Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. If I may return to England, in the south-east and in my local authority of Brighton and Hove, revaluation would have done little to redress inequalities without an accompanying restructuring of bands. According to housing statistics published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, between 1992 and 2004 house prices in the south-east rocketed by 210 per cent., while average earnings of mortgage borrowers increased by only 93 per cent. Meanwhile, in the north-east of England, for example, house prices went up by 167 per cent. and earnings by 83 per cent. Therefore, the gap between house prices and earnings is widening across the south-east. While it is increasingly difficult for younger people in my constituency to get on to the property ladder, there is great concern among older people about council tax increases. The burden of council tax is higher for pensioners than for many other households. The council tax benefit system is a great help for them, but many who are entitled to the benefit still do not claim, and most of those are pensioners. Therefore, we need to look at the operation of the council tax benefit system as well. We need not just to revalue but fundamentally to rethink the way in which local government is funded. That is the only way to revolutionise people’s relationship with their local council and to increase the effectiveness of local service delivery. Some good and imaginative work has already been done, adding greatly to the debate. I read with interest the paper written by my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test (Dr. Whitehead), which outlines proposals showing the potential for local revenue collection. Some contributions add to the ongoing deliberations on the Labour Benches on how to be equitable with tax collection yet fair to economically vulnerable members of our communities—pensioners in particular. Unlike the opportunistic approaches demonstrated by some Opposition Members, those meaningful contributions demonstrate the potential for improving the relationship between people and their local councils, as opposed to driving a wedge still deeper. I support the call of my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr. Borrow) that if there is a revaluation it should not be too far in the future. However, I also voice my support for Sir Michael Lyons’ review process, especially now that his remit has been extended to include the future of local government in a wider context. This is a one-off opportunity to look afresh at the situation and to offer the people of this country a bold new vision of local government and service delivery. That vision has the potential to be fair to the regions as well as to local communities, in addition to fostering a more equitable relationship between local councils and the communities that they serve.