HC Deb 10 May 1967 vol 746 cc1478-9
12. Mr. Doig

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he proposes to take to revise the present method of valuation which penalises those who improve their homes.

Dr. Dickson Mabon

My right hon. Friend can hold out little hope of an early change in the valuation system.

Mr. Doig

Is not my hon. Friend aware that the present procedure results in an incentive against improving houses and that ultimately this will have a bad effect on the provision of houses, not only for actual owners but also for tenants? In order to get the high standard which is necessary, will he have another look at this matter so that he can provide an incentive for improving houses and not for allowing them to fall apart?

Dr. Mabon

I quite accept that there are defects in the rating and valuation system. We shall have to look at this matter when the Royal Commission has reported. The Commission is not enjoined to give us other than general views on local finance, but nevertheless, arising from the Report we are sure that there must be further examination.

Miss Harvie Anderson

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that this matter is causing a very great sense of injustice? While it may be right to await some of the recommendations of the Commission, is it not right that we should take some action immediately as suggested by the hon. Member for Dundee, West (Mr. Doig)?

Dr. Mabon

Without being too partisan about it, I must remind the hon. Lady that the Rating and Valuation Act, 1956, was passed by the previous Government and it was said by the Minister then that the Act would last for a hundred years. This matter has not been referred to in the manifesto of the party opposite and the party has not said that it would revise the system. We are the only party which has attempted anything. We have promised to look at the matter in a most detailed form when we are able to do so.

Mr. Wylie

While agreeing with what the hon. Member for Dundee, West (Mr. Doig) said, may I ask whether the Minister of State would not agree that it might be possible on consideration to introduce interim provisions to exclude occupiers' improvements for the purpose of valuation on the lines, for example, of the night storage heater argument which he eventually accepted although that was late in the debate?

Dr. Mabon

I congratulate the hon. and learned Member on his victory on that occasion, coupled with that of my hon. Friends, but we debated this matter at length on the Local Government (Scotland) Bill in 1966. We made the point that electric light, which was the cause of higher valuation, had not ceased to pread throughout Scottish housing as a system. We must take all these matters into account but I cannot hold out any hope of early legislation.