Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I will make a little progress, if the hon. Gentleman will forgive me. The public have rumbled the Government and have acquired out of necessity an understanding that most local authorities are just the messenger delivering the bad news of high bills. The stealthy postponement of the revaluation will not hide the true responsibility for Labour’s favourite stealth tax. Let us deal with the cost of the revaluation. During the debate a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the rapid rise in the cost of the revaluation operation. Let me remind the House that the cost of the revaluation is spiralling out of control. In 2004, the Government estimated that the revaluation would cost £108 million. In July 2005, the cost hit £178 million, which is an increase of more than 60 per cent. Much of the £60 million that has already been spent has been lost because of the postponement, and it would be criminal to spend more.