners will be dying of hypothermia again" 50 points

"Thatchers Britain" 75 points

general old hat tribalism - 25 points

Anyone else?

"The choice as to whether they will freeze to death, or starve to death will be entirely their own."

Blimey, that's 100 points. THanks, I'm doing well.

stop throwing good money after bad - as a general rule
Means test child benefit properly
Raise income tax

SPB - raising income tax not the same as saving public money tho'

"stop throwing good money after bad " yes, and if civil servants sign off contracts which make this happen they should be personally surcharged.

Ok Cat.

Lets not decrease spend until:

All non doms including Ashcroft and Murdoch pay their share

All companies pay ALL the relevant taxes including Vodaphone.

Make both tax avoidance and tax evasion illegal.

Cancel Trident

Raise the top rate of tax on those "earning" over £200,000

Then lets look at saving money.

But thats not the Tory way is it? demonising the poor and pandering to the rich and powerful is the Tory way.

Not tribalism as such just knowing right from wrong unlike the tory filth

good point, apologies

Scrap that pointless married couple tax allowance.

Legalise all drugs to be sold under licence (with tax) but make more strict laws on abuses such as driving a car under the influence or disorder. Use some of this revenue for increased education on the dangers and rehab.

It's surprisingly difficult to get that STRICTLY REDUCE spending mindset goign though interestingly:

eg MIB says
Scrap that pointless married couple tax allowance. - REDUCE SPEND

Legalise all drugs to be sold under licence (with tax) but make more strict laws on abuses such as driving a car under the influence or disorder. Use some of this revenue for increased education on the dangers and rehab - BUT RAISE SOME TAX AND SPEND IT

I really think that is where a lot of the problem lies. SPB also did it reflexively above

Spend some of it, not all.

I think the Government has got it broadly correct although I wouldn't renew trident or implement the married tax allowance.

I would also look at legalising cannabis and ecstasy and tax it

"Make both tax avoidance and tax evasion illegal."

I take it you don't have an Isa? Or a pension? Or take advantage of work place contributions such as a child care vouchers or cycle to work schemes etc?

A lot of public money went up in smoke on Nov 5th/6th - sure some of that could be saved.

Oh and my suggestion for reducing expenditure would be to massively simplify the taxation system - at the very least look to combine NI and income tax.

That's a hard one Grimma as it is very hard to work out the savings from reduced injury due to fewer back garden displays, and the greater social cohesion and knock-on reduction in public disorder.

It could be anything from nothing at all to more than the cost of the fireworks.

I went to one this year that was humungous and totally free. Previous year I went to the big one near us - humungous, same atmosphere but there was an entry fee.
Which made it seem not like rocket science to me.

DLA and ESP should be means tested.

An easy cut that would bring a huge reduction over the long term surely would be to switch all public sector workers forthwith from defined benefit (final-salary) pensions to defined contribution. This just puts them on an even keel with private sector workers.

I want smaller government. Stop interferring and increasing tax and let small businesses make profits and exband so I hire more staff. I am one of the few people on here who agrees with the stopping to chid benefit for higher rate tax payers. It was maddnes that I pay tax only to be given tax back. The bureaucracy involved in that never made sense to me.

So in summary don't give benefits to people that already pay tax, just reduce the tax in the first place. Any other way and its just churning money, which costs money.

LookTo, fair point as i do have ISA'a and a pension to come.

Make tax evasion not approved by the government illegal. Wont happen as Clegg for one does it using offshore means.

Littlepossum - as a public sector worker I would happily give up some of my pension, if my salary were bought into line with the private sector too. I earn around £5K/year less than I would in private sector.

Jollydiane

Thats seems a really good idea. It never has made sense to me that people on anything up to £58k/year could get benefits. Why tax them to give them money back as child-benefit or tax credits? You simply create a additional loop of bureaucracy that serves no purpose.

I don't see any reason why people on more than the average wage (25k or so) should get any benefits at all. Surely there are more worthy targets for that money or perhaps we can just use it to reduce the deficit.

"Make tax evasion not approved by the government illegal."

It already is.

Tax avoidance on the other hand by it's very definition is legal - if the government sees a loop hole being exploited then they need to close the hole. You can't blame someone for minimising the tax they pay if they can - the onus is on Government to close any tax holes that are against the "spirit" of the tax regime.

If we had a simpler tax system then we wouldn't need all of these byzantine tax laws anyway.