Local Government Finance Act 1992

Part IE+W Non-Domestic Rating

Alteration of listsE+W

1E+WIn section 55 of the 1988 Act (alteration of lists), in subsection (7), for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(a)provision requiring payments or repayments to be made, with or without interest, and”.

Multiple mooringsE+W

2(1)In section 64 of the 1988 Act (hereditaments), after subsection (3) there shall be inserted the following subsections—E+W

“(3A)The Secretary of State may make regulations providing that where on any land there are two or more moorings which—

(a)are owned by the same person,

(b)are not domestic property, and

(c)are separately occupied, or available for separate occupation, by persons other than that person,

a valuation officer may determine that, for the purposes of the compilation or alteration of a local non-domestic rating list, all or any of the moorings, or all or any of them together with any adjacent moorings or land owned and occupied by that person, shall be treated as one hereditament.

(3B)Regulations under subsection (3A) above may provide that—

(a)where a valuation officer makes a determination as mentioned in that subsection, he shall, if prescribed conditions are fulfilled, supply prescribed persons with prescribed information;

(b)while such a determination is in force—

(i)the person who on any day is the owner of the moorings (or the moorings and land) which constitute the hereditament shall be treated for the purposes of sections 43, 44A and 45 above as being in occupation of all of the hereditament on that day; and

(ii)no other person shall be treated for those purposes as being in occupation of all or any part of the hereditament on that day.”

(2)After subsection (11) of that section there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(12)In subsections (3A) and (3B) above “owner”, in relation to a mooring, means the person who (if the mooring is let) is entitled to receive rent, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any other person, or (if the mooring is not let) would be so entitled if the mooring were let, and “owned” shall be construed accordingly.”

Places of religious worship etc.E+W

3E+WIn Schedule 5 to the 1988 Act (non-domestic rating: exemption), in paragraph 11, for sub-paragraph (2) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraphs—

“(2)A hereditament is exempt to the extent that it is occupied by an organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship in a place falling within sub-paragraph (1)(a) above and—

(a)is used for carrying out administrative or other activities relating to the organisation of the conduct of public religious worship in such a place; or

(b)is used as an office or for office purposes, or for purposes ancillary to its use as an office or for office purposes.

(3)In this paragraph “office purposes” include administration, clerical work and handling money; and “clerical work” includes writing, book-keeping, sorting papers or information, filing, typing, duplicating, calculating (by whatever means), drawing and the editorial preparation of matter for publication.”

ValuationE+W

4E+WIn Schedule 6 to the 1988 Act (non-domestic rating: valuation), in paragraph 2, for sub-paragraph (6A) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(6A)For the purposes of sub-paragraph (6) above the material day shall be such day as is determined in accordance with rules prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.”

Special authorities’ multipliersE+W

5E+WIn Part II of Schedule 7 to the 1988 Act (non-domestic rating: special authorities’ multipliers), in paragraph 9, for sub-paragraphs (3) and (4) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraphs—

“(3)The multiplier must be not greater than the required maximum for the year.

(4)The required maximum for the year shall be calculated in accordance with the formula—

(5)An order under sub-paragraph (4) above in its application to a particular financial year (including an order amending or revoking another) shall not be effective unless it comes into force before 1 March in the preceding financial year.”

ContributionsE+W

6(1)Part II of Schedule 8 to the 1988 Act (non-domestic rating contributions) shall be amended as follows.E+W

(2)In sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 4, for the words “charging authority" there shall be substituted the words “ billing authority ”.

(3)F1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4)Sub-paragraph (4) of that paragraph shall cease to have effect.

(5)After sub-paragraph (5) of that paragraph there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(5A)The Secretary of State may also incorporate in the rules provision for the deduction, in the case of a special authority, of an amount determined by him for the year in relation to that authority; and sub-paragraph (3) above shall have effect subject to this.”

(6)In sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 5, for the words “charging authority" there shall be substituted the words “ billing authority ”.

(7)In sub-paragraph (6) of that paragraph, for paragraphs (b) and (c) there shall be substituted the following paragraphs—

“(b)notify the amount so calculated to the Secretary of State, and

(c)arrange for the calculation and the amount to be certified under arrangements made by the Audit Commission for Local Authorities in England and Wales (the Commission).”

(8)After that sub-paragraph there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(6A)The Commission shall send a copy of the certification of the calculation and the amount to the Secretary of State.”

(9)In sub-paragraphs (8) and (9) of that paragraph, for the words “sub-paragraph (6)(c) above" there shall be substituted the words “ sub-paragraph (6)(b) above ”.

(10)For sub-paragraph (10) of that paragraph there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraphs—

“(10)If the amount notified under sub-paragraph (6)(b) above is less than the provisional amount, the Secretary of State shall—

(a)if he believes that the amount so notified is not likely to have been calculated in accordance with the regulations under paragraph 4 above, inform the authority of his reasons for that belief;

(b)if he is not of that belief, pay to the authority, at such time as he decides with the Treasury’s approval, an amount equal to the difference between the amount so notified and the provisional amount.

(11)Sub-paragraph (12) below applies where—

(a)at any time after the year ends the Secretary of State has received both a notification from an authority under sub-paragraph (6)(b) above and a copy of a certification sent to him in relation to the authority under sub-paragraph (6A) above, and

(b)the amount which is certified by the certification to be the authority’s non-domestic rating contribution for the year (the certified amount) is different from the amount notified to the Secretary of State under sub-paragraph (6)(b) above.

(12)Where this sub-paragraph applies the Secretary of State shall—

(a)calculate the amount of the difference (if any) between the certified amount and the provisional amount, and

(b)if there is a difference, inform the authority of the amount of the difference.

(13)If at the time the Secretary of State makes the calculation required by sub-paragraph (12) above no payment has been made under sub-paragraph (9) or (10) above in relation to the amount notified under sub-paragraph (6)(b) above—

(a)sub-paragraphs (9) and (10) above shall not apply in relation to that amount, and

(b)sub-paragraph (14) below shall apply.

(14)Where this sub-paragraph applies—

(a)if the certified amount exceeds the provisional amount the authority shall pay an amount equal to the difference to the Secretary of State at such time as he may direct, and

(b)if the certified amount is less than the provisional amount the Secretary of State shall pay an amount equal to the difference to the authority, and the amount shall be paid at such time as he decides with the Treasury’s approval.

(15)Regulations under this sub-paragraph may make provision for financial adjustments to be made where at the time the Secretary of State makes the calculation required by sub-paragraph (12) above a payment has already been made under sub-paragraph (9) or (10) above in relation to the amount notified under sub-paragraph (6)(b) above; and the regulations may include provision—

(a)for the making of payments by the Secretary of State or the authority, and

(b)as to the time at which any such payment must be made.”

(11)For sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 6 there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(2)Such a calculation shall be made on the basis of the information before the person making the calculation at the time he makes it; but the Secretary of State may make regulations—

(a)requiring a calculation under paragraph 5(2) or (3) above to be made on the basis of that information read subject to prescribed assumptions;

(b)enabling a calculation under paragraph 5(6) above to be made without taking into account any information as regards which the following conditions are satisfied—

(i)it is not reasonably practicable for the person making the calculation to take it into account; and

(ii)it was received by the authority after a prescribed date (which may be before or after the end of the year in question).”

PoolingE+W

7E+WFor Part III of Schedule 8 to the 1988 Act (non-domestic rating: pooling) there shall be substituted the following Part—

“Part IIIE+W Distribution

InterpretationE+W

8(1)For the purposes of this Part of this Schedule a receiving authority is any billing authority or major precepting authority.

(2)Any reference in this Part of this Schedule to a local government finance report is a reference to a report made under section 78A above.

Distributable amountE+W

9(1)Before a financial year begins the Secretary of State shall estimate—

(a)the aggregate of the items of account which will be credited to the account kept for the year; and

(b)the aggregate of the items of account which will be debited to the account kept for the year under paragraphs 2(2)(a) and 3(3)(b) above.

(2)In making any estimate under sub-paragraph (1) above the Secretary of State may make such assumptions as he sees fit.

(3)If the aggregate estimated under sub-paragraph (1)(a) above exceeds the aggregate estimated under sub-paragraph (1)(b) above the Secretary of State shall calculate the amount equal to the difference.

(4)In the local government finance report for the year the Secretary of State shall specify the amount arrived at under this paragraph (the distributable amount for the year).

Distribution: local government finance reportsE+W

10(1)A local government finance report for a financial year shall specify the basis (the basis of distribution) on which the Secretary of State proposes to distribute among receiving authorities the distributable amount for the year.

(2)Before making the report the Secretary of State shall notify to such representatives of local government as appear to him to be appropriate the general nature of the basis of distribution.

11(1)This paragraph applies where—

(a)in relation to a financial year, the distributable amount for the year has been calculated and specified in a report in accordance with paragraph 9 above; and

(b)the report has been laid before the House of Commons.

(2)If the report is approved by resolution of the House of Commons, the distributable amount for the year shall be distributed among and paid to receiving authorities in accordance with this paragraph and paragraph 12 below.

(3)As soon as is reasonably practicable after the report has been so approved, the Secretary of State shall calculate what sum falls to be paid to each receiving authority as its share of the distributable amount for the year in accordance with the basis of distribution specified in the report as so approved.

(4)Subject to sub-paragraph (5) below, after making a calculation under sub-paragraph (3) above, the Secretary of State may, at any time before the end of the financial year following the financial year to which the report relates, make one further calculation of what sum falls to be paid to each receiving authority as its share of the distributable amount for the year in accordance with the basis of distribution so specified.

(5)The power to make a calculation under sub-paragraph (4) above shall not be exercisable after the approval by resolution of the House of Commons of any amending report made under paragraph 13 below in relation to the local government finance report.

(6)If the Secretary of State decides that he will leave out of account information received by him after a particular date in making a calculation under sub-paragraph (3) or (4) above, the calculation shall be made accordingly, and he may decide different dates for different kinds of information.

(7)Sub-paragraph (6) above applies only if the Secretary of State informs each receiving authority in writing of his decision and of the date (or the dates and kinds of information) concerned; but he may do this at any time before the calculation is made under this paragraph (whether before or after the distributable amount for the year is calculated under paragraph 9 above).

(8)As soon as is reasonably practicable after making a calculation under sub-paragraph (3) or (4) above, the Secretary of State shall inform each receiving authority of the sum he calculates falls to be paid to it as its share of the distributable amount for the year.

12(1)Where a calculation is made under paragraph 11(3) above the Secretary of State shall pay to each receiving authority any sum calculated as falling to be paid to it.

(2)The sum shall be paid in instalments of such amounts, and at such times in the financial year to which the report relates (the financial year concerned), as the Secretary of State determines with the Treasury’s consent.

(3)Where a calculation is made under paragraph 11(4) above and the sum it shows as falling to be paid to a receiving authority exceeds that shown as falling to be paid to it by the calculation for the financial year concerned under paragraph 11(3) above, the Secretary of State shall pay to the authority a sum equal to the difference.

(4)The sum shall be paid at such time, or in instalments of such amounts and at such times, as the Secretary of State determines with the Treasury’s consent; but any such time must fall after the end of the financial year concerned.

(5)Where a calculation is made under paragraph 11(4) above and the sum it shows as falling to be paid to a receiving authority is less than that shown as falling to be paid to it by the calculation for the financial year concerned under paragraph 11(3) above, a sum equal to the difference shall be paid by the authority to the Secretary of State.

(6)The sum shall be paid on such day after the end of the financial year concerned as the Secretary of State may specify; and if it is not paid on or before that day it shall be recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Distribution: amending reportsE+W

13(1)Subject to sub-paragraph (6) below, after a local government finance report has been made the Secretary of State may, at any time before the end of the financial year following the financial year concerned, make in relation to the report one or more amending reports under this paragraph.

(2)An amending report under this paragraph shall contain amendments to the basis of distribution specified in the local government finance report.

(3)Before making the report the Secretary of State shall notify to such representatives of local government as appear to him to be appropriate the general nature of the amendments which he proposes to make.

(4)The report shall be laid before the House of Commons.

(5)As soon as is reasonably practicable after the report is laid before the House of Commons, the Secretary of State shall send a copy of it to each receiving authority.

(6)Where an amending report under this paragraph has been approved by resolution of the House of Commons, the Secretary of State may not make a subsequent amending report under this paragraph in relation to the same local government finance report.

14(1)As soon as is reasonably practicable after an amending report made under paragraph 13 above has been approved by resolution of the House of Commons, the Secretary of State shall calculate what sum falls to be paid to each receiving authority as its share of the distributable amount for the year in accordance with the basis of distribution specified in the local government finance report as amended by the amending report.

(2)Subject to sub-paragraph (3) below, after making a calculation under sub-paragraph (1) above the Secretary of State may make one further calculation of what sum falls to be paid to each receiving authority as its share of the distributable amount for the year in accordance with that basis of distribution.

(3)A calculation may not be made under sub-paragraph (2) above after whichever is the later of—

(a)the end of the financial year following the financial year concerned, and

(b)the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which the amending report is approved by resolution of the House of Commons.

(4)Sub-paragraphs (6) to (8) of paragraph 11 above apply in relation to calculations made under sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) above as they apply in relation to calculations made under sub-paragraphs (3) and (4) of that paragraph.

15(1)This paragraph applies where a calculation (the relevant calculation) is made under paragraph 14(1) or (2) above in relation to an amending report.

(2)Where the sum shown by the relevant calculation as falling to be paid to a receiving authority for the financial year concerned exceeds that shown as falling to be paid to it by the relevant previous calculation, the Secretary of State shall pay to the authority a sum equal to the difference.

(3)The sum shall be paid at such times, or in instalments of such amounts and at such times, as the Secretary of State determines with the Treasury’s consent; but any such time must fall after the end of the financial year in which the amending report was made.

(4)Where the sum shown by the relevant calculation as falling to be paid to a receiving authority for the financial year concerned is less than that shown as falling to be paid to it by the relevant previous calculation, a sum equal to the difference shall be paid by the authority to the Secretary of State.

(5)The sum shall be paid on such day after the end of the financial year in which the amending report was made as the Secretary of State may specify; and if it is not paid on or before that day it shall be recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction.

(6)In this paragraph “the relevant previous calculation” means—

(a)in relation to a calculation made under paragraph 14(1) above, the calculation under paragraph 11(3) above or, where a further calculation has been made under paragraph 11(4) above, that further calculation;

(b)in relation to a calculation made under paragraph 14(2) above, the calculation made under paragraph 14(1) above.”