The Government has been accused of using Northern Ireland as a guinea pig for council tax re-evaluations. Tory local government spokesman, Caroline Spelman, said her party had seen documents which showed the Government was planning to revalue homes every year. Mrs Spelman said: ‘The punishing new house price tax in Northern Ireland has been imposed by Labour ministers in Whitehall, not only as a cynical way of putting pressure on peace talks, but also to pilot the new tax before going UK-wide.' A new rating system is being introduced in Northern Ireland in April, and revaluations will take place every five years. A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: ‘It is absolutely untrue to say the Government is using the current revaluation in Northern Ireland as a testing ground for England. ‘The context for reform in Northern Ireland is very different from that in England.' Last week, consumer expert, Martin Lewis, claimed up to one million home owners could be in for a windfall because their properties had been put in the wrong council tax band.
