Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I shall follow your advice, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and cross out much of what I have left to say. I want to take up the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, South made about property-based taxation. It is predictable and collectable, and there is a rough justice about it. As my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr. Borrow) said, we shall probably continue to have a property-based taxation system, simply because it is easier to understand in relation to local services. As my hon. Friend the Member for Hove (Ms Barlow) said, the system must be transparent. There must be some sort of local collection for local services. Accountability and effective delivery of services must be related to that local funding. Although council tax accounts only for one pound in every five of local government spending, it gives local authorities flexibility on the margins, to focus their services on local needs. My hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, South also referred to day-time visitors. As the Member representing much of the Peak national park, where there are 22 million visitors a year, I saw cash registers ringing as he spoke. From my history books, I remember that in America people talked about no taxation without representation. In the context of this debate, we are saying that we must have a local funding system, but that there must be confidence in it. That is why we cannot separate structure and function. That is why the delay is absolutely right, to give us time to consider the Lyons review; and that is why, after due consideration, we will come up with a funding system that is effective, accountable, local and just.