AN East Lancashire Labour MP has united with a Tory counterpart to voice concerns over a possible council tax shake-up.

Hyndburn's Greg Pope and Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans are opposed to changing the way local government is financed.

They spoke out after local government minister Nick Raynsford said the Government was examining all the options for bringing greater fairness and transparency to local government finance, including reforming or replacing council tax.

Mr Rayn-

sford was answering a call by the Local Government Association (LGA)to revamp the way local councils raise money.

Interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Raynsford was asked whether, if the Government could find an appropriate formula to replace the council tax, it would want to go down that road.

Mr Raynsford said: "That is why we set up the balance of funding review some nine months ago. We have been doing very detailed work. And we ourselves some two months ago identified a series of options which are very, very close actually to the options the Local Government Association has set forward.

"I think the one key point I would make is that these are only options. And I think it is fanciful to suggest that you could have all the taxation options that the LGA has put forward.

"We want to look at all the options, including the possibility of reforming the council tax, or possibilities of replacement by other forms of taxation."

An LGA option was to allow councils to set and collect their own business rates, taxes which were taken over by the Government when the controversial poll tax was introduced in the early 1990s. But Mr Evans said: "I disagree with this. People are paying too much council tax as it is.

"The Government is heaping responsibilities on councils and robbing them of the money to pay for it. If local authorities get back control of the business rates it will be a disaster for small businesses.

Mr Pope commented: "People are paying too much council tax. The system needs reforming but not in a way which would mean people paying more.

"However, there is a case for giving back control of the business rates to councils."

Burnley MP Peter Pike said the system had to be looked at again. He added: "I certainly think there needs to be major changes in funding for local authorities because council tax is seriously flawed.

"I would support reform, and bringing the business rates back under council control would be a welcome start."