Town hall snoopers want bedroom access to check tax discount pensioners are living on their own

Officials say they need to enter and inspect properties where a council tax discount is claimed.

Seven and a half million people - a large number of them pensioners - are entitled to 25 per cent off their annual bill because they live on their own.

The Conservatives warned that householders are being pressured into signing a declaration agreeing to an internal inspection of their homes in order to prove they really are single.

People living on their own, including a large number of pensioners, are entitled to a 25 per cent discount on their council tax bill

One form, produced by Thurrock Council in Essex, reads: 'To be completed and returned immediately if you wish to continue to claim single person discount...

'I authorise the Council or its agents to make enquiries to corroborate this claim. I will permit the Council or its agents to inspect the property on request...

'If you do not do so, we will have to cancel your discount and send you a revised bill for the increased amount.'

Shadow local government secretary Eric Pickles said there was evidence that other councils were making similar demands.

He said the move raised the prospect of town hall officials entering law-abiding people's homes looking for evidence of a 'hidden partner'.

Government guidance encourages councils to undertake 'spot check' internal inspections of properties, giving practical tips how to 'maximise their time spent on inspections'.

Mr Pickles said: 'Day by day under Labour, the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens are being undermined, with more and more state officials trying to enter and spy on people's homes.

'It may be appropriate for local authorities to check that council tax discounts are not wrongly claimed.

'But it is wholly disproportionate to threaten higher council tax bills if residents do not allow state officials into their bedrooms.

'This is another worrying sign of function creep.

'State duties originally intended to tackle fraud are now being over-used by bureaucrats in a heavy-handed, intrusive manner.

'I fear such state intrusion is a sign of things to come, with an army of bureaucrats currently being trained to enter homes across the country for Gordon Brown's council tax revaluation.'

There has been growing concern over increasing state powers of entry into the home.

The Home Office has recently admitted that there are now 1,043 state powers of entry, 430 created by Labour.

Researchers have warned that  the proliferation means householders cannot realistically be aware of their rights and legal obligations.

The Government's council tax inspectors, the Valuation Office Agency, have built up detailed records of the number of bedrooms in every property in preparation for a future council tax revaluation.

The most recent figures show they have logged 2.5million homes which have one bedroom, 6.2million with two bedrooms, 10million with three and 3.1million with four or more.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association, which represents councils in England, said: 'Millions of pounds is being ripped off from the taxpayer by a minority of people who deliberately cheat the system by claiming discounts.

'Law-abiding taxpayers would expect councils to crack down on those who are, in effect, pushing their bills up or forcing cuts in front line services.

'Councils are clamping down hard on fraudsters who pretend to live alone when there are actually more people living in a house and try cheating the taxpayer.

'This is money that could be spent on the genuinely vulnerable or keeping council tax down.

'Pretending to live alone to and defraud the taxpayer is not a victimless offence.

'Councils adopt a zero tolerance approach to this abuse of public funds.

'The message to any fraudsters is clear - try and con the system and you will end up in court.'