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Council Tax (New Valuation Lists for England) Bill

Further to the noble Baroness’s question, will any work be done on the revaluation while no valuation Bill is in process? At Second Reading, the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, said that everything would grind to a halt and that the valuation lists would not be compiled at all. It would be of interest to the Committee to know whether everything will now stop completely and whether all revaluations—except where someone sells a house or under the current situation—will stop. That would then build on the question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, about what would be the expectation of having to re-employ people to carry out the postponed revaluation. There is enormous speculation at the moment because of the various consultations that have suddenly started on the reorganisation of local government, not just Sir Michael Lyons’s. How might that affect the chance of any revaluation at a later stage. In Sir Michael Lyons’s view, a revaluation might not be necessary because he might recommend complete changes to the way in which the council tax system operates. This all relates to the question of for how long the revaluation is to be postponed; whether it would be better to have just abandoned it; and how long it will take to gear up for it, if necessary, in the future.