Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I shall answer that question during my speech. If the hon. Gentleman listens carefully, he will hear the answer. What is there to say about this long-awaited Bill? Not a lot, actually. It does exactly what it says on the tin. It gives the Secretary of State the power to have a revaluation whenever he fancies it, instead of according to a fixed cycle. Hon. Members who want a revaluation, including the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsford), are disappointed by that. The idea of a statutory cycle was, as the hon. Gentleman said, to remove the choice because, as everyone knows, if one gives politicians the decision there will be no revaluation. Keith Parry’s marvellous Library note for today’s debate includes an historical note on postponements of rate revaluations going back to 1925, all with similarly dubious excuses. That point has been well made. Originally, the Government set revaluation to occur after the 2005 general election because they did not want the fallout to affect their chances. Now there will not be a revaluation until after the next general election—because they do not want the fallout to affect their chances. Will there ever be a revaluation? Will the timing ever be right? Probably not, so we shall continue to have a tax that not only is inherently unfair but becomes increasingly arbitrary, based on property values that are 15, 20 or 25 years old. Revaluation, as we have debated so many times here, leads to winners and losers. As we have seen in Wales, its effects are often unpleasant, unfair and untidy. No doubt we shall hear from Welsh Members about the impact on their constituents. The hardship felt by many who have gone up multiple bands is the reason that my Welsh colleagues have been leading calls to extend the transitional relief in Wales, so that the situation gets no worse. The problem with council tax is that the tax itself is fundamentally unfair and bears little relation to one’s ability to pay, so the arbitrary nature of band shifts following revaluation is felt all the more keenly.