Safety net on account
7.—(1) An authority may request that the Secretary of State calculate whether a safety net payment is likely to be required to be made to the authority in respect of the relevant year.
(2) A request must be accompanied by the authority’s estimate of its retained rates income for the relevant year and must be made—
(a)for the year commencing on 1st April 2013 by 15th April 2013; and
(b)for a year commencing on or after 1st April 2014 by 31st January in the preceding year.
(3) Where the Secretary of State calculates that a safety net payment is likely to be required to be made the Secretary of State must notify the authority and make a payment on account to the authority of the amount that is the difference between the authority’s estimate of its retained rates income for the relevant year and its safety net threshold for that year.