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Council tax 'to be crime based' Crime-based tax claim rubbished
(about 18 hours later)
Ministers are planning to increase council tax bills based on how nice neighbourhoods are, say Conservatives. Peter Hain has dismissed claims the government plans to increase council tax bills based on how nice areas are.
The government has bought computers to analyse areas using census data, crime rates, school performance data, income and ethnicity, they say. The Northern Ireland and Welsh Secretary rubbished Tory claims people in England would pay more for the desirable neighbourhood they live in.
A council tax revaluation in Northern Ireland uses the programme and the Tories say it will be used in England. A council tax revaluation in Northern Ireland uses the programme.
Ministers called it "scaremongering" and denied Northern Ireland was being used as a testing ground for England. Mr Hain said that one had been tailor-made for the local government finance system there.
A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "Northern Ireland has a different local government finance system to England - for example, council tax was never introduced there - and different considerations apply." In Northern Ireland, we are introducing a new arrangement to replace one which is three decades old and clearly unfair to those on lower incomes Northern Ireland and Welsh Secretary Peter Hain
He said that no decisions on English council tax would be taken until ministers had seen proposals from the Lyons review - due to be published at the end of the year. "In Northern Ireland, we are introducing a new arrangement to replace one which is three decades old and clearly unfair to those on lower incomes.
This is the hallmark of an oppressive and greedy government Caroline SpelmanShadow local government secretary "The decision to base rates on the value of homes emerged after a period of consultation and had its genesis in the last Assembly.
He was responding to Caroline Spelman, the shadow secretary of state for local government. "It is tailor-made for Northern Ireland's different local government finance system and there is no read across for the rest of the UK."
She said: "If Labour introduce this invasive system fully in England, your council tax bill will depend not just on the features of your house, but whether you have good schools or clean streets, and whether you have low or high rates of crime. Mr Hain's retort came after the Sunday Telegraph said that homeowners and tenants faced council tax bills of up to four times their current level if they live in areas with low crime rates and good schools.
The newspaper claimed all 21 million homes in England would be re-valued according to their location, along with their size and features.
'Greedy government'
It also reported that England's banding system would be "scrapped and replaced with an annual bill levied at 0.78% of the value of each property".
The newspaper highlighted a Parliamentary written answer by local government minister Phil Woolas, in which he reportedly said "the market for dwellings may well be influenced by levels of crime and deprivation amongst many other factors".
Caroline Spelman, the shadow secretary of state for local government, said: "If Labour introduce this invasive system fully in England, your council tax bill will depend not just on the features of your house, but whether you have good schools or clean streets, and whether you have low or high rates of crime.
"This is the hallmark of an oppressive and greedy government - finding ever more stealth ways to tax working families and pensioners, and trampling over privacy when it suits them.""This is the hallmark of an oppressive and greedy government - finding ever more stealth ways to tax working families and pensioners, and trampling over privacy when it suits them."
Northern Ireland does not have council tax - rates will be paid on the basis of the value of domestic property from April 2007.Northern Ireland does not have council tax - rates will be paid on the basis of the value of domestic property from April 2007.
Information used to set council tax bills in England is based on house prices in 1991.Information used to set council tax bills in England is based on house prices in 1991.
Revaluation of properties in England was postponed last year, and the whole structure of local government is being reviewed in an inquiry headed by Sir Michael Lyons.Revaluation of properties in England was postponed last year, and the whole structure of local government is being reviewed in an inquiry headed by Sir Michael Lyons.