Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I would like to make some progress. I have just given way, and I do not want to take up too much more time. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will bear with me. What are the consequences of the Bill? We know that the basis of the council tax—the 1991 values—will become increasingly remote from reality as we get further away from the current valuation date. Having to calculate notional 1991 values for every new property built is nonsense. As I mentioned in our previous debate on the subject, some areas of my constituency were entirely void industrial wastelands 15 years ago, and anything built there would have had no value at all, so, now, it is slightly odd to create notional 1991 values for properties built as a result of that area’s regeneration. That pattern is replicated all over the country. In addition, as the former Minister responsible for local government, the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry) rightly highlighted, there are already provisions for revaluation of some properties where those properties change hands and there has been a material change in value. The anomalies will therefore get worse. The overwhelming majority of properties, of course, have increased significantly in value since 1991—by some 216 per cent. on average, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. That is part of the problem. Many people who are not familiar with the arcane nature of the council tax process can easily be frightened into believing that because their property’s value has increased dramatically over the past 14 years, they will be clobbered by revaluation. That is fuelled by unscrupulous Opposition scaremongering, of which we saw a great deal in the run-up to the general election, and of which we have heard a great deal more today. That does not help to foster a serious and rational debate about the proper system of finance for local government. As the Government have made repeatedly clear from 2001 onwards, however, the purpose of revaluation is not to increase the council tax yield but simply to bring values up to date, so that the tax is based on modern values rather than values that are increasingly remote from reality. Were the bands to be increased in line with house price inflation since 1991, most households would find themselves in the same band as before, with no increased liability for council tax. I have seen no recent Government estimates for the numbers of households whose banding would either increase or decrease under a revaluation. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Communities and Local Government has assured me that no new Government estimates have been prepared for Ministers since the election. The only official figures are those prepared previously—before the April 2005 valuation date. I am a little surprised that new estimates have not been prepared to inform Ministers’ decision to postpone the revaluation, but in the absence of up-to-date official figures, we can only go on the evidence produced by well-informed commentators such as the RICS and the Halifax building society. Both indicate that the majority of households would have remained in the same band as a result of revaluation, and also suggest that more households would have gained than would have lost.