Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

Indeed—and the drafting of amendment No. 3 would allow the Deputy Prime Minister to pursue a regional policy. He could decide to order a revaluation in a whole region. When considering whether we should allow a piecemeal approach, we should consider the wider issues of national planning. My hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) made a good point in saying that staff costs could be blown out of all proportion when a national revaluation was deferred. I accept that that would not be a consideration if amendment No. 3 were passed, because the staff costs would be much lower, but I do wonder why those carrying out the task must be employees of the state. Why not involve the private sector? Why can the service not be bought for the period during which it is required? That, however, is a debate for another day. Another defect of the amendment is that it does not provide for an appeal process. If the Secretary of State is to instigate the review and if it will not rely on a trigger from a local authority, the local authority ought at least to have a voice. It should at least be able to ask not to be made to undertake a revaluation as a billing authority, and to list its reasons for not wishing to undertake the revaluation. The Secretary of State should then be obliged to consider those reasons.