Tories warn over home inspections

England's council tax system is under review

People who refuse to let council tax inspectors into their homes could soon be fined £1,000, say the Conservatives.

MPs are discussing new powers for inspectors in Northern Ireland, as part of the revaluation of its rates system.

It could pave the way for English tax payers to be forced to admit inspectors who want to check features which could increase house values, the Tories say.

Ministers called it "scaremongering" and denied Northern Ireland was being used as a "testing ground" for England.

Labour craves these powers since they want to tax every feature of people's homes Caroline Spelman Shadow local government secretary

Officials in Northern Ireland would be given the power to enter homes to value them, in a shake-up of the rates system being discussed in the Commons on Wednesday.

Northern Ireland does not have council tax - rates will be paid on the basis of the value of domestic property from April 2007.

Shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman said the changes in Northern Ireland, could be a "testing ground" for England.

Out of date

She said: "Labour craves these powers since they want to tax every feature of people's homes - including bedrooms, conservatories, double glazing and garden sheds.

"Northern Ireland is now being used as a testing ground for Gordon Brown's tax inspectors, from the levying of a new house price tax, to the use of invasive Big Brother computer databases, to new aggressive state powers to enter family homes."

Information used to set council tax bills in England is based on house prices in 1991. The inspections would highlight changes in value based on properties being extended or improved since then.

Revaluation of properties in England was postponed last year, and the whole structure of local government is being reviewed in an inquiry headed by Sir Michael Lyons.

'Different system'

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government accused the Tories of "scaremongering".

He said: "Northern Ireland has a different local government finance system to England - for example, council tax was never introduced there - and different considerations apply."

He said that no decisions on English council tax would be taken until ministers had seen proposals from the Lyons review - due to be published at the end of the year.

UK Unionist leader Bob McCartney said the issue was being used to force unionists to form a coalition with Sinn Fein in order to thwart the government's tax plans.

He said under the proposed scheme a widow in a two-up, two-down house could see her rates increased from £700 to £1720.

"How can that be anything other than an attempt to bludgeon and blackmail politicians in Northern Ireland to give Tony [Blair] a legacy as the man who solved the Northern Ireland problem?"

Shadow minister for Northern Ireland Laurence Robertson said the government was trying to "distract" attention from other "real and important" issues.

'Vast disparity'

"The parties are not failing to sit together because of rates or education," Mr Robertson said.

"The policing aspect, the security aspect - that is what is causing the trouble."

He added: "We can't use blackmail to get the Northern Ireland assembly up and running. That is for the people there to do their negotiations on issues other than this one."

But Labour MP Stephen Pound , a member of the Northern Ireland select committee, dismissed claims of "blackmail".

He said inspectors were needed in Northern Ireland because there had been no valuations for 35 years, during which time "vast disparities" had arisen.

He also said it would not be appropriate to do nothing, simply to avoid claims of pressuring the politicians.