The Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order 2006

Valuation and Finance

Valuation

16.—(1) The Commission shall, not less frequently than every five years, determine the annual value of each salmon fishery in the district, and shall—

(a)enter that valuation in a valuation roll to be maintained by it for that purpose; and

(b)intimate the determination to the proprietor or occupier of the salmon fishery concerned.

(2) Any proprietor aggrieved by a determination made under paragraph (1) may, within ten days of receipt of the determination, appeal against that determination to the sheriff or justices, and shall at the same time intimate any such appeal to the clerk.

(3) A sheriff or justice who sustains an appeal made under paragraph (2) shall determine the value of the fishery in question, and the Commission shall adjust the entry in respect of that fishery accordingly.

Information for valuation

17.—(1) The Commission shall have power to collect such information as it considers necessary for the purpose of valuing any salmon fishery in the district and to require any proprietor or occupier of a salmon fishery to furnish it with such information in such form and at such times as it may determine.

(2) The Commission may use any information collected under paragraph (1) for the purposes of carrying out its functions under article 9.

(3) Any proprietor or occupier of a fishery who wilfully refuses to comply with any requirement made in pursuance of this article or makes any statement in relation to such a requirement which is false in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(4) The Scottish Ministers may make available to the Commission for the purposes of valuations under this article any information collected by them under article 21 insofar as such information relates to fisheries in the district.

Fishery Assessment

18.—(1) The Commission shall have power to impose an assessment to be known as the fishery assessment on each specified salmon fishery in the district.

(2) The fishery assessment shall be assessed at such uniform rate as is determined for all specified salmon fisheries in the district by the Commission and shall be exigible according to the valuation as entered in the valuation roll.

(3) The Commission shall intimate a notice of assessment made under paragraph (1) to the proprietor or occupier of a specified salmon fishery.

Enforcement

19.—(1) Proceedings for the recovery of money owed to the Commission in respect of arrears of fishery assessment may be taken before the court having jurisdiction over—

(a)the area in which the fishery is situated; or

(b)the place where the debtor lives or is found.

(2) The powers under paragraph (1) to recover arrears of fishery assessment include power to recover interest, chargeable at such rate asthe Scottish Ministers may determine on such arrears from, in the case of recovery of arrears which have been outstanding for at least 3 months from the date of issue of a notice of assessment, that date until payment or the commencement of an action for payment, whichever is the earlier.

Annual report

20.  Each year, the Commission shall prepare—

(a)a general report of its activities over the past year; and

(b)a statement of accounts, which shall be audited,

and the clerk shall call a meeting of the proprietors of specified salmon fisheries for the purposes of considering the report and the audited accounts.