That is a severe criticism of new clause 2, which would pass down to councils the capacity to change single person discounts. As the hon. Gentleman rightly points out, that would create difficulties in implementation. I am sure that the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne, when he speaks in favour of the new clause, will explain to the hon. Gentleman exactly how it would work.
New clause 2 would not only interfere with the single person discount, but give billing authorities discretion on whether a 50% discount should be granted in other circumstances. Currently, that applies when a dwelling is not unoccupied but is no one’s sole or main residence. At one time, that would have meant second homes, but the provision on those was amended in the Local Government Act 2003. The 50% discount still applies in some cases, when the second home is job-related. That is a matter of particular importance to the clergy and to service personnel. I suspect that the new clause would have an effect that the right hon. Gentleman does not intend.
5 pm
Whatever the superficial attractions of the new clause—particularly to billing authorities, whose revenue-raising powers would be increased—it would certainly not be attractive to the 29% of households in which people live alone or the 7% of households that are single-parent families. Those categories include many older people, including widows and widowers, and the Government have made it clear that we intend that they retain their protection. We have prefigured that with our two-year council tax freeze, and our clear intention is to ensure that there is no loss of single person discount.
New clause 5 is interesting. The Government will monitor and review changes as part of the equality impact assessment process, as they do after every Act is implemented to check that it works as planned and to screen for unexpected equality impacts. There are already powers in the Bill to allow for that. Schedule 4 will insert into the Local Government Finance Act 1992 a new schedule 1A, which will enable the Secretary of State to require authorities to supply specified information to him. In the Government’s equality impact assessment of that reform, we made it clear that those powers could be used to collect information to support future evaluation of the policy. In other words, new clause 5 is not necessary, as what it suggests is already covered entirely in the Bill.