Citation, commencement, application and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Joint Waste Disposal Authorities (Levies) (England) Regulations 2006 and come into force on 1st March 2006.

(2) These Regulations apply to England only.

(3) In these Regulations—

“the 1985 Order” means the Waste Regulation and Disposal (Authorities) Order 1985(2);

“the 1992 Regulations” means the Levying Bodies (General) Regulations 1992(3);

“constituent council” means, in relation to a joint waste disposal authority, a council specified in relation to that authority in Schedule 1 to the 1985 Order;

“financial year” means any period of twelve months beginning with 1st April;

“joint waste disposal authority” means any of the authorities established under the 1985 Order and named in Schedule 1 to that Order.

Scope

2.  These Regulations apply in relation to levies—

(a)issued by joint waste disposal authorities; or

(b)anticipated by constituent councils of joint waste disposal authorities,

in respect of any financial year beginning on or after 1st April 2006.

Levies

3.—(1) A joint waste disposal authority may, in accordance with these Regulations, issue levies on its constituent councils to meet all liabilities falling to be discharged by it for which no provision is otherwise made.

(2) A levy on a constituent council shall be issued by giving the council a demand stating the date or dates on or before which a payment or payments in respect of the levy are required to be made and the amount of that payment or each of those payments.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4) the demand shall be given before 15th February in the financial year preceding that to which the levy relates.

(4) In relation to a levy for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2006, the demand shall be given before 3rd March 2006.

(5) The failure by a joint waste disposal authority to give a demand before the dates specified in paragraphs (3) and (4) shall not render the demand invalid because it is issued on or after those dates.

Apportionment of levies

4.—(1) Subject to regulation 5, the amount to be levied by a joint waste disposal authority in respect of any financial year from each of its constituent councils shall be determined by apportioning the total amount to be levied by that authority in that year between those councils as follows—

(a)in such proportions as all the constituent councils may agree; or

(b)in the absence of such agreement, by a combination of the following proportions—

(i)the costs incurred by the joint waste disposal authority in the disposal or treatment of household waste delivered to it by its constituent councils shall be apportioned between the constituent councils in proportion to the tonnage of household waste delivered by each of these councils to the joint waste disposal authority within the last complete financial year for which data are available;

(ii)the costs incurred by the joint waste disposal authority in the disposal or treatment of business refuse that is deposited at places provided by the constituent councils under section 1 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978(4) shall be apportioned between the constituent councils in proportion to the tonnage of business refuse deposited at such places within the area of each of these councils within the last complete financial year for which data are available; and

(iii)all other costs not falling within paragraphs (i) or (ii), shall be apportioned between the constituent councils by reference to the relevant proportion.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph 1(b)(iii), “the relevant proportion” is the relevant proportion determined in accordance with paragraphs (5) to (7) of regulation 6 of the 1992 Regulations but as if, in those paragraphs, the references to —

(a)“levying body” were references to a joint waste disposal authority; and

(b)“relevant authority” and “billing authority” were references to a constituent council.

(3) Where paragraph (1)(b) applies to the determination of a levy to be issued in respect of any financial year beginning on or after 1st April 2007, a constituent council shall, within the period beginning on 1st December and ending on 31st January in the financial year preceding the financial year in respect of which the levy is to be issued, inform the joint waste disposal authority of—

(a)the tonnage of household waste delivered to the joint waste disposal authority for disposal or treatment within the last complete financial year for which data are available;

(b)the tonnage of business refuse that was deposited at places provided by the constituent council under section 1 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 within the last complete financial year for which data are available; and

(c)the council tax base, determined in accordance with paragraphs (6) and (7) of regulation 6 of the 1992 Regulations, for its area, in respect of which a levy will be issued or it anticipates that a levy will be issued in the immediately following financial year.

(4) In this regulation—

• “household waste”, has the same meaning as in section 75 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990(5);

• “business refuse” means refuse falling to be disposed of in the course of a business, and “refuse” has the same meaning as in section 1(7) of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978.

Special provisions relating to the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority

5.—(1) The amount to be levied by the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority in respect of any year from the council of the metropolitan district of Wigan shall not include any amount relating to the Authority’s waste disposal functions and, accordingly, that amount shall be borne by the other constituent councils of the Authority in such proportions as they may agree or, in default of agreement, in the proportions specified in regulation 4(1)(b).

(2) In this regulation, “waste disposal functions” means functions vested in the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority by virtue of regulation 5 of, and Schedule 2 to, the 1985 Order which are not exercisable by the Authority in the metropolitan district of Wigan.

Interest on unpaid levies

6.—(1) Where any amount of a levy is not paid by the due date for payment specified in the demand issued under regulation 3, the constituent council shall be liable to pay to the joint waste disposal authority interest, calculated in accordance with paragraph (2), on the amount of the levy issued under these Regulations which remains unpaid after the due date for payment.

(2) The interest payable under paragraph (1) shall be simple interest calculated from day to day on the unpaid amount from the due date for payment until the date when payment is made at a rate equivalent to 2 per cent. above the highest base rate quoted from time to time by any of the reference banks.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) “reference banks” shall be interpreted in accordance with paragraphs (3) to (5) of regulation 10 of the 1992 Regulations (interest on unpaid levies).

Anticipation of levies

7.—(1) A constituent council making calculations in accordance with section 32 or, as the case may be, section 43 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992(6) (“the calculations”) for a financial year (“the year”) may anticipate a levy to be issued on it in accordance with these Regulations for the year by a relevant joint authority in any case where—

(a)such a levy has not been issued by the relevant joint authority on the constituent council at the time the calculations are made; and

(b)the relevant joint authority issued a levy for the preceding financial year.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), where pursuant to paragraph (1) a constituent council anticipates a levy to be issued by a relevant joint authority for the year, the amount of the levy so anticipated shall be equal to the constituent council’s estimate, at the time the calculations (or last calculations) are made, of the amount of the levy which it considers likely will be issued on it for the year by the relevant joint authority.

(3) Where a levy has previously been anticipated by a constituent council for the purposes of the calculations for the year, the amount of the levy which may be anticipated by the constituent council for the purposes of any substitute calculations for the year shall be equal to the amount previously anticipated.

(4) Notwithstanding that a constituent council making calculations for a financial year anticipated a levy to be issued on it in accordance with these Regulations by a relevant joint authority—

(a)where the relevant joint authority issues a levy on the constituent council in accordance with these Regulations, the constituent council shall pay to the relevant joint authority a sum equal to the amount of the levy; and

(b)where the relevant joint authority does not issue a levy on the constituent council in accordance with these Regulations, the constituent council shall not be liable to pay any sum to the relevant joint authority only by virtue of having anticipated a levy from the relevant joint authority.

(5) In this regulation, a “relevant joint authority”, in relation to a constituent council, means a joint waste disposal authority with power under these Regulations to issue a levy on that council.

Transitional provisions

8.—(1) Save as provided in paragraph (2), the 1992 Regulations shall cease to apply to levies issued or anticipated in accordance with these Regulations in respect of any financial year beginning on or after 1st April 2006.

(2) In relation to levies issued or anticipated in respect of the financial years beginning on 1st April 2006 and on 1st April 2007—

(a)regulation 4 of these Regulations (apportionment of levies) shall apply to the levies issued by the joint waste disposal authorities specified in the first column of the Schedule to these Regulations in the proportions specified in the second column of that Schedule for each of those financial years; and

(b)regulation 6 of the 1992 Regulations (apportionment) shall continue to have effect in relation to the proportion of the levy not covered under sub-paragraph (a).

Regulation 8(2)

SCHEDULETRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations confer a power on joint waste disposal authorities established under the Waste Regulation and Disposal (Authorities) Order 1985 (S.I. 1985/1884) (the “1985 Order”) to issue levies on their constituent councils for the purpose of meeting their expenses in respect of financial years beginning on or after 1st April 2006 where, but for section 117 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (rates and precepts: abolition), they would have a power under article 7 of the 1985 Order (levies) to require the councils to pay those expenses. These Regulations apply to England only.

The Regulations include provisions as to when levies are to be issued (regulation 3), the apportionment of levies between authorities (regulation 4) as well as special provisions for the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (regulation 5). The Regulations also make provision for interest on unpaid levies (regulation 6) and the anticipation of levies (regulation 7).

Regulation 8 includes transitional provisions providing for the Levying Bodies (General) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/2903) to cease to apply to levies issued or anticipated by joint waste disposal authorities in respect of any financial year commencing on or after 1st April 2006 except as specified in that regulation and the Schedule to the Regulations.

A full regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument, as it has no impact on the costs of business.