Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I thank my hon. Friend for the opportunity to do so. I think that he fails to understand something that I have stressed time and again. The aim of a revaluation locally is a fairer distribution within the local area, but a national revaluation will make a difference to the way in which the grant is distributed, which was also a point that I made. Ability to pay should therefore be estimated on a basis of tax paid or income earned within billing areas, which has already been done by the Treasury.