Local Government Finance

In view of your good offices and good words, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I say to the hon. Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Mr. Wallace) that I was given the information in good faith and I used it in good faith. I did not have the time to check it, but I subsequently checked it and found it to be untrue. I have therefore withdrawn my remarks. I have always opposed capping. It is right that the people who elect a local authority should be able to make choices about the level of services and the council tax that they want. Some local authorities have enjoyed overfunding for several years. In the past, they will have put that money either into reducing the council tax or into additional services. If we restrict the amount of money that they can raise through the council tax, we are saying that their only option is to reduce services. That is not the right approach, and services—especially those relied on by the poorest and most deprived—should not be cut because the Government have requested that the council tax should be reduced. I urge the Minister to review the situation and consider ways in which floors can be removed, so that local authorities can raise the council tax to preserve their services.