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Local and Regional Government

: I do not want to be diverted on to the issue of the rights and wrongs of local income tax, although I dispute the hon. Gentleman's interpretation that it went down like a lead balloon. It obviously went down like a lead balloon with him, but that was not the case for a lot of others, who recognised the inequalities of the council tax system and the farce of the Government's attempt at revaluation, which I notice has been put in abeyance. In a debate on 12 July in this Chamber, I raised the issues before us with the Minister's colleague, the Under-Secretary of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the hon. Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick). In summing up what point the Government had reached, he said:"““We will decentralise and devolve power where we can.””—[Official Report, Westminster Hall, 12 July 2005; Vol. 436, c. 236WH.]" In recent years, however, we have seen not devolution but further centralisation of strategic planning and learning and skills. The same is about to happen to fire control, the police and, to a large extent, housing. Those are all moving from local authority influence to Government zones, Government quangos and non-accountable bodies.