Legalize / United Kingdom / Public General Act

General Rate Act 1967

Type Public General Act

Publication 1967-03-22

State In force

Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament

Source legislation.gov.uk

articles 1

Reform history JSON API

PART I — The general rate

Rating areas and rating authorities.

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(1) Subject to section 118(1) of this Act, the rating areas and the respective rating authorities therefor for the purposes of this Act shall be as follows—

rating area	rating authority
each borough	the borough council
each urban or rural district	the district council
the City of London	the Common Council
the Inner Temple	the Sub-Treasurer
the Middle Temple	the Under-Treasurer.

(2) Every rating authority shall have power in accordance with this Act to make and levy rates on the basis of an assessment in respect of the yearly value of property in their rating area for the purpose of applying the proceeds thereof to local purposes of a public nature.

(3) No authority or person other than the rating authority shall have power to make or levy within any rating area any such rates as are mentioned in subsection (2) of this section for the purpose so mentioned other than excepted rates.

(4) All powers and duties in relation to the making, levying and collection of such rates as are mentioned in subsection (2) of this section for the purpose so mentioned which are not excepted rates and which, but for this section, would in any rating area fall by virtue of any local Act to be exercised and performed by any person other than the rating authority shall be exercised and performed by that authority.

The general rate.

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(1) Every rating authority shall from time to time in exercise of their powers under section 1(2) of this Act make such rates as will be sufficient to provide for such part of the total estimated expenditure to be incurred by the authority during the period in respect of which the rate is made as is not to be met by other means or by means of excepted rates, including in that expenditure any sums payable to any other authority under precepts issued by that other authority, together with such additional amount as is in the opinion of the rating authority required to cover expenditure previously incurred, or to meet' contingencies, or to defray any expenditure which may fall to be defrayed before the date on which the moneys to be received in respect of the next subsequent rate made under this subsection will become available.

(2) Where a rural district council apprehend that a precept will be issued to the council to meet expenses of the council of a borough included in the rural district or of a parish council or parish meeting, being expenses which will be required to be defrayed out of the proceeds of a rate for any rate period, but at the time when the rural district council propose to make a rate the precept has not been issued, the council may estimate for what amount the precept will be issued and make the rate by reference to the estimate, and shall in a subsequent rate period make any necessary adjustment by increasing or decreasing, as the case may require, the amount to be levied in the borough or parish as an additional item of the rate.

(3) Any rate made by a rating authority under subsection (1) of this section shall be made and levied as a single consolidated rate for the whole of their rating area which shall be termed " the general rate " and be in lieu of any other rates such as are mentioned in section 1(2) of this Act which that authority have power to make other than excepted rates.

(4) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the general rate for any rating area—

(a) shall be a rate at a uniform amount per pound on the rateable value of each hereditament in that area, except that where any amount is, by virtue of any precept or otherwise, chargeable separately on part only of a rating area, the rating authority shall levy that amount on that part of the area together with, and as an additional item of, the general rate;

(b) shall be made and levied in accordance with the valuation list in force for the time being, except that, where a new valuation list is to come into force for that area, a rate for the year, or any part of the year, beginning with the day on which the new list is to come into force shall be made, and applied in relation to particular hereditaments, by reference to that new list.

(5) Subsections (3) and (4)(a) of this section shall not apply to the City of London and subsections (1), (3) and (4)(a) of this section shall not apply to the Temples; but, subject to any express provision to the contrary effect, any other provision of this Act with respect to the general rate shall—

(a) in its application to the City of London, apply also in relation to the poor rate, and

(b) in its application to the Temples, apply in relation to any rate in the nature of a general rate levied in the Inner Temple or the Middle Temple, as the case may be,

as it applies in relation to the general rate.

Making of rate.

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(1) Every rate made by a rating authority shall be deemed to be made on the date on which it is approved by the authority,

(2) For the purposes of the foregoing subsection, a resolution of a rating authority as respects the making of a rate shall be taken to constitute approval of the rate if the resolution specifies the amount per pound of rateable value at which the rate is to be levied, notwithstanding that the resolution—

(a) is made without reference to individual hereditaments; or

(b) does not take account of any privilege in respect of rating conferred on the occupiers of hereditaments in any particular part of the rating area, or on the occupiers of any particular hereditaments; or

(c) does not take account of any amount leviable in part only of the rating area together with, and as an additional item of, the rate.

(3) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, every rate shall be made in respect of a period beginning immediately after the expiration of the last preceding rate period and ending on such date, to be specified in the rate, as may be fixed by the rating authority; and, in the case of the last rate made in respect of any year, the date so fixed shall be the last day of that year.

(4) Where a rate is made for a period exceeding three months, the rating authority may declare that the rate shall be paid by instalments at specified times.

(5) The rating authority may at any time make a supplementary rate if they think it necessary so to do having regard to the requirements of their area or to any precept.

(6) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to the City of London.

Publication of rate.

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(1) Notice of every rate made shall be given by the rating authority within seven days after it is made, and the rate shall not be valid unless that notice is duly given in accordance with subsection (2) of this section.

(2) Such notice as aforesaid may be given by such of the following methods as the rating authority think fit, that is to say, by affixing the notice at any time within the said period of seven days on or near to the doors of churches and chapels in manner prescribed by section 2 of the Parish Notices Act 1837, or by affixing the notice within the said period in some public or conspicuous place or situation in each rating district affected, or by publishing the notice within the said period in one or more newspapers circulating in the area of the authority; and different methods of publication may be used as respects different parts of the area of the authority.

(3) This section shall not apply to the City of London.

Demand note for rate.

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(1) Information with respect to the following matters shall be included in the demand note on which the rate is levied, that is to say—

(a) the situation of the hereditament in respect of which the demand note is issued and such description thereof reasonably necessary for purposes of identification as may be prescribed;

(b) the rateable value and, where it differs from the rateable value, also the net annual value of the hereditament;

(d) the period in respect of which the rate is made;

(e) the amounts in the pound which are being levied for the purposes respectively of the rating authority and of each authority by whom a precept has been issued to the rating authority or by whom the rating authority (where that authority are a rural district council) apprehend that a precept will be so issued;

(f) the amount, if any, in the pound which is being levied as an additional item of the rate ;

(g) the amounts in the pound which are being levied for such of the principal services administered respectively by the rating authority and the precepting authorities aforesaid as may be prescribed.

(2) This section shall not apply to the City of London.

Amendment of rate.

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(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the rating authority may at any time make such amendments in a rate (being either the current or the last preceding rate) as appear to them necessary in order to make the rate conform with the enactments relating thereto, and in particular may—

(a) correct any clerical or arithmetical error in the rate; or

(b) correct any erroneous insertions or omissions or any misdescriptions; or

(i) the coming into occupation of any hereditament which has been newly erected or which was unoccupied at the time of the making of the rate ; or

(ii) any change in the occupation of any hereditament; or

(iii) any property previously rated as a single hereditament becoming liable to be rated in parts.

(2) Where the effect of the amendment would be either—

(a) to alter, otherwise than by way of correction of a clerical or arithmetical error, the value on which a hereditament is rated; or

(b) to charge to the rate a hereditament not shown, or not separately shown, in the valuation list,

the rating authority shall not make any amendment of the rate unless either the amendment is necessary to bring the rate into conformity with the valuation list or a proposal for a corresponding alteration to the valuation list has been made by the valuation officer; and if effect, or full effect, is ultimately not given to such a proposal, and the amount of the rate levied in pursuance of the amendment is affected, the difference—

(i) if too much has been paid, shall be repaid or allowed ; or

(ii) if too little has been paid, shall be paid and may be recovered as if it were arrears of the rate.

(3) In the foregoing provisions of this section (other than subsection (1)(c)(i)) references to a rate shall be construed as references to that rate as it has been applied in relation to particular hereditaments; and every amendment made under paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall have effect as if it had been contained in the rate as first applied in relation to the hereditament in question or, as the case may require, as first amended in respect of that hereditament under paragraph (c) of that subsection.

Appeal against rate.

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(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, any person who—

(a) is aggrieved by any rate ; or

(b) has any material objection to the inclusion or exclusion of any person in or from, or to the amount charged to any person in, any rate ; or

may appeal in accordance with the Quarter Sessions Act 1849 to the next practicable court of quarter sessions having jurisdiction in the rating district concerned; and notice of any such appeal shall be given to the rating authority and to any person other than the appellant with respect to whom the rate may be required to be altered in consequence of the appeal; and any such person shall, if he so desires, be heard on the appeal.

(2) No appeal shall lie under this section in respect of any matter in respect of which relief might have been obtained under Part V of this Act by means of—

(a) a proposal for the amendment of the current valuation list; or

(b) an objection to such a proposal; or

(3) Any rate made by a rating authority shall be leviable and recoverable notwithstanding that notice has been given of an appeal against the rate under this section, except that, if such notice has been given by any person to the rating authority, then until the appeal has been determined or abandoned no proceedings shall be commenced or carried on to recover from that person any sum greater than that at which the last effective rate was charged in respect of the hereditament to which the appeal relates.

(4) Where on an appeal under this section against any rate the court sees just cause to give relief, then—

(a) subject to subsection (5) of this section, the court shall amend the rate in such manner as the court thinks necessary for giving the relief, but shall not quash or wholly set aside the rate;

(b) if it appears to the court that, as a result of any such amendment, any sum paid in consequence of the rate by any person before the hearing of the appeal ought not to have been paid by or charged on that person, the court shall order that sum to be repaid to that person by the rating authority together with all reasonable costs, charges and expenses occasioned by that person having paid or been required to pay that sum ;

(c) if the rate is amended so as to make chargeable any person not previously charged or to increase the charge on any person, the rate as amended shall be leviable on and recoverable from that person in like manner as if it had always been in its amended form.

(5) If, on an appeal under this section against any rate, the court is of opinion that, for the purpose of giving relief to the appellant, it is necessary that the rate should be wholly quashed, the court may quash the rate; but in that case, subject to subsection (6) of this section, all amounts charged by the rate shall be leviable and recoverable in like manner as if no appeal had been made and, when paid or recovered, shall be treated as payments on account of the next effective rate made for the rating area in question.

(6) Where on an appeal under this section the court orders any rate to be quashed, the court may order that any sum charged on any person by that rate, or any part of a sum so charged, shall not be paid; and after the making of such an order no proceedings shall be commenced or continued for the purpose of levying or recovering that sum or part; but no person shall be deemed a trespasser or liable to any action for any warrant, order, act, or thing granted, made, executed or done by that person for the purpose of levying or recovering any sum before he had notice in writing of any order under this subsection providing for that sum not to be paid.

(7) In this section, references to a rate shall be construed as references to that rate whether as originally made (in whatever form) or as it has been applied in relation to particular hereditaments.

Restriction on amount recoverable in certain cases.

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(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, where in the case of any hereditament—

(a) any value ascribed to it in a new valuation list prepared under section 68 of this Act exceeds the corresponding value of the hereditament as last previously determined; and

(b) the hereditament has not been substantially altered since its value was last previously determined; and

(c) a proposal for the alteration of the list so as to reduce the value so ascribed to the hereditament is served on the valuation officer under section 69 of this Act before the end of the period of six months beginning with the date on which the list comes into force,

then, until that proposal has been settled, the amount recoverable in respect of rates levied on the hereditament for the year beginning with the date aforesaid, or for any subsequent year, shall not (in the case of any such year) exceed the total amount of the rates levied on the hereditament for the last year before that list came into force increased by half the difference between that amount and the amount which would be recoverable as aforesaid apart from this subsection.

(2) The foregoing subsection shall not apply unless—

(a) the proposal referred to in paragraph (c) thereof is served on the valuation officer by the occupier of the hereditament and no previous such proposal has been served on the valuation officer in relation to the same list by any occupier of the hereditament; or

(b) the said proposal is served on the valuation officer by the owner of the hereditament, being a person who in pursuance of section 55 or 56 of this Act is rated or has undertaken to pay or collect the rates in respect of the hereditament, and no previous such proposal has been served on the valuation officer in relation to the same list by any such owner of the hereditament.

(3) Where a change in the law determining the relationship between the net annual value and rateable value of hereditaments of any specified description, or of hereditaments generally, operates as from the coming into force of any valuation lists (whether the change arises from the coming into operation, amendment or repeal of any provision or from the fact that a provision applying to the previous lists or the last rate period for which they were in force does not apply to the new lists), and so operates as to increase the rateable values to which the change applies, subsection (1) of this section shall have effect in relation to a hereditament of which the rateable value as shown in the new list is affected by the change as if for the reference to the total amount of rates levied on the hereditament for the last year before the list came into force there were substituted a reference to the total amount of the rates which would have been levied thereon for that year if the rateable value for that year had been related to the actual net annual value for the year in the same way as it would have been related to the net annual value if the change had had effect as respects that year.

Refund of overpayments.

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(1) Without prejudice to sections 7(4)(b) and 18(4) of this . Act, but subject to subsection (2) of this section, where it is shown to the satisfaction of a rating authority that any amount paid in respect of rates, and not recoverable apart from this section, could properly be refunded on the ground that—

(a) the amount of any entry in the valuation list was excessive ; or

(b) a rate was levied otherwise than in accordance with the valuation list; or

(d) the hereditament was unoccupied during any period ; or

(e) the person who made a payment in respect of rates was not liable to make that payment,

the rating authority may refund that amount or a part thereof.

(2) No amount shall be refunded under subsection (1) of this section—

(a) unless application therefor was made before the end of the sixth year after that in which the amount was paid; or

(b) if the amount paid was charged on the basis, or in accordance with the practice, generally prevailing at the time when the payment was demanded.

(3) Before determining whether a refund should be made under subsection (1) of this section—

(a) in a case falling within paragraph (a) of that subsection ; or

(b) in a case falling within paragraph (c) of that subsection where the exemption or relief was one which ought to have appeared in the valuation list,

the rating authority shall obtain a certificate from the valuation officer as to the manner in which in his opinion the hereditament in question should have been treated for the purposes of the valuation list, and the certificate shall be binding on the authority.

Certificates and statements as to rate, etc.

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(1) A certificate signed by a duly authorised officer of a rating authority—

(a) stating that a rate has been made or published by the authority on a date or dates specified in the certificate ; or

(b) stating the value at a specified date of a hereditament within the authority's area, the amount of rates chargeable in respect of the hereditament, or whether any, and if so what, amount has been paid in satisfaction of rates due thereon,

shall be evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.

(2) A rating authority shall, on being so requested by a person who is or was liable in respect of a hereditament in the area of the authority for rates for any period in the current year or any of the nine years preceding that year, give him a statement of the rates payable or paid in respect of the hereditament for any of those years or any other year in respect of which the person is still liable for arrears at the time of the request.

(3) Where a person satisfies a rating authority that he is or was liable, in respect of a hereditament in the area of the authority, to indemnify any other person for rates, he shall be entitled to the like statement under subsection (2) of this section as that other person is entitled to.

PART II — Provisions as to precepts

Power and duty to make sufficient precepts.

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Every authority having power to issue a precept to a rating authority shall from time to time issue such precepts as will be sufficient to provide for such part of the total estimated expenditure to be incurred by the authority during the period in respect of which the precept is issued as is to be met out of moneys raised by rates, together with such additional amount as is in the opinion of the authority required to cover expenditure previously incurred, or to meet contingencies, or to defray any expenditure which may fall to be defrayed before the date on which the moneys to be received in respect of the next subsequent precept will become available.

Provisions as to precepts by certain authorities.

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(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to any precept issued to rating authorities by any of the following authorities, namely, a county council, the Greater London Council, and the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District.

(2) The precept shall require the rating authority for each rating area affected to levy, as part, or as an additional item, of the rate, a rate of such amount in the pound as may be specified in the precept, being (subject to subsection (10) of this section) the same amount in the case of each rating area affected, and shall state the date or dates on or before which payments are required to be made on account of the rate levied in pursuance of the precept, and the amount of each such payment.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this section, the amount due under the precept to the precepting authority shall be the amount produced by the rate of the amount in the pound specified in the precept, and the rating authority shall make payments in accordance with the requirements of the precept on account of the amount due under it.

(4) For the purpose of enabling the precepting authorities aforesaid to issue their precepts in manner required by this section, every rating authority shall before 1st February in each year transmit to each of those precepting authorities having power to issue a precept to that rating authority an estimate of the amount, calculated in the prescribed manner, which would be produced in the next year by a rate of a penny in the pound levied in the rating area or part thereof, as the case may be, and the aggregate amount of the payments required by the precept shall not exceed the sum which a rate of the amount in the pound specified in the precept would produce on the basis of the estimate for that year.

(5) Where a rating authority fail to transmit an estimate to any precepting authority in accordance with subsection (4) of this section, the precepting authority may make the estimate for the purposes of this section in lieu of the rating authority.

(6) The precept must be issued, or information as to the amount in the pound of the rate to be levied under it must be given, to each rating authority affected not less than twenty-one days before the beginning of the year or half-year, as the case may be, in which the rate is to be levied.

(7) The amount due under the precept shall be ascertained in the prescribed manner; and—

(a) if that amount exceeds the aggregate amount of the payments required by the precept, the balance shall be paid by the rating authority to the precepting authority;

(b) if that amount is less than the aggregate amount of the payments required by the precept, the balance shall be set off against any amount required by the next precept issued to the rating authority by the precepting authority.

(8) Where the amount due under the precept, or any part of that amount, is not paid on or before the date specified in the precept for payment, the precepting authority may, if they think fit, require the rating authority to pay, in accordance with subsection (9) of this section, interest on that amount, or that part of the amount, and any interest so payable shall be paid by the rating authority to the precepting authority in like manner as if it were due under the precept.

(9) For the purposes of subsection (8) of this section interest shall be calculated at the rate of six per cent. per annum and shall commence to run from the date of payment specified in the precept, except that no interest shall be charged—

(a) in respect of any day before the expiration of six weeks from the commencement of the year or half-year, as the case may be, in respect of which the precept was issued; or

(b) in respect of any day on which the aggregate amount of any payments made under the precept is equal to or exceeds the sum which bears to the aggregate amount of the instalments required by the precept the same proportion as the number of days which have elapsed since the commencement of the said year or half-year, as the case may be, bears to the total number of days in that year or half-year.

(10) The foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect with such adaptations as are necessary by reason of any provision whereby a precept in respect of particular expenditure is required to be issued in such manner that—

(a) a rate levied in respect of expenditure chargeable on part only of the precepting authority's area is levied only on that part of that area ; or

(b) rates of different amounts are levied on different rating areas.

(11) In the application of subsection (2) of this section to the City of London, references to the rate shall be construed as references to the poor rate.

Precepts by other authorities.

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(1) Any authority other than those referred to in section 12(1) of this Act by whom precepts are issued to any rating authority, or any rating authority to whom such precepts are issued, may make and submit to the Minister a scheme for applying to those precepts the provisions of the said section 12, subject to such modifications as may appear to be necessary having regard to the basis of apportionment or the incidence of charge existing immediately before the scheme is proposed to come into force; and the Minister may, after giving any authorities concerned an opportunity of objecting, by order confirm the scheme either without modifications or subject to such modifications as he thinks fit:

Provided that, if an objection to any such scheme is made by any of the authorities concerned and is not withdrawn, the order shall be provisional only and shall not have effect unless and until confirmed by Parliament.

(2) A scheme duly made, submitted and confirmed in accordance with the provisions of the foregoing subsection shall, subject to the provisions of the confirming order, have effect as if enacted in this Act.

Precepts-general.

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(1) Rules made for the purposes of sections 12 and 13 of this Act under section 113 thereof—

(a) subject and without prejudice to subsections (1)(c) and (2) of the said section 113, shall provide in what manner and to what extent the cost of the collection of a rate, including any allowances made under section 51, 54, 55 or 56 of this Act, and losses on collection, are to be treated as deductions in estimating and ascertaining the amount produced by the rate ; and

(b) shall make provision with respect to any other matters for which it appears necessary to make provision in order to carry the said sections 12 and 13 into effect.

(2) Every precepting authority shall on issuing a precept to a rating authority supply to the rating authority such information as is reasonably necessary for the preparation of demand notes in accordance with section 5 of this Act.

General power for securing payment of precepts.

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(1) Where in pursuance of a precept issued to a rating authority by any other authority any amount is payable directly or indirectly by the rating authority to the precepting authority and, on an application for a certificate under this section made by the precepting authority after twenty-one days' notice given to the rating authority, the Minister is satisfied that the rating authority have refused or through wilful neglect or wilful default failed to raise that amount by a rate, or that, having raised the amount by a rate, the rating authority have refused or through wilful neglect or wilful default failed to pay the amount due under the precept, the Minister may issue a certificate to that effect and thereupon—

(a) the precepting authority shall have the like power of applying for a receiver, and

(b) a receiver may on such an application be appointed in like manner, and when appointed shall have the like power,

as if—

(i) the precepting authority were a secured creditor of the rating authority for the amount due under the precept, with interest thereon at the rate of six per cent. per annum from the date when the amount became payable under the precept; and

(ii) the said amount and interest were due under a security issued under the Local Loans Act 1875 charging them on the rates leviable by, and on all other property of, the rating authority; and

(iii) the conditions under which a receiver may in such a case be appointed under section 12 of the said Act of 1875 were fulfilled;

and the said section 12 shall apply accordingly.

(2) If the Minister so thinks fit an application under subsection (1)(a) of this section may be made by him instead of by the precepting authority.

(3) The powers conferred by this section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other powers for enforcing compliance with a precept issued to a rating authority.

PART III — Liability, valuation, reliefs, etc.

Liability and assessment to rate

Liability to be rated in respect of occupation of property.

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Subject to the provisions of this Act, every occupier of property of any of the following descriptions, namely—

(a) lands;

(b) houses;

(d) mines of any other description, other than a mine of which the royalty or dues are for the time being wholly reserved in kind;

(e) any right of sporting (that is to say, any right of fowling, of shooting, of taking or kilhng game or rabbits, or of fishing) when severed from the occupation of the land on which the right is exercisable,

shall be liable to be assessed to rates in respect of the hereditament or hereditaments comprising that property according to the rateable value or respective rateable values of that hereditament or those hereditaments determined in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Liability to be rated in respect of certain unoccupied property.

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(1) A rating authority may resolve that the provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act with respect to the rating of unoccupied property—

(a) shall apply, or

(b) if they for the time being apply, shall cease to apply,

to their area, and in that case those provisions shall come into operation, or, as the case may be, cease to be in operation, in that area on such day as may be specified in the resolution.

(2) The day to be specified in a resolution under subsection (1) of this section shall be—

(a) in the case of a resolution providing that the said provisions shall apply to the area in question, the first day of a rate period for that area beginning after the day on which the resolution is passed, not being earlier, if those provisions have previously applied to the area, than the expiration of the period of seven years beginning with the day when those provisions ceased or last ceased to apply to the area or of such shorter period as the Minister authorises in any particular case ;

(b) in the case of a resolution providing that the said provisions shall cease to apply to the area in question, the last day of a rate period for that area ending after the day on which the resolution is passed, not being earlier than the expiration of the period of seven years beginning with the day when those provisions came or last came into operation in the area or of such shorter period as the Minister authorises in any particular case.

(3) As soon as may be after a resolution is passed by a rating authority under this section, the authority shall cause a copy of the resolution to be published in the London Gazette and in one or more newspapers circulating in the area of the authority.

(4) A document purporting to be a copy of the minutes of a resolution passed by a rating authority under this section or under section 20 of the Local Government Act 1966 and to be certified under the hand of the clerk of the authority as a true copy of the minutes of the resolution shall be evidence that the resolution was passed by the authority.

(5) This section and the said Schedule 1 shall not apply to the Temples, and in their application to the City of London the expression " rate " shall mean the poor rate and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.

General provisions as to liability and assessment to rate.

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(1) The following general provisions shall have effect with respect to the assessment of persons to, and their liability in respect of, a rate in respect of any hereditament for any rate

(2) A person who is in occupation of the hereditament for part only of the rate period shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be liable to be charged with such part only of the total amount of the rate as the number of days during which he is in occupation bears to the total number of days in that period.

(3) A person who is in occupation of the hereditament for any part of the rate period may be assessed to the rate in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section notwithstanding that he ceased to be in occupation before the rate was made.

(4) A person who is in occupation of the hereditament at any time after the rate is made may be assessed to and shall in the first instance be liable to pay—

(a) if he was in occupation at the beginning of the rate period, the whole of the amount charged in respect of that hereditament; or

(b) if he came into occupation subsequently, a proportion of the amount aforesaid calculated on the basis that he will remain in occupation until the end of the rate period,

but shall, if he goes out of occupation before the end of that period, be entitled to recover from the rating authority any sum paid by him in excess of the amount properly chargeable against him in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, except in so far as he has previously recovered that sum from an incoming occupier.

(5) In relation to any rate to which section 177 of the City of London Sewers Act 1848 (which relates to the rating of empty houses in the City of London) applies, the foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect subject to the provisions of the said section 177, and any amount in respect of any such rate which any person is required by the said section 177 to pay or allow in respect of any period during which a hereditament is unoccupied shall be allowed to the rating authority in computing any sum which that person is entitled to recover from the authority in respect of that hereditament under subsection (4) of this section.

(6) Where the name of any person liable to be rated as occupier of any premises is not known to the rating authority, it shall be sufficient to assess him to the rate by the description of the " occupier " of the premises (naming them) in respect of which the assessment is made, without further name or description.

Valuation of hereditaments—general provisions

Ascertainment of rateable value-general rule.

19

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act and of any scheme for the time being in force such as is mentioned in section 117(7) of this Act, the rateable value of a hereditament shall be taken to be the net annual value of that hereditament ascertained in accordance with subsections (2) to (4) of this section.

(2) In the case of a hereditament consisting of one or more houses or other non-industrial buildings, with or without any garden, yard, court, forecourt, outhouse or other appurtenance belonging thereto, but without other land, the net annual value of the hereditament shall be ascertained by deducting from its gross value such amount, or an amount calculated in such manner, as may for the time being be specified by the Minister by order in relation to the class of such hereditaments to which the hereditament in question belongs.

(3) The net annual value of any other hereditament shall be an amount equal to the rent at which it is estimated the hereditament might reasonably be expected to let from year to year if the tenant undertook to pay all usual tenant's 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.

(4) Where, in the case of any hereditament, either its net annual value ascertained in accordance with subsection (2) or (3) of this section or, if different, its rateable value includes a fraction of a pound, that value shall be increased or reduced, as the case may be, to the nearest complete pound, or, if the fraction is ten shillings, the fraction shall be disregarded.

(5) No order shall be made under subsection (2) of this section unless a draft of the order has been laid before Parliament and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

(6) In this section, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—

" appurtenance ", in relation to a dwelling, or to a school, college or other educational establishment, includes all land occupied therewith and used for the purposes thereof;

" gross value ", in relation to a hereditament, means the rent at which the hereditament might reasonably be expected to let from year to year if the tenant undertook to pay all usual tenant's rates and taxes and the landlord undertook 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;

" house " includes part of a house ;

" non-industrial building " means a building, or part of a building, of any description other than— factories, mills and other premises of a similar character used wholly or mainly for industrial purposes; or premises forming part, and taken into account in the valuation for rating purposes, of— (i) a railway, dock, canal, gas, water or electricity undertaking; or any public utility undertaking not falling within sub-paragraph (i) of this paragraph.

Valuation according to tone of list.

20

(1) For the purposes of any alteration of a valuation list to be made under Part V of this Act in respect of a hereditament in pursuance of a proposal, the value or altered value to be ascribed to the hereditament under section 19 of this Act shall not exceed the value which would have been ascribed thereto in that list if the hereditament had been subsisting throughout the year before that in which the valuation list came into force, on the assumptions that at the time by reference to which that value would have been ascertained—

(a) the hereditament was in the same state as at the time of valuation and any relevant factors (as defined by subsection (2) of this section) were those subsisting at the last-mentioned time ; and

(b) the locality in which the hereditament is situated was in the same state, so far as concerns the other premises situated in that locality and the occupation and use of those premises, the transport services and other facilities available in the locality, and other matters affecting the amenities of the locality, as at the time of valuation.

(2) In this section, the expression " relevant factors " means any of the following, so far as material to the valuation of a hereditament, namely—

(a) the mode or category of occupation of the hereditament ;

(b) the quantity of minerals or other substances in or extracted from the hereditament; or

and in paragraph (c) of this subsection the expression " public house " means a hereditament which consists of or comprises premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor for consumption on the premises where the sale of such liquor is, or is apart from any other trade or business ancillary or incidental to it, the only trade or business carried on at the hereditament.

(3) References in this section to the time of valuation are references to the time by reference to which the valuation of a hereditament would have fallen to be ascertained if this section had not been enacted.

(4) This section does not apply to a hereditament which is occupied by a public utility undertaking and of which the value falls to be ascertained on the profits basis.

(5) This section shall not apply to any proposal remaining to be settled which was served on or made by the valuation officer before 3rd December 1965; and the provisions of Schedule 2 to this Act shall have effect where a proposal in respect of a hereditament was—

(a) served on or made by the valuation officer on or after 3rd December 1965; and

(b) settled before 13th December 1966.

Hereditaments containing plant and machinery.

21

(1) For the purpose of the valuation of any hereditament under section 19 of this Act otherwise than on the profits basis—

(a) subject to any order under subsection (5) of this section, all such plant or machinery in or on the hereditament as belongs to any of the classes set out in the statement for the time being having effect under subsection (4) of this section shall be deemed to be a part of the hereditament;

(b) except as provided in the foregoing paragraph, no account shall be taken of the value of any plant or machinery in or on the hereditament.

(2) The valuation officer shall, on being so required in writing by the occupier of any hereditament, furnish to him particulars in writing showing what machinery or plant, or whether any particular machinery or plant, has been treated in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section as forming part of the hereditament.

(3) From time to time, at such intervals as the Minister may direct, a committee consisting of five persons appointed by the Minister shall transmit to the Minister a statement setting out in detail all the machinery and plant which at the date of the preparation of the statement appears to the committee to fall within any of the classes specified in Schedule 3 to this Act.

(4) The Minister shall cause any statement transmitted to him under subsection (3) of this section to be published in such manner as he thinks fit and, after considering the statement and any representations which may be made to him with respect thereto, may if he thinks fit make an order, to come into operation on such date as may be specified therein, confirming that statement with or without modifications ; and the statement as confirmed by the order shall as from the said date have effect for the purposes of this section in substitution for any statement previously so having effect.

(5) The Minister may by order provide for excluding from the plant and combinations of plant and machinery which, under the statement for the time being having effect under subsection (4) of this section, are to be treated as comprised in Class 4 in Schedule 3 to this Act any item or part of an item which satisfies the following conditions, that is to say—

(a) that it is the practice of the trade for which the item is provided to move the item or part from one hereditament, or situation in a hereditament, to another ; and

(b) that the weight, greatest dimension, and volume (each being measured as provided by the order) do not exceed such limits as may be prescribed by the order ;

and an order under this subsection may be made either generally or as respects specified descriptions of items or parts of items of plant or of combinations of plant and machinery, and may make different provision under paragraph (b) of this subsection for different cases.

(6) Any order made under subsection (4) or (5) of this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

(7) Nothing in subsections (1) to (4) of this section or in section 22 of this Act shall affect the law or practice with respect to the valuation of hereditaments on the profits basis, or be taken to extend the class of property which was under the law and practice as in force immediately before the commencement of this Act deemed to be provided by the occupier and to form part of his capital.

Determination of certain questions as to plant and machinery.

22

(1) If on or in connection with any proposal or objection made or appeal brought with respect to the valuation list a question is raised whether any particular plant or machinery falls within any of the classes or descriptions specified in the statement for the time being having effect under section 21(4) of this Act, that question may, with the consent in writing of the parties to the proceedings, be referred by the valuation officer or court, as the case may be, to, and determined by, such member of a panel of referees constituted for the purposes of this section as may be agreed on by the parties or, in default of agreement, as may be selected in accordance with the rules hereinafter mentioned.

(2) The panel referred to in the foregoing subsection shall consist of persons appointed by the Lord Chief Justice of England, who may make rules—

(a) fixing the fees to be charged in respect of proceedings before a referee ; and

(b) with respect to the procedure on and in connection with references under this section ; and

(c) with respect to the selection of a referee in cases where the parties fail to agree as to the member of the panel to be appointed;

and provision may be made by the rules for applying to references under this section (subject to the express provisions thereof) any of the provisions of the Arbitration Act 1950, but except in so far as it may be so applied that Act shall not apply to such references.

(3) A referee under this section may, and if so required by any party to the reference shall, before making his award inspect the plant or machinery in respect of which the question arises, and the award of the referee shall be final and conclusive.

Adjustment of gross value by reference to provision of or payment for services, etc.

23

(1) The provisions of this section shall have effect for ascertaining for the purposes of section 19 of this Act the grossr value of a hereditament in cases where it falls to be ascertained by reference to the rent payable in respect of that or some other hereditament (hereafter in this section referred to as the " standard hereditament ") and either or both of the following conditions are fulfilled, that is to say—

(a) the rent of the standard hereditament is partly attributable to the provision by the landlord of services in relation to that hereditament (including the repair, maintenance or insurance of premises not forming part of that hereditament); or

(b) the tenant, in addition to the rent, contributes towards the cost of any such services.

(2) Where the rent of the standard hereditament is partly attributable to the provision by the landlord of such services, the sum falling to be deducted from that rent for the said purpose as being the amount attributable to the provision of those services shall not include any amount in respect of—

(a) any profit made, or which might be expected to be made, by the landlord in providing those services ;

(b) the cost of repairs to, and maintenance and insurance of, premises not forming part of that hereditament.

(3) Where the tenant of the standard hereditament, in addition to the rent—

(a) makes payments to the landlord in consideration of the landlord undertaking to provide any such services in relation to that hereditament; or

(b) otherwise contributes (directly or indirectly and whether in pursuance of an undertaking to do so or not) to the cost of repairing, maintaining or insuring other premises not forming part of that hereditament but belonging to or occupied by the landlord, being premises which the landlord has not undertaken to repair, maintain or insure, as the case may be,

the rent shall for the purpose of ascertaining gross value be treated as increased by the amount of the payments or other contributions made by the tenant or, where those amounts vary from time to time, by a sum which on a proper estimate equals the average annual amount so paid or contributed.

(4) Nothing in subsection (3) of this section shall be taken to prejudice any right to make a deduction from the rent of a hereditament, for the purpose of ascertaining gross value, in respect of services provided by the landlord or other matters.

(5) Any reference in the foregoing provisions of this section to premises includes a reference to any plant or machinery which by virtue of section 21 of this Act is treated as part of those premises for rating purposes or would be so treated if those premises were a rateable hereditament.

Buildings occupied in parts.

24

Where a building which was constructed or has been adapted—

(a) for the purposes of a single dwelling; or

(b) as to part thereof for such purposes and as to the remainder thereof for any purpose other than that of a dwelling,

is occupied in parts, the valuation officer, in preparing a new valuation list or in altering a current valuation list, may, if he thinks fit, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the extent, if any, to which the parts separately occupied have been severed by structural alterations, treat the building or any portion thereof as a single hereditament, and a building or portion of a building so treated as a single hereditament shall, for the purposes of rating, be deemed to be a single hereditament in the occupation of the person who receives the rents payable in respect of the parts.

Hereditaments which are partly occupied.

25

(1) If it appears to the rating authority that part of a hereditament included in the valuation list is unoccupied but will remain so for a short time only, the authority may request the valuation officer to apportion the rateable value of the hereditament between the occupied and unoccupied parts; and if the apportionment made by the valuation officer is agreed by the authority and the occupier, then as from—

(a) the date upon which the hereditament became partly occupied; or

(b) the commencement of the rate period in which the request was made,

whichever is the later, until any of the unoccupied part is reoccupied or a further apportionment of the value of the hereditament takes effect under this subsection, the value apportioned to the occupied part shall be treated for rating purposes as if it were the value ascribed to the hereditament in the valuation list.

(2) The foregoing subsection shall not apply in relation to any hereditament in the case of which, under section 55 or 56 of this Act, the owner is rated or has undertaken to pay the rates instead of the occupier, but shall apply in relation to a hereditament in the case of which, under the said section 56, the owner has undertaken to collect on behalf of the rating authority the rates due from the occupier.

Liability and valuation—special cases

Agricultural premises.

26

(1) No agricultural land or agricultural buildings shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

(2) The gross value for the purposes of section 19(2) of this Act of a house occupied in connection with agricultural land and used as the dwelling of a person who—

(a) is primarily engaged in carrying on or directing agricultural operations on that land ; or

(b) is employed in agricultural operations on that land in the service of the occupier thereof and is entitled, whether as tenant or otherwise, so to use the house only while so employed,

shall, so long as the house is so occupied and used, be estimated by reference to the rent at which the house might reasonably be expected to let from year to year if it could not be occupied and used otherwise than as aforesaid.

(3) In this section the expression " agricultural land "—

(a) means any land used as arable meadow or pasture ground only, land used for a plantation or a wood or for the growth of saleable underwood, land exceeding one quarter of an acre used for the purposes of poultry farming, cottage gardens exceeding one quarter of an acre, market gardens, nursery grounds, orchards or allotments, including allotment gardens within the meaning of the Allotments Act 1922, but does not include land occupied together with a house as a park, gardens (other than as aforesaid), pleasure grounds, or land kept or preserved mainly or exclusively for purposes of sport or recreation, or land used as a racecourse ; and for the purposes of this paragraph the expression " cottage garden " means a garden attached to a house occupied as a dwelling by a person of the labouring classes; and

(b) includes land occupied with, and used solely in connection with the use of, such a building as is mentioned in subsection (4) (b) of this section.

(4) In this section, the expression " agricultural buildings "—

(a) means buildings (other than dwellings) occupied together with agricultural land or being or forming part of a market garden, and in either case used solely in connection with agricultural operations thereon; and

(b) includes a building which is used solely in connection with agricultural operations carried on on agricultural land and which is occupied either—

(i) by the occupiers of all that land ; or

(ii) by individuals who are appointed by the said occupiers for the time being to manage the use of the building and of whom each is an occupier of some of the land or a member of the board of directors or other governing body of such an occupier who is a body corporate,

where the number of occupiers of all the said land does not exceed twenty-four (two or more persons occupying jointly being counted as one, but as a separate person from any of them who are occupying any of the land severally).

Land used as plantation, etc.

27

(1) Where any land, not being agricultural land, and not being subject to any right of common, is used for a plantation or a wood or for the growth of saleable underwood, the rateable value of the land shall be estimated in accordance with subsections (2) to (4) of this section.

(2) If the land is used only for a plantation or a wood, the rateable value shall be estimated as if the land, instead of being a plantation or a wood, were let and occupied in its natural and unimproved state.

(3) If the land is used for the growth of saleable underwood, the rateable value shall be estimated as if the land were let for that purpose.

(4) If the land is used both for a plantation or a wood and for the growth of saleable underwood, the rateable value shall be estimated either as if the land were used only for a plantation or a wood, or as if the land were used only for the growth of the saleable underwood growing thereon, as the valuation officer may determine.

Advertising stations.

28

(1) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, where the right to use any land (including any structure or sign erected or to be erected on the land, and including also any wall or other part of a building) for the purpose of exhibiting advertisements is let out or reserved to any person other than the occupier of the land, or, where the land is not occupied for any other purpose, to any person other than the owner of the land, then, subject to subsection (2) of this section, that right shall be deemed for rating purposes to be a separate hereditament in the occupation of the person for the time being entitled to the right, and shall be included in the valuation list accordingly; and for the purposes of section 19(3) of this Act—

(a) in valuing that separate hereditament for rating purposes, the rent at which it might be expected to be let shall be estimated on the footing that the rent would include a proper amount in respect of any structure or sign for the time being available for use, for the purpose of exhibiting advertisements, by the occupier of the separate hereditament, notwithstanding that the structure or sign was provided by him or was provided after the said right was let out or reserved;

(b) in valuing the land for rating purposes, no account shall be taken of any value or, as the case may be, increased value arising from the use of the land for the purpose of exhibiting advertisements in accordance with the said right.

(2) The separate hereditament aforesaid shall be treated as coming into existence at the earliest time at which either—

(a) any structure or sign is erected, after the right constituting the hereditament has been let out or reserved, for enabling the right to be exercised ; or

(b) any advertisement is exhibited in pursuance of the right,

and not before; and for the purposes of section 79(2) of this Act—

(i) the hereditament shall be treated as a newly erected or newly constructed hereditament coming into occupation at the said earliest time; and

(ii) the erection, dismantling or alteration, after that time, of any structure or sign for enabling the right to be exercised shall, in relation to the hereditament, be treated as the making of structural alterations.

(3) Where any land is used temporarily or permanently for, or for the erection of any structure used for, the exhibition of advertisements but is not otherwise occupied, and subsection (1) of this section does not apply, the person permitting that land to be so used or, if that person cannot be ascertained, the owner of that land shall be deemed to be in beneficial occupation of the land so used and be rateable in respect thereof according to the value of that use of the land.

(4) Where any hereditament rateable in respect of its occupation for other purposes is used temporarily or permanently for, or for the erection thereon or attachment thereto of any structure used for, the exhibition of advertisements, and subsection (1) of this section does not apply, any estimate of the gross or rateable value of that hereditament for the purposes of section 19 of this Act shall be so made as to include the increased value from that use of the land.

(5) In this section, the expression " structure " includes a hoarding, frame, post or wall.

(6) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any right to use for the purpose of exhibiting advertisements any land forming part of railway or canal premises within the meaning of section 32 of this Act.

Rights of sporting.

29

(1) Where, in the case of a right of sporting exercisable on land which is not agricultural land, the right is severed from the occupation of the land and is not let, and the owner of the right receives rent for the land, the right shall not be separately valued or rated but the rateable value of the land shall be estimated as if the right were not severed.

(2) Where any right of sporting, when severed from the occupation of the land on which it is exercisable, is let, either the owner or the lessee of the right, according as the rating authority determine, may be rated as the occupier thereof.

(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the owner of any right of sporting which is severed from the occupation of the land on which the right is exercisable may be rated as the occupier thereof.

(4) For the purposes of this section, the person who, if the right of sporting is not let, is entitled to exercise the right, or who, if the right is let, is entitled to receive the rent therefrom, shall be deemed to be the owner of the right.

(5) In this section, the expression " right of sporting " has the meaning assigned by section 16(e) of this Act.

County and voluntary school premises.

30

(1) For the purpose of the application of section 19(2) of this Act to county and voluntary schools, the Minister and the Secretary of State for Education and Science (hereafter in this section together referred to as " the Ministers ") may make regulations providing that the gross value of such schools of any prescribed class shall be ascertained in accordance with provisions of the regulations—

(a) requiring the Secretary of State to certify the amount estimated by him, by reference to such factors as appear to him to be relevant, to be the average cost of providing a place for one pupil in a school of that class completed not less than one year before the coming into force of the valuation lists to which the regulations apply;

(b) providing for the determination for any school of that class of an amount equal to the product of—

(i) a standard gross value for each such place, being a prescribed percentage of the amount certified under paragraph (a) of this subsection ; and

(ii) the number of places determined in accordance with the regulations to be available for pupils in that school; and

(c) providing for taking as the gross value for any such school the amount arrived at under paragraph (b) of this subsection as adjusted in the prescribed manner by reference to the age, lay-out and construction of the buildings, the facilities and amenities provided at the school, and such other factors of any description as may be prescribed.

(2) The Ministers may by regulations provide that land of any prescribed description forming part of, or occupied with, a county or voluntary school shall in such cases as may be prescribed be treated for rating purposes as a separate hereditament and not as forming part of the school or its appurtenances.

(3) Before making any regulations under this section the Ministers shall consult with such associations of local authorities as appear to them to be concerned and with any local authority with whom consultation appears to them to be desirable.

(4) In this section " county school " and " voluntary school " have the same meanings respectively as in the Education Act 1944, and " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations under this section.

Statutory water undertakings.

31

(1) The rateable values of the hereditaments in any rating district which are occupied for the purposes of a statutory water undertaking otherwise than as dwellings (hereafter in this section and in Schedule 4 to this Act referred to as " water hereditaments " of the undertaking) shall be ascertained in accordance with the provisions of the said Schedule 4.

(2) In the year following that in which new valuation lists first come into force after the commencement of this Act, the Minister shall, in consultation with such associations of local authorities as appear to him to be concerned, with any local authority with whom consultation appears to him to be desirable, and with any association of statutory water undertakers, cause investigations to be made into the effect of the operation of, and of the enactments re-enacted by, this section and the said Schedule 4; and the Minister shall cause to be laid before Parliament a report on the investigations made under this subsection and their result.

(3) In this section and the said Schedule 4, the expression " statutory water undertakers " has the same meaning as in the provisions of the Water Act 1945 other than Part II thereof, and references to statutory water undertakings shall be construed accordingly.

Railway or canal premises.

32

(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the provisions of this section shall have effect with respect to premises (hereafter in this section and in Schedule 5 to this Act referred to as railway or canal premises ") which are occupied wholly or partly for non-rateable purposes of any of the following Boards (hereafter in this section and the said Schedule 5 referred to as a " transport Board "), namely, the British Railways Board, the London Transport Board and the British Waterways Board.

(2) There shall not be treated for the purposes of this section as railway or canal premises any premises of any of the following descriptions, namely—

(a) premises occupied as a dwelling, hotel or place of public refreshment;

(b) subject and without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to this Act, office premises occupied by a transport Board which are not situated on operational land of that Board ;

(3) No railway or canal premises which are or form part of premises occupied wholly for non-rateable purposes shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

(4) In the case of a hereditament consisting of railway or canal premises occupied partly for non-rateable purposes and partly for other purposes of any of the following descriptions, that is to say—

(a) purposes of any parts of the undertaking of a transport Board which are—

(i) concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport or with harbours; or

(ii) subsidiary or incidental to any such part of an undertaking so concerned;

(b) purposes of the supply of electricity to an Electricity Board within the meaning of section 34 of this Act, including the generation of electricity so supplied,

there shall be ascribed to the hereditament under section 19 of this Act such net annual value as may be just having regard to the extent to which it is occupied for those other purposes; and if under any scheme for the time being in force such as is mentioned in section 117(7) of this Act any deduction falls to be made from the net annual value of the hereditament in arriving at its rateable value, that deduction shall be calculated with regard only to those other purposes.

(5) In each year, each of the transport Boards shall make for the benefit of rating authorities in England and Wales, in lieu of the rates which would, apart from the provisions of subsections (3) and (4) of this section, be payable in respect of railway or canal premises, a payment of an amount determined in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 5 to this Act.

(6) In this section, the expression " non-rateable purposes " means, subject to subsection (7) of this section, any of the following purposes of a transport Board, that is to say—

(a) all purposes of the parts of the Board's undertaking which are concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail or inland waterway or the provision of facilities for traffic by inland waterway ;

(b) all purposes of any parts of the Board's undertaking which, not being such parts as are mentioned in subsection (4) (a) of this section, are subsidiary or incidental to any such part of the undertaking as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(7) For the purposes of this section—

(a) services performed by a transport Board in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail or inland waterway shall be deemed to be performed in carrying on a part of the Board's undertaking concerned with the carriage of goods by rail or inland waterway and not in carrying on a part of the Board's undertaking concerned with road transport;

(b) where railway or canal premises are occupied mainly lor non-rateable purposes and partly for the purposes of the central direction and control of the affairs of a transport Board, the last-mentioned purposes shall be deemed to be non-rateable purposes ;

(c) where railway or canal premises are occupied by a transport Board partly for non-rateable purposes and partly for the purpose of the use of those premises by a transport Board for exhibiting advertisements thereon, the last-mentioned purpose shall be deemed to be a non-rateable purpose.

(8) In this section, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—

" harbour " means any harbour, whether natural or artificial, and any port, haven, estuary, tidal or other river or inland waterway navigated by sea-going ships, and any dock, including any pier, jetty or other place at which ships can ship or unship goods or passengers ;

" inland waterway " includes any such waterway, whether natural or artificial;

" office premises " means any hereditament used wholly or mainly as an office or for office purposes;

" office purposes " includes the purposes of administration, clerical work and handling money; and " clerical work " includes writing, book-keeping, sorting papers, filing, typing, duplicating, punching cards or tapes, machine calculating, drawing and the editorial preparation of matter for publication ;

" operational land ", in relation to any body, means land which is used for the purpose of the carrying on of the body's undertaking, not being land which, in respect of its nature and situation, is comparable rather with land in general than with land which is used for the purpose of the carrying on of statutory undertakings within the meaning of the Town and Country Planning Act 1962;

" road transport " includes transport by light railway or tramway, if the light railway or tramway is laid wholly or mainly along a public highway and is used wholly or mainly for the carriage of passengers.

(9) There shall have effect for the purposes of this section and Part I of Schedule 5 to this Act the supplementary provisions contained in Part II of that Schedule.

Gas authorities.

33

(1) Subject to subsection (2) and without prejudice to subsections (3) and (5) of this section, no premises—

(a) occupied by a Gas Board ; or

(b) occupied by the Gas Council exclusively for purposes connected with the powers conferred on that Council by the Gas Act 1965,

shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

(2) The foregoing subsection shall not apply—

(a) to premises used as a dwelling ; or

(b) to premises occupied by a Gas Board wholly or mainly for the purposes of an undertaking for the supply of water; or

(c) to a shop, room or other place occupied and used by a Gas Board or the Gas Council wholly or mainly for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of gas (any use for the receipt of payments for gas consumed being disregarded) ; or

(d) subject and without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 13 of Schedule 6 to this Act, to office premises occupied by a Gas Board or the Gas Council which are not situated on operational land of that Board or Council.

(3) For the purpose of the making and levying of a rate for any rating area for any rate period, if, in the case of any Gas Board, any gas was in the penultimate year—

(a) either—

(i) supplied to consumers in that rating area ; or

(ii) manufactured in that rating area,

by that Board or, in that Board's area, by the Gas Council; or

(b) produced in that rating area by that Board or, in that Board's area, by the Gas Council by the application, to gas purchased by that Board or, as the case may be, Council, of any process not consisting only of purification, or of blending with other gases, or of both purification and such blending.

that Board shall be treated as occupying in that rating area during that rate period a hereditament of a rateable value calculated in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 6 to this Act.

(4) The hereditament which a Gas Board are to be treated as occupying in a rating area by virtue of subsection (3) of this section shall be taken not to be situated in any part of that area in which there are leviable, as an additional item of the rate, expenses which are not leviable in the area taken as a whole.

(5) If the Minister is of opinion that payments by way of rates should be made by Gas Boards by virtue of this subsection by reference to any premises occupied and used by the Gas Council or a Gas Board for the reception or liquefaction of gas or the evaporation of gas in a liquid state, being in any case gas purchased by the Council or the Board, he may, subject to paragraph 14 of Schedule 6 to this Act, make an order designating the premises for the purposes of this subsection and providing for the determination, by such method as may be specified by the order, of a value for the premises for those purposes ; and where such an order is in force the Minister may direct—

(a) that the value determined as aforesaid shall be apportioned among such Gas Boards as may be specified by the direction in such proportions as may be so specified; and

(b) that each Board specified by the direction shall, during such period as may be so specified, be treated for rating purposes as occupying within the rating area in which the premises designated by the order are situated (and whether or not that Board occupy or are treated as occupying any other hereditament in that area) a hereditament of a rateable value equal to the proportion of the value aforesaid allocated by the direction to that Board; and

(c) that paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to this Act shall have effect during the period aforesaid in relation to each Board specified by the direction as if the Board's adjusted basic total of rateable values mentioned in that paragraph were reduced by an amount equal to the said proportion;

and any direction under this subsection may be revoked or varied by a subsequent direction thereunder.

(6) Subject to paragraph 14 of Schedule 6 to this Act, the Minister may by order provide that, in such of the provisions of this section, the said Schedule 6 or any other enactment relating to rating as may be specified in the order, any reference to the manufacture of gas shall include a reference to such dealings with gas as may be specified by the order.

(7) There shall have effect for the purposes of this section and Part I of Schedule 6 to this Act the supplementary provisions contained in Part II of that Schedule; and for the purposes of this section and the said Schedule 6—

(a) the expression " Gas Board " means an Area Board within the meaning of the Gas Act 1948 ;

(b) the expression " gas " includes gas in a liquid state ; and, without prejudice to the provisions of any order under subsection (6) of this section, the following operations, that is to say—

(i) the liquefaction of gas ; and

(ii) the evaporation of gas in a liquid state,

shall not of themselves be taken to constitute the manufacture of gas or the application of a process to gas;

(c) the expression " penultimate year ", in relation to a rate period or to a year, means the last but one year before that rate period or year ;

(d) the expressions " office premises " and " operational land " have the meanings respectively assigned by section 32(8) of this Act.

Electricity boards.

34

(1) Subject to subsection (2) and without prejudice to subsection (3) of this section, no premises which are, or form part of, premises occupied by an Electricity Board shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

(2) The foregoing subsection shall not apply—

(a) to premises used as a dwelling; or

(b) to a shop, room or other place occupied and used by an Electricity Board wholly or mainly for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of electricity (any use for the receipt of payments for electricity consumed being disregarded); or

(c) subject and without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 15 of Schedule 7 to this Act, to office premises occupied by an Electricity Board which are not situated on operational land of that Board.

(3) For the purposes of the making and levying of any rate—

(a) the Generating Board shall be treated as occupying in each rating area, and

(b) each Area Board shall be treated as occupying in each rating area which is wholly or partly within the area of that Board,

a hereditament of a rateable value calculated in accordance with the provisions of Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act.

(4) The hereditament which an Electricity Board are to be treated as occupying in a rating area by virtue of subsection (3) of this section shall be taken not to be situated in any part of that area in which there are leviable, as an additional item of the rate, expenses which are not leviable in the area taken as a whole.

(5) There shall have effect for the purposes of this section and Part I of Schedule 7 to this Act the supplementary provisions contained in Part II of that Schedule ; and in this section and the said Schedule 7—

(a) the expression " Area Board " means a Board constituted under the Electricity Act 1947 :

(b) the expression " Electricity Board " means an Area Board or the Generating Board and, in subsections (1) and (2) of this section, includes the South of Scotland Electricity Board;

(d) the expressions " office premises " and " operational land " have the meanings respectively assigned by section 32(8) of this Act.

Mining, quarrying, dock, rediffusion, etc., undertakings.

35

(1) The Minister may by order make provision for determining the rateable value of hereditaments to which this section applies, or any class or description of such hereditaments specified in the order, by such method as may be so specified.

(2) This section applies to—

(a) any hereditament occupied by the National Coal Board ;

(b) any other hereditament which consists of or includes a mine or quarry or the whole or part of which is occupied together with a mine or quarry in connection with its working, or the treatment, preparation, storage or removal of its minerals or products of its minerals or the removal of its refuse ;

(c) any hereditament occupied by the persons carrying on, under authority conferred by or under any enactment, a dock or harbour undertaking; and

(d) any hereditament occupied by the persons carrying on an undertaking for the diffusion by wire of sound or television programmes;

and any reference in paragraph (b) of this subsection to a mine or quarry includes a reference to a well or bore-hole or a well and bore-hole combined, but except as aforesaid expressions used in that paragraph and the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 have the same meanings in that paragraph as in that Act.

(3) Any order under this section applying to any hereditament falling within any paragraph of subsection (2) of this section, or any class or description of such hereditaments, may provide for determining rateable value by the application of different methods of valuation to different parts of the hereditament.

(4) Before making any order under this section the Minister shall consult with such associations of local authorities or of persons carrying on undertakings as appear to him to be concerned and with any local authority or person carrying on an undertaking with whom consultation appears to him to be desirable.

(5) In the year following the coming into force of the second valuation lists for the purposes of which any order under this section has or has had effect the Minister shall, in consultation with such associations, local authorities and persons as aforesaid, cause investigations to be made into the effect of the operation of the order; and the Minister shall cause to be laid before Parliament a report on any investigations made under this subsection and their result. ;

(6) An order under this section may repeal or amend any enactment so far as that enactment relates to the valuation of hereditaments to which the order relates, may as regards such hereditaments apply, restrict or modify the provisions of this Act relating to proposals for alterations of valuation lists and to appeals in connection with such lists and to the withholding of rates where proposals are pending, and shall have effect notwithstanding anything in any of those provisions.

(7) No order under this section shall have effect unless approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

Tin, lead and copper mines.

36

(1) Unless and until other provision has been made by an order under section 35 of this Act, the provisions of this section shall have effect with respect to the rating of any tin, lead or copper mine.

(2) Where the mine is occupied under a lease or leases granted without fine on a reservation wholly or partly of dues or rent, the rateable value of the mine for the purposes of any rate period shall, subject to subsection (3) of this section, be taken to be the aggregate of—

(a) the annual amount of the whole of the dues payable in respect of the mine during the year ending with 31st December falling between three and fifteen months before the beginning of that rate period ; and

(b) the annual amount of any fixed rent reserved for the mine which may not be paid or satisfied by such dues;

and the valuation officer may estimate the annual amount referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection for the purposes of the preparation of a new valuation list falling to be signed before the end of the year referred to in that paragraph.

(3) Where, in the case of a mine falling within subsection (2) of this section, the person receiving the dues or rent is liable for repairs, insurance, or other expenses necessary to maintain the mine in a state to command the annual amount of dues or rent, the rateable value of the mine shall be the aggregate referred to in the said subsection (2) less the average annual cost of the repairs, insurance, and other expenses for which that person is so liable.

(4) In the case of—

(a) a mine occupied under a lease granted wholly or partly on a fine; or

(b) a mine occupied and worked by the owner ; or

(c) a mine which does not fall within subsection (2) of this section or within paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection but which, by virtue of section 16 (a) of this Act, is rateable,

the rateable value of the mine shall be taken to be the annual amount of the dues or dues and rent at which the mine might be reasonably expected to let without fine on a lease of the ordinary duration, according to the usage of the country, if the tenant undertook to pay all tenant's rates and taxes and also the repairs, insurance, and other expenses necessary to maintain the mine in a state to command that annual amount of dues or dues and rent.

(5) The purser, secretary, and chief managing agent for the time being of the mine, or any of them, may, if the rating authority think fit, be rated as the occupier of the mine.

(6) In this section, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—

" dues " means dues, royalty, or toll, either in money or partly in money and partly in kind; and the amount of dues which are reserved in kind means the value of those dues;

" fine " means fine, premium, or foregift, or other payment or consideration in the nature thereof;

" lease " means lease or sett, or licence to work, or agreement for a lease or sett or licence to work;

" mine ", in the case of a mine occupied under a lease, includes the underground workings, and the engines, machinery, workshops, tramways, and other plant, buildings (other than dwellings), and works and surface of land occupied in connection with and for the purposes of the mine, and situate within the boundaries of the land comprised in the lease or leases under which the dues or dues and rent are payable or reserved.

Premises used for public purposes

Hereditaments occupied by or on behalf of Crown.

37

(1) Where any hereditament is occupied by or on behalf f the Crown for public purposes—

(a) gross value shall be determined or entered in the valuation list in respect of the hereditament; and

(b) if any contribution is made by the Crown in aid of rates in respect of the hereditament, there shall be entered in the valuation list as representing its rateable value the value upon which that contribution is computed ; and, subject to subsection (2) of this section, the value so entered, or the amount of the contribution, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining totals or the proceeds of any rate, but the entry shall not affect any question as to contributions to be made by the Crown in respect of rates.

(2) Where such a contribution as aforesaid is made for the year beginning with the date of the coming into force of a new valuation list for the rating area in which the hereditament is situated (in this subsection referred to as " the first year of the new list ")—

(a) if the contribution is subsequently revised before the end of the year next following the first year of the new list, the amount to be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining the proceeds of any rate for the first year of the new list shall be the amount of the contribution as revised, notwithstanding that the revision is made after the end of the last-mentioned year;

(b) if, in the case of a contribution in respect of a hereditament which was occupied by or on behalf of the Crown for public purposes at the time when the new valuation list came into force, the contribution as originally made, or as subsequently revised as mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection, is computed on a value which differs from (the value shown in the list when it came into force, then, subject to paragraphs (c) and (d) of this subsection, the value on which the contribution is so computed shall, for the purpose of ascertaining totals, be deemed to have been shown in the list, as representing the rateable value of the hereditament, as from the time when the list came into force, instead of the value actually shown in the list at that time ;

(c) if, in a case falling within paragraph (b) of this subsection, the difference between the values mentioned in that paragraph is wholly attributable to a structural alteration or other event which has taken place since the time when the new list came into force, that paragraph shall not apply ;

(d) if, by reason of one or more structural alterations or other events which have taken place since the new list came into force, the contribution as originally made, or as subsequently revised, is computed on two or more different values, then—

(i) any of those values which is referable to a period subsequent to such an alteration or event shall be disregarded for the purpose of ascertaining totals for the first year of the new list; and

(ii) the value referable to the period before the alteration or event (or the earliest of them, if more than one) shall for that purpose be deemed to have been shown in the new list, as representing the rateable value of the hereditament, as from the time when the list came into force, instead of the value actually shown in the list at that time,

but nothing in paragraph (c) or (d) of this subsection shall affect the ascertainment of totals for any year subsequent to the first year of the new list.

Contributions in aid of rates in respect of court buildings, police stations, etc.

38

(1) Any authority to whom this section applies may make contributions in aid of rates in respect of any hereditament provided and maintained by the authority for purposes connected with the administration of justice, police purposes or other Crown purposes, not being a hereditament in respect of which rates are payable, and any expenses incurred under this section in relation to any hereditament shall be treated as expenses incurred in maintaining the hereditament.

(2) Where a contribution is made under this section in respect of a hereditament, the value upon which that contribution is computed shall be entered in the valuation list as representing the rateable value of the hereditament; and the value so entered, or the amount of the contribution, as the case may be, shall be taken into account for the purposes of ascertaining totals or the proceeds of any rate for that rating area.

(3) The last foregoing subsection shall not be construed as requiring a gross value to be determined or entered in the valuation list in the case of a hereditament in respect of which a contribution is made under this section.

(4) The authorities to whom this section applies are the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District, the councils of counties, the Greater London Council, the councils of London boroughs, boroughs with a separate commission of the peace or boroughs having a separate court of quarter sessions, the Common Council of the City of London, police authorities and probation committees, and references in this section to an authority to whom this section applies include references to two or more such authorities acting jointly and to joint committees of two or more such authorities.

Miscellaneous exemptions and reliefs

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