Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I have told the hon. Gentleman that I will give way. He must be patient. The short-term expediency of pushing off all the unpleasant decisions into the long grass for Sir Michael Lyons means that that approach cannot be followed. No one knows how many bands there will be or where they will be located in the 2005 revaluation. As a result, the Valuation Office Agency decided that it had to calculate a numerical property value for every home, in order to place those homes in their appropriate bands later. The relevant internal note has been deposited in the Library:"““Given the degree of uncertainty around the council tax bands in 2007, EVERY property will probably need a specific numeric valuation so, when the bandings are finally agreed, properties can be allocated their bandings quickly””." The note lays the blame firmly at the Government’s door:"““No decisions have yet been reached by the Government on whether, and if so what, revisions should be made to the level and number of council tax bands. Those decisions will be informed by the outcome of the review currently being undertaken by Sir Michael Lyons due to report by end of 2005””." Since that note was written, the schedule for the Lyons report has slipped further back. The revaluation will be more expensive, more intrusive and much more difficult to perform than the last one, when only 10 per cent. of houses were inspected and, in the valuation office’s own words, the remaining houses were assessed, ““at the desk””. Furthermore, the number of dwelling house codes has jumped from 10 to 17.