Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

When I first heard the proposal to delay the revaluation of council tax, I admit I felt some dismay. If we are to carry on with council tax, revaluation is a necessary part of that system, given that house prices are rising erratically, with prices in areas differing from one another, not just regionally, but in my constituency, where a house that sold for £60,000 two years ago was sold for £148,000 last week. There has been a similar increase in the value of similar houses in that village, so what fear is there from revaluation overall? Very simply, the fear is that if we do not take time to take stock of how we raise local funds and make local democracy count, we will face some difficulties. I could not support the Bill if it did not run alongside proposals to consider the way that we fund councils overall. I have a small degree of experience: when I was a chair of finance, I had to consider exactly those issues in the context of the moneys that we raised for the local area. At that time, about 50 per cent. of revenues were raised directly from the local population, and the other 50 per cent. came from the revenue that we got directly from the Government. Of course, such revenues are not the total amount that a council spends. We must also consider the grant, direct funding and capital systems, all of which must be applied for. Under the previous Government, such applications were made in terms of a huge, competitive arena, with one council set against another. I am not convinced therefore by Conservative Members’ arguments that the council tax system, which they set up, has now become so inherently flawed that revaluation should never be necessary. That is a ludicrous, ridiculous argument. If we carry on with council tax, revaluation is an essential part of the system; otherwise the existing inequities will not only persist, but broaden.