Contribution To “Off The Fence”
Over the last eight years the council tax has soared by 80 per cent in Hampshire. Not surprisingly, as it has risen by similar levels all over the country, people are angry. Before the general election, Mr Blair decided that the best way to respond to their unhappiness over their inflated council tax bills was to set up a committee to investigate the matter; one that would not report until the election was safely out of the way.
While the committee is hard at work the Government has decided to proceed with a council tax revaluation. What this means is that they will assess the value of your home so that they can charge you the appropriate amount of council tax. The amount you pay is decided by which “band” of properties you are in. The trouble is the Government cannot decide how many bands to have; their committee is going to look at this too. That means that instead of roughly valuing the homes in each area, they are going to have to decide the precise value of every home in the country. The only way to do that is to give valuation officers the power to go inside every home in the country – which is what Mr Blair has done. The inspectors will even be able to take photographs. It has already been decided that people whose homes have patios or conservatories or a scenic view will have to pay more.
The people of Wales have already discovered what revaluation means in practice – higher bills. About third of properties have been moved up by one or more bands, meaning an increase in tax every year. Fewer than ten per cent of properties have moved down a band. If the same thing happened in England, a typical band D property would become band E and that would mean an increase of about £270 a year, every year, in council tax.
As if this madness were not enough, the Government is continuing with their practice of hiding tax increases from the public. Local councils estimate that the budget for councils next year will be £2.2 billion short because the Government have loaded extra responsibilities on them – like the new licensing laws – but have not given them the money to do the job. This means that the council tax is likely to rise by 10 per cent before we even get to the financial consequences of the revaluation in 2007.
We cannot go on like this. The Government continually gives councils more money just before general elections to keep the council tax down and then allows bills to rise again afterwards. It insists on pressing on with this ridiculous revaluation when it has not even decided how many council tax bands to have.
The Government should scrap the revaluation, properly fund local councils for essential services and then launch a war on the extraordinary numbers of targets, inspections and red tape that they have imposed on town halls. Only then will we get the council tax down to levels ordinary people can afford to pay.
