END OF REFORMS

FIRST PUBLISHED BY: THE GUARDIAN

ONE BY ONE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT LABOUR COULD HAVE SEIZED TO ENSURE HISTORIC SOCIAL REFORMS ARE BEING DROPPED.

First, just before the last election, Tomlinson's comprehensive reform of 14 to 19 education was wrongly dropped. Just after the election, the government made it clear pension reform would have to wait for a fourth term. Yesterday, a long-delayed Council Tax revaluation, on which work had belatedly just begun, was called off and will not come back before a fourth term. 

What was already a regressive tax, which Labour pledged to reform in 1998, now looks set to be still in operation in 2010.

Each year of delay will make it more regressive. The eight bands into which the country's 22 million homes are currently divided are headed by a top-rate band valued at £320,000 or over. But in a country with ever-growing numbers of £1m homes, this has merely provided the wealthy with an unacceptable escape hole.

Although the top band pays three times as much as the bottom, researchers have shown that the 10% of poorest Council Tax payers are spending proportionately four times as much of their income in Council Tax as the richest 10%. So much for the state of Labour's commitment to social justice.

What caused the postponement? Ministers claimed it was the new wider remit they had given to Michael Lyons' inquiry into local government funding. This was a threadbare excuse, which will fool no one. Whatever Sir Michael finally concludes, some form of domestic property tax will be included in the package. There is hardly a developed state that does not have one. 

A government that has rightly noted the role that assets play in widening inequalities, could not contemplate dropping such a tax. Sir Michael was ready to have a one-year delay, but not five. The last valuation was carried out in 1991. As Sir Michael noted, the credibility of the tax depends on regular revaluations.

The real cause of the postponement was fear of a voter backlash. In Wales, where revaluation has taken place, 60% remained in the same tax bracket but a third ascended into a higher one. In London and the south-east this proportion would have been even higher. Ironically, postponement will make the inevitable change more difficult. 

What should have happened, which Labour committed itself to doing in 1998, was a revaluation of all homes plus a restructuring of the eight bands. Ideally, there should be two further ones at the top, and one more at the bottom to help the less well-off.

READ WHAT: ERIC PICKLES ‘SECRETARY OF STATE’ SAYS ABOUT OVER-CHARGED COUNCIL TAX

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