§ Mr. Spearmanasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how his review of the effects of revaluation and the other aspects of local government finance is progressing.
§ Mr. SandysI recently presented to Parliament a White Paper giving preliminary information about the new valuations for rating in England and Wales. The new assessments are, of course, subject to appeals. It will not therefore be possible to obtain a clear picture of the position until sufficient cases have been settled for the trend of the appeal decisions to become evident.
Meanwhile, the effects of revaluation are being studied by the Government together with other related aspects of local government finance. This is the most thorough review of its kind since 1929, and naturally includes an examination of the issue of Berating. This review which was started some months ago, is now already advanced. In fact, the Government expect to be ready with proposals for discussion with local authority associations by the autumn; and we hope to be able to make an announcement of our conclusions before the end of the year.