I have been an MP for 10 years, and in all that time the hon. Gentleman's party has been in office. I have heard the Government say repeatedly that they want to improve council tax benefit and I have seen constant hand-wringing, yet I still see no real progress. The Age Concern figures confirm that. Sir Michael Lyons makes a good point: the very word "benefit" is off-putting. The hon. Gentleman's party, which is in government, commissioned that mighty report; it is for Government Ministers to answer the questions that he puts to me.

I am dismayed that the Government's attitude is to portray a 5 per cent. tax increase as an achievement. That tells me that there is real poverty of ambition on the Government's part. An increase of what the Government would term a "mere" 5 per cent. is still a massive hike when we consider that the overall level of council tax has virtually doubled since 1997. Ministers' constant refrain is that it is all the fault of local government, but nobody believes that. If Ministers honestly believe that 92 per cent. rises are simply the result of profligate town halls, they must be in cloud cuckoo land. However, some councils are more prudent than others, and the statistics show that Conservative councils cost people less. On an average band D property, they cost £55 less than Labour councils, and £84 less than Liberal Democrat councils.

The council tax has been abused, wasted and used to fill the Treasury's coffers. This year's Budget confirmed that receipts to the Treasury have risen by 114 per cent. since 1997, bringing the total tax take to £23.5 billion for 2007-08.