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Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

That would be unthinkable, Mr. Deputy Speaker, but one or two hon. Members raised the subject on Report. If the revaluation is not to proceed, why are the Government still collecting data on dwelling codes, as the Minister confirmed to my hon. Friend the Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) in Hansard yesterday? What use will those data be in five years’ time? Countless people make enormous sacrifices to buy a home of their own. It often leaves them with little disposable income, so they go without holidays and other forms of leisure activity so that they can afford their mortgage payments. Such people are by no means rich, but the Government see them as the milch cow of the nation. Improvements and maintenance must be budgeted and saved for. If the implication is that improvements to, and the maintenance of, houses will put people in a higher council tax band in the future, will we see falling general standards of upkeep as people wish to avoid paying more council tax? Some of my constituents—ordinary law-abiding people—have already expressed their concern to me about the likelihood of someone knocking on their door and demanding access. That is a worrying element of the revaluation exercise. Under this Government, an Englishman’s home is no longer his castle. The Bill will allow the Government to impose a revaluation date through secondary legislation with little debate in Parliament, although that could change the entire funding of council tax. Such a change must be carefully thought through and prepared so that we have a properly balanced tax on property and services, not simply property.