Local Government (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1963

Part I

Continuation of provisions relating to Exchequer Equalisation and Transitional Grants

1

Notwithstanding anything in section 29 of the Act of 1956 the following provisions (being provisions relating to Exchequer Equalisation and Transitional Grants), that is to say—

• (a) sections 22, 24, 30, 31 and 32 of the Act of 1948,

• (b) the Act of 1954, and

• (c) Part IV of the Act of 1956,

so far as in force immediately before the commencement of this section, shall continue in force, subject to the provisions of this Act.

Condition for, and amount of, Exchequer Equalisation Grants

2

• (1) As respects the year 1963-64 and subsequent years the condition for the payment to a county council or the town council of a burgh of an Exchequer Equalisation Grant under the Act of 1954 for any year shall be that the product of a rate of one penny in the pound for the area of the council for that year is less than the standard penny rate product for the area for that year; and, subject to the next following section, the amount of the grant shall be the amount which bears to the relevant local expenditure for ithe area for that year the same proportion as the difference between the said products bears to the standard penny rate product.

• (2) For the purposes of this section—

• (a) the area of a county council is the landward area of the county and the area of a town council of a burgh is the burgh ; and

• (b) the expression " relevant local expenditure " in relation to any area for any year means so much of the total expenditure for the year as would fall to be met out of moneys raised by rates levied in the area if no exchequer grants applicable towards meeting such expenditure were payable under the Act of 1954.

• (3) Accordingly the Act of 1954 shall have effect as respects the year 1963-64 and subsequent years as if for section 3 thereof there were substituted the following section:—

(3) Where for the year 1963-64 or any subsequent year the product of a rate of one penny in the pound as defined for the purposes of the Local Government (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1963 for the landward area of a county, for a large burgh or for a small burgh is less than -the standard penny rate product, as so defined, for the landward area or burgh there shall be paid to the county council or, as the case may be, the town council an Exchequer Equalisation Grant of such amount as is provided by sections 2 and 3 of the said Act of 1963

.

Reduction of Exchequer Equalisation Grants in respect of low rent income

3

District councils' share of Exchequer Equalisation Grants

4

The Act of 1954 shall have effect as respects the year 1963-64 and subsequent years as if for section 8 thereof there were substituted the following section:—

(8) (1) A county council shall, out of any Exchequer Equalisation Grant paid to them under the foregoing provisions of this Act for 'the year 1963-64 or any subsequent year, pay to the council of any district in the county an amount which bears to the amount of the Exchequer Equalisation Grant which was so paid (or, in a case to which section 3 of the Local Government (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1963 applies, would have been so paid if no deductions under that section had been made) the same proportion as the expenditure of the district council for that year bears to the relevant local expenditure for the landward area of the county for that year. (2) In this section— - " district " has the same meaning as in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 ; - " expenditure " in relation to a district council for any year means so much of that council's expenditure for that year as is reckoned in calculating the relevant local expenditure for that year for the landward area of the county in which the district is situated for the purposes of section 2 of the said Act of 1963 ; and " relevant local expenditure " in relation to the landward area of a county for any year has the same meaning as it has for the purposes of the said section 2

.

Reduction and discontinuance of Exchequer Transitional Grants

5

Notwithstanding anything in subsection (3) of section 6 of the Act of 1954 (which relates to Exchequer Transitional Grants) the amount of any Exchequer Transitional Grant payable to a county council or the town council of a burgh under that section for any year specified in the first column of the following Table shall be such percentage as is specified in relation to that year in the second column of that Table of the amount which would be payable apart from this section; and no such grant shall be payable for the year 1967-68 or any subsequent year:—

Year	Percentage
1963-64	80 per cent.
1964-65	60 per cent.
1965-66	40 per cent.
1966-67	20 per cent.

Increase of limit of contributions under section 1 of Rural Water Supplies and Sewerage Act 1944

6

Apportionment

7

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, where, in pursuance of any enactment, any statutory order or instrument or any agreement, any sum is required—

• (a) to be calculated according to, or according to a formula based in whole or in part on, the following valuation, that is to say the rateable valuation or standard rateable value, whichever is the higher, of any area for any year, or

• (b) to be apportioned or allocated among local authorities or other bodies according to that valuation for each of two or more areas for any year, or according to any such formula as aforesaid,

such calculation or such apportionment or allocation, as the case may be, shall be made with the substitution for that valuation of the product of a rate of one new penny in the pound or the standard penny rate product, whichever is the higher, for the area, or, as the case may be, each of the areas, in question for that year.

• (2) The foregoing subsection shall apply to any calculation, or apportionment or allocation required to be made for the year 1963-64 or any subsequent year:

Provided that in the case of such calculation, or apportionment or allocation required to be made under an agreement the said subsection shall not apply thereto if the parties concerned so agree.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) The assessor for each valuation area shall, not later than the date prescribed by order under section 13 of the Act of 1956 in the year preceding any year of revaluation, estimate the rateable valuation in that year of revaluation of that area, and shall send certified copies of the estimate so made to the rating authority for that area and to the Secretary of State.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Weighted population for purposes of General Grants

8

Meaning of product of a rate of one penny in the pound and standard penny rate product

9

• (1) References in this Part of this Act to the product of a rate of one new penny in the pound for any area for any year are references to an amount calculated for that area for that year in accordance with regulations made in that behalf by the Secretary of State under section III of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) Except so far as otherwise provided in this Part of this Act references therein to the standard penny rate product for any year for any district or islands area are references to the product of the weighted population of the district or islands area and the national standard amount per head for that year.

• (3A) The standard penny rate product for any year of an area which is a region shall be taken to be an amount equal to the sum of the standard penny rate products for that year of the districts comprised in that region.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section the weighted population of an area and the national standard amount per head for any year shall be determined in such manner as may be prescribed by a rate support grant order made under section 3 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966

• (6) In the case of any area which is part of a district or islands area, references in this Part of this Act to the standard penny rate product of the area are, except so far as otherwise provided therein, references to so much of the standard penny rate product of the district or, as the case may be, islands area, as bears to the whole the same proportion as the rateable valuation of the area in question bears to the rateable valuation of the district or, as the case may be, islands area.

• (7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Part II

Rateable value of industrial and freight transport lands and heritages

10

Amendment of standard amount in respect of liability of Railways Board to make payments for the benefit of local authorities

11

The power to make orders conferred on the Secretary of State by section 109 of the Act of 1948 (which relates to payments by transport authorities for the benefit of local authorities) shall include power to make orders amending either or both of the amounts certified by him for the purpose of determining the standard amount for the Railways Board under subsection (3) of section 66 of the Transport Act 1962.

Basic rateable valuation of Gas Boards

12

• (1) For the purposes of Schedule 4 to the Act of 1956 (which relates to the valuation and rating of Gas Boards) the basic rateable valuation of the Scottish Gas Board shall (subject to the following provisions of this section) be six hundred and fifteen thousand eight hundred and seventy-six pounds:

Provided that this subsection shall not affect the liability to rates of the said Board in respect of any period before the year subsequent to the year following the appointed day.

• (2) If it appears to the Secretary of State that by reason of any substantial change of circumstances it is expedient so to do, he may by order, made after consultation with the Gas Board concerned, the Scottish Valuation Advisory Council and such associations of local authorities as appear to him to be concerned, vary the basic rateable valuation of any Gas Board; but an order under this subsection shall not have effect unless approved by a resolution of the Commons House of Parliament.

• (3) The said Schedule shall as respects the years 1963-64 and subsequent years have effect as if—

• (a) in paragraph 1 for the expression “1961-62” there were substituted the expression “1963-64”;

• (b) paragraphs 2, 7 and 8, and in paragraph 3 the words “and subject to the provisions of paragraph 8 thereof”, were omitted; and

• (c) in paragraph 9 after the word “Assessor” there were inserted the words “of Public Undertakings (Scotland) (hereinafter referred to as ”the Assessor’)”.

• (4) In this section the expression “the appointed day” means the day appointed by the Secretary of State under section 1(1) of the Gas Act 1972.

Valuation by formula of certain lands and heritages

13

• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (e) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Provisions relating to agricultural lands and heritages

14

• (1) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (2) of section 7 of the Act of 1956 (which relates amongst other things to the definition of agricultural buildings)—

• (a) a building (other than a dwelling-house) which is occupied by any person, and is used solely in connection with agricultural operations carried on by that person on any agricultural land (other than the building) whether adjacent to the building or not,... and

• (b) any land occupied together with any such building and used solely in connection with the use of the building,

shall be treated as respects the year 1963-64 and subsequent years as agricultural lands and heritages for the purposes of subsection (3) of the said section 7 (which provides that no agricultural lands and heritages shall be entered in the valuation roll).

• (2) The foregoing subsection shall apply to a building occupied by or on behalf of an association to which this subsection applies and to any land occupied together therewith as it applies to a building occupied by a person and to any land occupied therewith, but with the following modifications:—

• (a) for the reference in paragraph (a) thereof to agricultural operations carried on by the person there shall be substituted a reference to such operations carried on by the association or any member thereof; and

• (b) ...the reference in the said paragraph (a) to agricultural land is to be treated as a reference to such land only so far as it is occupied by or on behalf of the association or by any member thereof.

• (3) The last foregoing subsection applies to any association of ...persons who are jointly and severally liable for any debts of the association.

• (4) In determining for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section whether a building used in any way is solely so used during any year, no account shall be taken of any time in that year during which it is used in any other way, if that time does not amount to a substantial part of that year.

• (5) The amendments to subsections (1)(a) and (2)(b) (which removed, in relation to persons but not in relation to associations, the requirement that the building must be used in connection with agricultural operations on land occupied by the occupier of the building) and (3) above (which removed the upper limit of members of an association) made by section 31 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 (asp 1) are to have effect only as respects the year 2003-04 and subsequent years.

Proceedings in appeals

15

• (1) In proceedings before the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland or, under section 1(3A) of the Lands Tribunal Act 1949, before the Upper Tribunal for Scotland in respect of lands and heritages situated in any valuation area it shall be competent for the assessor, or the appellant or complainer, to found by way of comparison on lands and heritages situated in any other valuation area or, in accordance with subsections (1A) to (1C) below, on hereditaments in England and Wales.

• (1A) It shall be competent to found, by way of comparison, on hereditaments in England and Wales only if—

• (a) there is no evidence available as to lands and heritages in Scotland comparable to those which are the subject of the proceedings; or

• (b) such evidence as is available in that regard is not adequate to enable the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland or, as the case may be, the Upper Tribunal for Scotland to draw conclusions as to the rent at which the lands and heritages which are the subject of the proceedings might reasonably be expected to let from year to year in the circumstances mentioned in . . . 6(8) of the Valuation and Rating (Scotland) Act 1956 (ascertainment of . . . values by reference to expected rent).

• (1B) The rateable value ascribed in the non-domestic rating list maintained under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to a hereditament in England and Wales such as is mentioned in paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 6 to that Act shall, for the purposes of subsections (1) and (1A) above, be treated as equal to the rent at which the hereditament (as at the date as at which its rateable value was ascribed to it) might reasonably be expected to let from year to year if the tenant undertook to pay all usual tenants’ rates and taxes and to bear the cost of the repairs and insurance and the other expenses, if any, necessary to maintain the hereditament in a state to command that rent.

• (1BA) The rateable value ascribed in the non-domestic rating list maintained under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to a hereditament in England and Wales such as is mentioned in paragraph 2(1A) of Schedule 6 to that Act shall, for the purposes of subsections (1) and (1A) above, be treated as equal to the rent which, assuming such a letting of the hereditament as is required to be assumed for the purposes of subsection (1B) above, would reasonably be attributable to the non-domestic use of property.

• (1BB) The rateable value ascribed in the non-domestic rating list maintained under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to a hereditament in England and Wales such as is mentioned in paragraph 2(1B) of Schedule 6 to that Act shall, for the purposes of subsections (1) and (1A) above, be treated as equal to the rent which, assuming such a letting of the hereditament as is required to be assumed for the purposes of subsection (1B) above, would, as regards the part of the hereditament which is not exempt from local non-domestic rating, be reasonably attributable to the non-domestic use of property.

• (1C) The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland or the Upper Tribunal for Scotland shall, in considering a hereditament in England and Wales by way of comparison in pursuance of this section, make such adjustment as is, in their opinion, necessary—

• (a) to its rent as established by the evidence, so as to take account of (amongst any other things) the date at which that rent became payable;

• (b) to its rent as established under subsection (1B) , (1BA) or (1BB) above, so as to take account of (amongst any other things) the date as at which, under the said subsection (1B), (1BA) or (1BB), that rent is to be treated as payable.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2AA) The First-tier Tribunal, on the joint application of the assessor and an appellant or complainer made in accordance with its rules of procedure, shall refer the appeal or complaint to the Upper Tribunal for Scotland for determination under section 1(3A) of the Lands Tribunal Act 1949.

• (2A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .