Val has a fair point about council tax. It bears no relationship to a person's ability to pay. It's plain daft that a household with 4 working adults pays the same tax as a lone householder. It's like you paying 4 times the tax I do irrespective of how much you earn or what dependents you have. It's nuts. We need some form of local income tax. (Which incidentally, would take me to the cleaners.............)