Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. He identifies one of the glaring inconsistencies in the Opposition’s position. If a carefully thought through Government policy that had been the subject of detailed consultation and legislation—and which, incidentally, had been defended robustly against opportunistic Opposition attacks—was now to be reversed, one might think that there would be either compelling evidence to justify the volte face or specific alternative arrangements for conducting the revaluation that the Government accept must happen at some stage. As we can see from the Bill, however, nothing has been put in the place of the current requirement for a revaluation in 2007 and subsequently on a 10-yearly cycle. I know that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Communities and Local Government has acknowledged—and, indeed, rather celebrated—the fact that he has accomplished a U-turn on this issue. I have no problem with U-turns if they replace a poor policy with a better one, but I do have a problem with a U-turn that replaces a sensible policy with a void, a vacuum, an empty space in which a revaluation might happen at an unspecified future date, but only if the Secretary of State decides to hold one. I have a serious problem with that strategy because, as we all know, politicians are traditionally wary of revaluations because they fear electoral unpopularity. That sentiment is not the preserve of any one party; over the years, all Governments have been reluctant to proceed with revaluations because of the possible backlash from the electorate, who are likely to be unhappy about them. It is fundamental that there should be a regular cycle of revaluations in statute, so that that process—which everyone recognises must take place in order to support a credible system of taxation based on property values—will not be postponed simply because of short-term political fears.