Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I shall certainly take your advice, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and stick to the matter in hand—except to acknowledge that I agree with my hon. Friend’s point. If, as I hope will be the case, the Bill is successfully enacted, I hope that the Government will recognise that the postponement reinforces the need for them to look into the inequities of the present system of support for local government and will acknowledge that certain issues must be dealt with in the interim period before the Lyons review. I hope that they will reflect on how the area cost adjustment works at present and how its funding should be restricted to authorities that experience higher-than-average wage pressures. I hope that they will look carefully into how resource equalisation works and the need for the current system to keep pace with reality. Full resource equalisation needs to take place every three years. I also hope that the Minister will look into the way in which daytime visitors are factored into the present arrangements, as the present estimates are long out of date, being based on a survey that took place some 15 years ago. We should bring the system truly up to date and make it truly more realistic. I heard Liberal Democrat Members argue earlier in the debate—as we expect them to do—in favour of local income tax. I know that there is a general view within local government that such a local income tax would be uncollectable, expensive, confusing and, most particularly, a burden on employers. At least, however, Liberal Democrat Members are consistent in their views. I also heard Conservative Members argue powerfully for opposing revaluation. In doing so, however, they were asking the House to support an amendment that, if approved, would have the effect of providing just such a revaluation as they purported to oppose this evening.