Bill delays English council tax revaluation

The government today published its council tax bill, which follows the announcement that Sir Michael Lyons' inquiry into local government funding is t

13:03 14 October 2005

The government today published its council tax bill, which follows the announcement that Sir Michael Lyons' inquiry into local government funding is to be extended.

The office of the deputy prime minister today published the council tax (new valuation lists for England) bill, following a September announcement that Sir Michael's inquiry was being extended to further examine local government funding.

Sir Michael will be looking more closely at the role of local government, and the wider issues relating to its function and future role.

Because of the extended scope of the inquiry, the revaluation of council tax in England has had to be postponed, hence today's bill.

Previous legislation requires local authorities to revalue English households for council tax by April 1st 2007 and then each subsequent decade.

But the new bill delays these deadlines, so that Sir Michael's recommendations can be taken into account, allowing a future revaluation of council tax to be part of a fully developed package of local government funding reforms.