Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

The right hon. Gentleman will know, as a former Secretary of State, that the omniscience of the ODPM stretches in many directions, but not in the direction of predicting court cases. I wish to take a moment now to explain how the Bill will not in any way affect the approach being taken in the devolved Administrations, contrary to the assertions of some Opposition Members. In our debate on 19 October, much was said about Wales, but executive local government functions in Wales are, rightly, devolved. We have consulted the National Assembly of Wales on the subject matter of the Bill and it has indicated that it is content that it has no effect on provisions relating to Wales. The position in Northern Ireland is very different from that in England, not least because local government has continued to be funded through a domestic rating system instead of the council tax. The House will recall that Northern Ireland did not have the benefit of the poll tax. The Northern Ireland Executive commissioned a review of rating policy in 2000 and that has now led to the publishing of a draft Order in Council, which is currently subject to a consultation process.