Over on the Local Government page Harry Phibbs has covered the wider issues about today's news that council tax bands will not be re-evaluated in England. I want to take a moment to stress the privacy aspect of today's announcement.
Apart from the main announcement, which will save taxpayers up and down the country a fortune, Mr Pickles has announced an independent data audit of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) aimed at protecting privacy and civil liberties as part of the Government's agenda of dismantling the "database state". Needless to say, Big Brother Watch welcomes this.
The VOA's inspectors assess properties' value for council tax purposes, and their collection of data on features of homes such as the number of bedrooms or bathrooms, whether it has a patio and whether it enjoys a nice view or is in a good neighbourhood, is seriously controversial - rightly so.
The VOA maintains that this doesn't/didn't matter as they've opted not to use their power to force entry to homes in order to fill their databanks with information about us. On the contrary - I do not believe that our privacy should be dependent on the goodwill - or the whim - of bureaucrats. Furthermore, it's unwarranted snooping whether or not the jobsworth actually crosses the threshold.
So - more power to your elbow, Mr Pickles.
(The obvious coda: I do hope that this announcement ultimately results in the appropriate action, not just yet another sounds-good-nothing-happens review)
