Every property has been rebanded for council tax purposes

Sir Michael Lyons, who is reviewing the way English local authorities are funded, visited Cardiff Bay to discuss how his work could affect Wales.

Up to one in three Welsh householders face higher council tax bills after all 1.3m homes were revalued.

About 33% of homes have gone up at least one band, while 8% are down one.

Sir Michael said that problems working out the valuations would not be repeated.

He told AMs that Welsh revaluation took place when house prices were volatile and the English exercise would make clearer how much impact there would be before new bands were set.

Sir Michael, a leading academic and one of Britain's experts in the way government is organised, has been given the job of looking into the council tax system in England.

Sir Michael was questioned at the Welsh assembly

He will recommend to ministers how to make the system fairer, although abandoning council tax altogether has been ruled out.

He is due to report by the end of the year, just before rebanding takes place in England.

Whilst his report focuses on England, he has also been asked to consider the impact on the rest of the UK.

On Wednesday, he was questioned by members of the assembly's local government committee about his findings so far and his early thoughts on the process.

He said some of the objections to replacing council tax with a local income tax - as proposed by Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems - had been "overegged".

"It [a local income tax] isn't ruled out by the difficulty of implementation, in my view, but it might be ruled out by its unacceptability in terms of the public's willingness to contemplate a further tax," he said.

Reform call

Committee Chair Ann Jones AM, said they were "delighted" at the visit, saying that the Lyons inquiry could have "far-reaching implications in Wales".

One organisation which has campaigned for reform of the council tax system in Wales is Help the Aged.

Spokeswoman Ana Palaz�n said: "Anybody who is on a low fixed income is going to be affected by council tax.

"We have some examples of people who have faced increases of up to 30% in their council tax.

"We feel that the current system is unfair on older people in particular."