Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Ian Lucas (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 8 June 2005 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Local Government

Question: Will my right hon. Friend consider the particular unfairness of council tax revaluation on council tenants? Self-evidently, they do not benefit from an open-market revaluation of their property. During the last general election campaign, I spoke to council tenants in Wrexham who, unfortunately, because of the revaluation in Wales, faced increasing council tax in excess of 20 per cent. How would my right hon. Friend have justified that increase to my constituents on the doorstep?

Answer: One of the benefits of devolution is that I do not have to defend those decisions, which are taken by elected Members in Wales. What would be catastrophic for my hon. Friend's constituents, however, is the freezing of local government grant for two years, which some parties in the House have proposed. That would mean an 11 per cent. increase in council tax across the country. I certainly promise my hon. Friend that we shall not do that.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 434 c1229-30
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Council tax Wrexham Local government finance Valuation Local Government Finance Funding Changes Independent Inquiry
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk