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Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

My hon. Friend makes a good point. Indeed, I made it earlier in an intervention. The Secretary of State could use the power for punitive reasons. For example, instead of council tax capping an authority, he could use the threat of the power to encourage it to keep its percentage increase of council tax down to a level that he deemed acceptable. Again, I would think that totally reprehensible, but one can imagine a certain Secretary of State—not the Minister for Local Government—who is very honourable, doing exactly what my hon. Friend says.