Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I am delighted to try and clarify the amendment’s possible implications. This has been an interesting debate, with some good points made, but many hon. Members seem to have misunderstood what is involved in the valuation process. It is to that question that I shall try to address my remarks. Various Opposition Members adopted a partisan approach, and one accused the Government of being responsible for a ““corruption of power””. I assure the House that the formula is not being manipulated. Interestingly, only one accusation of that sort was made, when the right hon. Member for Suffolk, Coastal (Mr. Gummer) spoke about the allocation of health money and claimed that the pendulum had swung away from the problems of an elderly population and towards health issues. I point out that in areas where people have a lower life expectancy, in general that is due to the incidence of disease and illness. To me, that seems a perfectly reasonable criterion to govern the allocation of money. It certainly does not involve party-political bias.