---

Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

I merely said that, in the absence of official figures, evidence from the RICS and the Halifax implied if a revaluation were conducted with no increase in yield—if house-price values were simply uprated in line with average house-price inflation since 1991—the overall impact would be neutral, but the number of households that would gain would be larger than the number of losers. As the figures show, that is because there would be rather more gainers in the lower house-price bands, and a disproportionate number of losers in the higher bands. That brings me to my final point. If those figures are valid, it appears that the Bill will be regressive. It will result in more households on lower incomes paying more than they should because of a failure to revalue, while those in higher income bands and occupying more highly priced properties, who would possibly have paid more because the value of their properties has risen, will be spared. I cannot support a measure which seems to me to have no logic and no principle behind it, and which will have a regressive impact. It saddens me to say this, but I will not be able to support the Government tonight.