To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the effect of council tax increases since 1997 on pensioners. (104035)

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 19 April 2007, Official Report, column 653W, given to the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Holloway).

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential for reductions in council tax arising from proposals from shire counties for unitary authorities based on (a) county councils and (b) district councils. (129852)

If implemented, the unitary proposals that we are consulting on have the potential of delivering savings of up to around £200 million per annum. It will be for those local authorities whose bids are implemented to decide whether they use any part of those savings to reduce council tax.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost of the council tax revaluation in England; and if she will make a statement. (130119)

The Government will stand by their commitment not to revalue during the lifetime of this Parliament. With the forthcoming three-year settlement for local government concluding in 2010-11 it would not expect to consider revaluation before this date. Even at this point there would need to be clear benefits given the costs to households that could be involved. It is not possible at this stage to estimate what the costs of a future revaluation would be.