A SECOND Cumbrian peer has given his support to the council tax reforms being called for by Lord Campbell-Savours.

Former MP Lord (Dale) Campbell-Savours is spearheading a campaign calling for reform to the council tax laws after finding that people living in a £52 million property in Westminster would pay less than people in the average house in Allerdale.

Lord Clark of Windermere spoke in the House of Lords on Thursday to question the government on the council tax disparities that exist between the North and South of England.

In the debate, Lord Windermere, who is the former member of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s cabinet, said: “My Lords, does the Minister not realise that the disparities in council tax create a lot of the poverty that he referred to in his earlier statement? Is he aware that the maximum level in Westminster is £1,655? In every district in Cumbria, the average is in excess of £4,000. How can that be fair?”

Lord Campbell-Savours also spoke in the house saying that the current laws saying the system “penalises part of the North and favours London”.

In his address to the house, the peer said: “My Lords, how is it possible for a £54 million luxury house in London’s Mayfair to have a lower council tax than a former council house in Windebrowe Avenue in Keswick in Cumbria and almost the same council tax as an £80,000 house in Moorclose Road in Workington, both in my former constituency? Is it not the simple truth that the whole council tax system is now discredited? It is unfair, it penalises much of the north, it favours London and much of the south, and it is now in urgent need of reform.’

However, the government responded arguing that the current system does work well in distributing funding to local authorities and measure do exist to level the playing field, with measures such as grants systems that are in place for local authorities.

Lord Greenhalgh, said: "I recognise the point made by the noble Lord about the disparity in valuations between the north and the south, but it is a system that works well to develop the funding that councils need at the moment.”