General Rate Act 1967

Relief for places of religious worship.

39

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, and without prejudice to any exemption from, or privilege in respect of, rates under any enactment other than this section, no hereditament to which this section applies shall, in the case of any rating area, be liable to be rated for any rate period.

• (2) This section applies to the following hereditaments, that is to say—

• (a) places of public religious worship which belong to the Church of England or to the Church in Wales (within the meaning of the Welsh Church Act 1914), or which are for the time being certified as required by law as places of religious worship ; and

• (b) any church hall, chapel hall or similar building used in connection with any such place of public religious worship, and so used for the purposes of the organisation responsible for the conduct of public religious worship in that place,

and also applies to any hereditament consisting of such a place of public religious worship as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection together with one or more church halls, chapel halls or other buildings such as are mentioned in paragraph (b) thereof.

• (3) Where a hereditament to which this section applies, or any part of such a hereditament, is or has been let (whether by way of a tenancy or of a licence) for use otherwise than as a place of public religious worship, or, as the case may be, for use otherwise than as mentioned in subsection (2) (b) of this section—

• (a) the hereditament shall not be exempted by virtue of subsection (1) of this section from being rated for any rate period if any payment in consideration of such a letting of the hereditament or part thereof accrued due in the last year before the beginning of that rate period; but

• (b) no gross value for rating purposes shall be ascribed to the hereditament unless the average annual amount of the payments accruing due, as consideration for such lettings of the hereditament or parts thereof, exceeds the average annual amount of the expenses attributable to those lettings ; and

• (c) if such a gross value falls to be ascribed to the hereditament, by reason that the average annual amount of those payments exceeds the average annual amount of those expenses, the gross value shall be assessed by reference only to the amount of the excess.

Relief for charitable and other organisations.

40

• (1) If notice in writing is given to the rating authority

• (a) any hereditament occupied by, or by trustees for, a charity and wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities); or

• (b) any other hereditament, being a hereditament held upon trust for use as an almshouse,

is one falling within this subsection, then, subject to the provisions of this section, the amount of any rates chargeable in respect of the hereditament for any period during which the hereditament is one falling within either paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection, being a period beginning not earlier than the rate period in which the notice is given, shall not exceed one-half of the amount which would be chargeable apart from the provisions of this subsection:

Provided that where a hereditament ceases to be one falling within the said paragraphs (a) and (b), a previous notice given for the purposes of this subsection shall not have effect as respects any subsequent period during which the hereditament falls within either of those paragraphs.

• (2) No relief under the foregoing subsection shall be given in the case of a hereditament falling within paragraph (a) thereof for any period during which the hereditament is occupied by an institution specified in Schedule 8 to this Act.

• (3) The Minister may by order amend the provisions of Schedule 8 to this Act by adding any institution which in his opinion ought to be classified with the institutions mentioned in that Schedule or omitting any institution or altering the description of any institution.

• (4) An order under subsection (3) of this section may be made so as to have effect from any date not earlier than the beginning of the rate period in which it is made, and shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (5) Without prejudice to the powers conferred by section 53 of this Act, a rating authority shall have power to reduce or remit the payment of rates chargeable in respect of—

• (a) any hereditament falling within subsection (1)(a) or (b) of this section;

• (b) any other hereditament which is occupied for the purposes of one or more institutions or other organisations which are not established or conducted for profit and whose main objects are charitable or are otherwise philanthropic or religious or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts ;

• (c) any other hereditament which is occupied for the purposes of a club, society or other organisation not established or conducted for profit and is wholly or mainly used for purposes of recreation,

for any such period as is mentioned in subsection (6) of this section:

Provided that any such reduction or remission shall cease to have effect on a change in the occupation of the hereditament in respect of which it was granted.

• (6) Any reduction or remission of rates determined under subsection (5) of this section may at the discretion of the rating authority be granted—

• (a) for the year in which, or the year next following that in which, the determination to grant it is made; or

• (b) for a specified term of years, not exceeding five, beginning not earlier than the year in which the determination was made nor more than twenty-four months after the date of the determination ; or

• (c) for an indefinite period beginning not earlier than the last-mentioned year subject, however, to the exercise by the rating authority of their powers under subsection (7) of this section.

• (7) Where any such reduction or remission is granted for an indefinite period the rating authority may, by not less than twelve months' notice in writing given to the occupiers of the hereditament, terminate or modify the reduction or remission as from the end of a year specified in the notice.

• (8) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to any hereditament to which section 39 of this Act applies or to any hereditament ocoupied (otherwise than as trustee) by any authority having, within the meaning of the Local Loans Act 1875, power to levy a rate.

• (9) In this section " charity " means an institution or other organisation established for charitable purposes only, and " organisation " includes any persons administering a trust; and a hereditament an interest in which belongs to a charity or any ecclesiastical corporation and in which (in right of that interest)—

• (a) the persons from time to time holding any full-time office as clergyman or minister of any religious denomination, or

• (b) any particular person holding such an office,

have or has a residence from which to perform the duties of the office, or in which (in right of the said interest) accommodation is being held available to provide such a residence for such a person, shall be treated for the purposes of this section as occupied by a charity and wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes, whether or not it would be so treated apart from this provision.

• (10) The Minister may, on the application of any rating authority appearing to him to be concerned, by order repeal or amend any local enactment which confers an exemption from or abatement of, or a power to reduce or remit a payment of, rates in respect of any particular hereditament or of hereditaments of any class if it appears to him that a right to relief arises in respect of that hereditament or hereditaments of that class under subsection (1), or that a reduction or remission may be granted in respect thereof under subsection (5), of this section, and may by that order make such other amendments of any other local enactments as appear to him to be necessary in consequence of the repeal or amendment and such transitional provision as appears to him to be necessary or expedient in connection with the matter; and in this subsection, the expression " local enactment " means a provision of any local and personal Act or private Act or of any order or other instrument in the nature of any such Act.

Exemption for certain property of Trinity House.

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The following property belonging to, or occupied by, the Trinity House (but, notwithstanding anything in section 731 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, no other property so belonging or occupied) shall be exempt from rates, that is to say, lighthouses, buoys and beacons, and any property within the same curtilage as, and occupied for the purposes of, a lighthouse.

Exemption of sewers, etc.

42

No sewer, as defined by section 343 of the Public Health Act 1936, and no manhole, ventilating shaft, pumping station, pump or other accessory belonging to such a sewer, shall be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate.

Exemption of property of drainage authorities.

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• (1) The following premises, namely—

• (a) any land which is occupied by a river authority or other drainage authority and forms part of a main river for the purposes of Part II of the Land Drainage Act 1930 or of a watercourse maintained by the authority; and

• (b) any structure or appliance maintained by a drainage authority, being a structure or appliance for controlling or regulating the flow of water in, into or out of a watercourse which forms part of a main river for the purposes of the said Part II or is maintained by the authority,

shall not be liable to be rated or be included in any valuation list or in any rate:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall confer any exemption in respect of any right of fishing or shooting which under section 29 of this Act (apart from this subsection) constitutes a separate hereditament for rating purposes.

• (2) In this section, the expressions " drainage authority " and " watercourse " have the same meanings respectively as in the Land Drainage Act 1930.

Exemption of parks, etc.

44

• (1) A park which has been provided by, or is under the management of, a local authority and is for the time being available for free and unrestricted use by members of the public shall, while so available, be treated for rating purposes as if it had been dedicated in perpetuity for such use.

• (2) In this section—

• (a) references to a park include references to a recreation or pleasure ground, a public walk, an open space within the meaning of the Open Spaces Act 1906, and a playing field provided under the Physical Training and Recreation Act 1937;

• (b) the expression " local authority " means the council of a county, county borough, London borough, county district or borough included in a rural district, a parish council or parish meeting, the Greater London Council, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council of the Isles of Scilly, or any two or more of them acting in combination.

Relief in respect of facilities for disabled persons.

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In ascertaining for the purposes of section 19 of this Act the gross value of a hereditament, no account shall be taken—

• (a) of any struoture belonging to the Minister of Health and supplied by that Minister or, before 31st August 1953, by the Minister of Pensions for the accommodation of an invalid chair or of any other vehicle (whether mechanically propelled or not) constructed or adapted for use by invalids or disabled persons; or

• (b) of any structure belonging to a local health authority or to a voluntary organisation formed for any of the purposes mentioned in section 28(1) of the National Health Service Act 1946 (which relates to the prevention of, and to the care and after-care of persons suffering from, illness) and supplied for the use of any person in pursuance of arrangements made under the said section 28(1); or

• (c) of any structure belonging to a local authority within the meaning of section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948 (which relates to welfare arrangements for blind, deaf, dumb and other handicapped persons) or to such a voluntary organisation as is mentioned in section 30 of that Act and supplied for the use of any person in pursuance of arrangements made under the said section 29 ; or

• (d) of any structure which is of a kind similar to structures such as are referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this section but does not fall within that paragraph by reason that it is owned or has been supplied otherwise than as mentioned in that paragraph.

Relief for air-raid protection works.

46

• (1) In ascertaining the value for rating purposes of any hereditament, no regard shall be had—

• (a) to any room or other part of the hereditament which has been added at any time after the hereditament was first assessed, or was included in the hereditament before it was first assessed, solely for the purpose of affording protection in the event of hostile attack from the air, and which is not occupied or used for any other purpose;

• (b) to any structural alterations or improvements to the hereditament (not being the addition of any such room or other part as aforesaid) made, at any time after the hereditament was first assessed, solely for the purpose of affording such protection as aforesaid;

• (c) to any increase in the rent of the hereditament which is attributable to the provision for persons living or working in the hereditament of protection, otherwise than by warlike means or by any article of apparel, from hostile attack from the air ;

and, in relation to a hereditament forming part of a building, paragraph (b) of this subsection shall have effect as if any structural alterations or improvements made in the building or on land appurtenant to the building for the purpose of providing such protection as is mentioned in paragraph (c) of this subsection were structural alterations or improvements to the hereditament.

• (2) No person shall, in respect of any period, be liable to pay rates in respect of a hereditament which is intended to be occupied or used solely for the purpose of affording protection in the event of hostile attack from the air and which is not occupied or used for any other purpose, or be deemed to be in occupation thereof for rating purposes, and notwithstanding anything in this Act no such hereditament shall be included in any rate made in respect of any period.

Temporary relief for certain hereditaments previously exempt.

47

Where an exemption from liability for rates in respect of a hereditament subsisted immediately before 1st April 1963 by virtue of the Scientific Societies Act 1843, section 64 of the Education Act 1944, or section 731 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, and would at all times since that date have continued to subsist but for the repeal of the said Act of 1843 or the said section 64 or but for section 12(3) of the Rating and Valuation Act 1961 or section 41 of this Act, as the case may be, then as respects any period during the year 1967-68 as respects which that exemption would have so continued to subsist the amount of rates payable in respect of the hereditament shall, without prejudice to any reduction or remission under section 40(5) of this Act, be four-fifths of the amount which would be payable apart from the provisions of this section and the said section 40(5).

Special reliefs in respect of dwellings

Reduction of rates on dwellings by reference to domestic element of rate support grants.

48

• (1) Every rating authority shall reduce the amount which, : apart from this subsection, would be the amount of the rate levied by the authority for any year on any dwelling-house or mixed hereditament in their area by the following amount in the pound, that is to say—

• (a) in the case of a dwelling-house, the amount prescribed for that year in pursuance of paragraph 1 of Part III of Schedule 1 to the Local Government Act 1966; and

• (b) in the case of a mixed hereditament, one-half (disregarding any halfpenny) of the amount so prescribed.

• (2) Where the period for which a rate is made is less than a year, the amount in the pound of the reduction to be made under subsection (1) of this section shall be such as the rating authority may determine; but the authority shall so exercise their power under this subsection as to secure that the aggregate of the amounts determined in pursuance of this subsection for any year in respect of dwelling-houses and mixed hereditaments respectively is equal to the amount mentioned in paragraph (a) or, as the case may be, paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section.

• (3) Where a hereditament is a dwelling-house or a mixed hereditament during part only of a rate period, the reduction to be made in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this section shall be made for that part of the period only.

• (4) The Minister may by regulations provide that the fore going provisions of this section and Part III of Schedule 1 to the said Act of 1966 shall have effect in their application to the City of London subject to such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate for securing that reductions under those provisions are apportioned between the general rate and the poor rate, for securing that payments in respect of the domestic element of rate support grants are treated as the proceeds of those rates in such proportions as may be determined in pur suance of the regulations, and for making such supplementary provision in relation to the City as the Minister considers expedient.

• (5) In this section, the expression " mixed hereditament " means a hereditament which is not a dwelling-house but in the case of which it appears to the rating authority or is determined in pursuance of subsection (6) of this section that the proportion of the rateable value of the hereditament attributable to the part of the hereditament used for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings is greater than the proportion thereof attributable to the part used for other purposes (any part of the hereditament used for the letting of rooms singly for residential purposes, whether by way of a tenancy or licence and either with or without board or other services or facilities, or used as sites for movable dwellings within the meaning of section 269 of the Public Health Act 1936 being treated as used for purposes other than those of a private dwelling or private dwellings).

• (6) The Minister may by regulations provide for the determination as respects any hereditament of any question as to the proportions mentioned in subsection (5) of this section in any case where the occupier or person treated for the purposes of the regulations as the occupier of the hereditament is dissatisfied by the refusal of the rating authority to treat the hereditament as a mixed hereditament for the purposes of this section, or the occupier, the person aforesaid or the rating authority consider that by reason of a change of circumstances a previous determination made in respect of the hereditament by virtue of this subsection should cease to have effect; and without prejudice to the generality of the power to make regulations conferred by the foregoing provisions of this subsection, the regulations may include provision—

• (a) applying for the purposes of a determination any of the provisions of Part V of this Act, with such modifications, if any, as may be specified by the regulations ;

• (b) for a determination to have effect with respect to such period, whether or not beginning before the time when an application for the determination was made, as may be provided by or under the regulations.

Right to rebate in respect of rates on dwelling.

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• (1) Any person to whom this section applies who makes application therefor in accordance with the provisions of this section shall, subject to subsections (2) and (7) of this section and to section 16(2) of the Ministry of Social Security Act 1966, be entitled in respect of any period of six months beginning with 1st April or 1st October in any year (hereafter in this Act referred to as a " rebate period ") to a rate rebate of such amount, if any, as represents—

• (a) two-thirds of the amount by which the applicant's reckonable rates determined in accordance with Part I of Schedule 9 to this Act exceeds £3 15s., less

• (b) five shillings for every complete pound by which the applicant's reckonable income determined in accordance with Part II of that Schedule exceeds the appropriate limit so determined.

• (2) The amount which under subsection (1) of this section would otherwise fall to be afforded by way of rebate shall be reduced—

• (a) if—

• (i) the applicant did not become entitled to make the rebate application until after the beginning of the rebate period to which it relates ; and

• (ii) the application is made more than one month after the date on which he became entitled to make it,

by a sum bearing the same proportion to that amount as the period between that date and the making of the application bears to the period between that date and the end of the rebate period ;

• (b) if in any other case the application is made more than one month after the beginning of the rebate period to which it relates, by a sum bearing the same proportion to that amount as the part of that rebate period falling before the date of the making of the application bears to the whole of that rebate period:

Provided that the rating authority may in any particular case determine that the amount aforesaid shall not be reduced under this subsection, or shall be reduced by a lesser sum than that provided for by this subsection, if they are satisfied that it is reasonable and proper so to do having regard to the reason for the application being made after the expiration of the month referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) or, as the case may be, paragraph (b) of this subsection, and to any difference between the amount aforesaid and what that amount would have been if the application had been made immediately before the expiration of that month.

• (3) This section applies to the following persons, namely—

• (a) a person who is the occupier of, and resides or is usually resident in, a hereditament which is a dwelling-house ;

• (b) a person who is the occupier of, and resides or is usually resident in, a hereditament which, though not a dwelling-house, is within the meaning of section 115(3) of this Act used mainly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings ;

• (c) a person who, not being the occupier of such a hereditament as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection, is the tenant of, and resides or is usually resident in, a part of any such hereditament in respect of which he makes payments to the occupier by way of rent.

• (4) A rebate application shall be made in writing to the rating authority not earlier than two months before the beginning, and not later than the end, of the rebate period to which it relates; and the Minister may by regulations require any such application to contain such particulars as may be prescribed by the regulations.

• (5) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, it shall be the duty of the rating authority to consider any application made to them under this section and, if satisfied that the application has been duly made by a person qualified to make it, the authority shall grant the rebate, if any, to which the applicant is entitled under this section; and any rebate granted shall be afforded in accordance with Part III of Schedule 9 to this Act.

• (6) Where the rating authority have granted any person a rebate in respect of the rebate period beginning with 1st April in any year and have no reason to believe that there has been, or is likely by 1st August in that year to be, any material change in that person's circumstances which is relevant to the calculation of any rebate in respect of the next succeeding rebate period, they may not later than 31st July in that year notify that person in writing that, unless a rebate application in respect of the rebate period beginning with 1st October in that year is received by them from that person before that date, they propose to grant him a rebate in respect of that rebate period calculated on the assumption that there has been no change in his relevant circumstances; and if no such application is so received before 1st October, the authority may grant the rebate accordingly and that person shall not be entitled to make a rebate application in respect of that rebate period on or after that date.

• (7) Where two or more persons are joint occupiers of a hereditament such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b), or joint tenants of such a part thereof as is mentioned in paragraph (c), of subsection (3) of this section, then for the purposes of rebates under this section each of those persons shall be treated separately as if he were the sole occupier of the hereditament or, as the case may be, sole tenant of that part thereof, except that where a husband and wife are such joint occupiers or tenants a rebate may be granted to either but not to both of them.

• (8) Any person who, with intent to obtain a rebate under this section—

• (a) furnishes any information which he knows to be false in a material particular ; or

• (b) withholds any material information,

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.

• (9) Without prejudice to any other right to recover the amount of any relief by way of rebate under this section which has been wrongly afforded, where any person convicted of an offence under subsection (8) of this section has as a result of that offence been afforded such relief to which he was not entitled, the amount of that relief may be recovered by the rating authority summarily as a civil debt; and proceedings for that purpose may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any Act, be brought at any time within twelve months from the time when that relief was afforded or, where the proceedings are for the recovery of a consecutive series of amounts by way of such relief, within twelve months from the date on which the last amount of the series was afforded.

• (10) Subject to section 10(1) of the Rating Act 1966, the amount of any rebates granted under this section in respect of any year shall be treated as loss on collection for that year within the meaning of the Rate-product Rules 1959 or the Rate-product (County Boroughs) Rules 1959, as the case may require.

• (11) This section shall not apply to the Temples.

Right to pay rates on dwelling by instalments.

50

• (1) Without prejudice to section 3(4) of this Act or any other power of a rating authority to make provision for the payment of rates by instalments, any person who (not being a tenant or licensee of the rating authority who pays his rates as part of his rent) is the occupier of, and resides or is usually resident in, a hereditament which—

• (a) either is a dwelling-house or, though not a dwelling house, is within the meaning of section 115(3) of this Act used mainly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings ; and

• (b) is not the subject of arrangements made by virtue of section 55 or 56 of this Act or any local Act whereby the payment of rates thereon is made by or through the owner,

may by notice in writing to the rating authority given in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 10 to this Act elect to pay any rates in respect of that hereditament by instalments in accordance with the said Schedule 10; and, as from the date which under the said paragraph 1 is the effective date of that notice until in pursuance of section 51(2) of this Act or of paragraph 6 of the said Schedule 10 that notice ceases to be in force, any rates in respect of the rate period in which that date falls or any subsequent rate period which are charged on that person in respect of that hereditament shall be payable by instalments accordingly.

• (2) Where in the case of any hereditament such as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section—

• (a) the persons who reside or are usually resident therein consist wholly or mainly of persons who are beneficiaries of a charity (that is to say, of any body of persons or trust which appears to the Minister to be established wholly or mainly for charitable purposes); and

• (b) the rates thereon are paid by that charity either as occupier of the hereditament or in pursuance of arrangements made between the charity and the persons who reside or are usually resident in the hereditament,

the Minister may direct that that hereditament shall be treated for the purposes of the said subsection (1) as if the charity were both the occupier of, and residing in, that hereditament.

• (3) Without prejudice to paragraph (b)(ii) of the proviso to section 54(1) of this Act, no allowance by way of discount shall be made by virtue of any provision for like purposes to those of the said section 54(1) contained in any local Act on any amount payable by way of an instalment under this section.

• (4) This section shall not extend to the Temples.

Discount in respect of rates on dwelling-house.

51

• (1) The rating authority may, if they think fit, by resolution direct that an allowance by way of discount of such amount not exceeding two-and-a-half per cent. as may be specified in the resolution shall be granted to any person entitled to give a notice under section 50(1) of this Act in respect of a hereditament which is a dwelling-house, whether or not he has in fact given such a notice, who pays the net amount due by way of rates on that hereditament either—

• (a) otherwise than by instalments ; or

• (b) by instalments required in pursuance of section 3(4) of this Act,

before such date or respective dates as the rating authority may specify.

• (2) If an allowance under this section is made in respect of a hereditament in respect of which a notice under the said section 50(1) is for the time being in force, that notice shall thereupon cease to be in force and rates on that hereditament shall cease to be payable in accordance with Schedule 10 to this Act, without prejudice, however, to the right to give a fresh notice under the said section 50(1) in accordance with paragraph 1(a) of that Schedule.

• (3) The rating authority may at any time revoke or vary a resolution under this section.

• (4) While any resolution under this section is in force, a statement of the effect thereof shall be included in or sent with every demand note on which rates are levied in respect of any hereditament which is a dwelling-house.

• (5) Subject to paragraph (a) of the proviso to section 54(1) of this Act and to subsection (6) of this section, nothing in this section shall prejudice the powers with respect to allowances by way of discount conferred by section 54 of this Act or any provision for like purposes contained in any local Act.

• (6) A person who is for the time being entitled to an allowance under this section in respect of any hereditament shall not be entitled to an allowance in respect of that hereditament under any such provision of a local Act as is mentioned in subsection (5) of this section.

• (7) This section shall not apply to the Temples.

Temporary power to reduce rateable value of dwellinghouses, etc.

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• (1) For the purposes of the valuation lists in force at the commencement of this Act, the Minister may by order provide that the provisions of Schedule 11 to this Act shall have effect.

• (2) An order under this section shall not have effect unless approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

General remissions, reductions and allowances

Reduction or remission of rate.

53

A rating authority shall have power to reduce or remit the payment of any rate on account of the poverty of any person liable to pay it.

Uniform discount in respect of rates on all hereditaments.

54

• (1) The rating authority may, if they think fit, by resolution direct that an allowance by way of discount not exceeding two and a half per cent. shall be made on the amount due in respect of any rate from every person who pays the net amount due before such date as the rating authority may specify:

Provided that—

• (a) a person shall not be entitled to the allowance in respect of any hereditament in respect of which he is for the time being entitled to an allowance under section 51 of this Act; and

• (b) the allowance shall not be made—

• (i) where the person paying the rate is an owner who is entitled to any of the allowances for which provision is made by section 55 or 56 of this Act or

• (ii) on any amount payable by way of an instalment under section 50 of this Act; and

• (c) the allowance shall be made at the same rate to all persons entitled to it.

• (2) The rating authority may at any time revoke or vary a resolution under this section.

• (3) While any resolution under this section is in force, there shall be included in every demand note on which the general rate is levied a statement of the effect of the resolution.

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

PART IV — Bearing of rates by persons other than occupier

Rating of owners instead of occupiers.

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• (1) Any rating authority may by resolution direct that, in the case of all hereditaments in their area which belong to a class to be defined in the resolution by reference to rateable value and also, if rent is paid and the rating authority so decide, by reference to the interval at which rent from time to time becomes payable or is collected, the owners thereof shall be rated instead of the occupiers :

Provided that the class shall not be so defined as to include any hereditaments the rateable value of which exceeds fifty-six pounds or such other limit as may for the time being be fixed by an order under subsection (5) of this section.

• (2) Where a rating authority give any such direction as aforesaid, the owners of any hereditaments in that authority's rating area to which the direction applies shall, in the case of any rate made while the resolution is in force, be rated accordingly, and the rating authority shall make to any owner who being so rated pays the amount due from him in respect of the rate before the expiration of half the period in respect of which the rate was made (or, if the rate is payable by instalments, half the period in which the instalment is payable), or before such later date or dates as may be specified in the resolution, an allowance equal to ten per cent. of the amount payable.

• (3) A resolution of the rating authority rescinding a previous resolution under subsection (1) of this section shall take effect only on the expiration of a rate period.

• (4) Any owner who under subsection (2) of this section pays any rate which, as between the owner and the occupier, the occupier is liable to pay shall be entitled to be reimbursed by the occupier the amount so paid.

• (5) The Minister may by order substitute a different limit for that specified in the proviso to subsection (1) of this section ; but any such order shall not affect any person's liability for rates for any period before the coming into force of the first new valuation list to come into force after the date of the order.

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

• (7) In the application of this section to the Temples, for any reference to a resolution of the rating authority there shall be substituted a reference to an order of the rating authority.

Payment or collection of rates by owners by agreement.

56

• (1) The owner of any hereditament the rent of which ; becomes payable or is collected at intervals shorter than quarterly may by agreement in writing with the rating authority undertake either—

• (a) that he will pay the rates chargeable in respect of the hereditament whether it is occupied or not; or

• (b) that he will so long as the hereditament is occupied pay the rates chargeable in respect of it; or

• (c) that he will on behalf of the authority collect the rates due from the occupier of the hereditament;

and the authority may agree, where the owner so undertakes and pays over to the authority on or before the date or dates specified in the agreement the amounts payable by him thereunder, to make him an allowance not exceeding in the case of an undertaking under paragraph (a) of this subsection ten per cent., in the case of an undertaking under paragraph (b) thereof seven and a half per cent., or in the case of an undertaking under paragraph (c) thereof five per cent.

• (2) An allowance made under subsection (1) of this section in respect of any hereditament to an owner who is rated under section 55 of this Act shall be in substitution for any allowance to which he might otherwise have been entitled in respect of that hereditament under the said section 55.

• (3) An agreement entered into under this section shall con tinue in force until determined by notice given either by the rating authority to the owner or by the owner to the rating authority, and in the event of a change in the ownership of any hereditament while the agreement is in force shall continue to be binding upon the new owner as if it had been made by him.

• (4) A notice for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section shall take effect only on the expiration of a rate period and shall be given before the commencement of that period.

• (5) In the case of an undertaking by an owner under sub section (1)(c) of this section, the amount due from the owner shall be taken to be an amount which bears to the total amount of the rates due the same proportion as the aggregate amount actually collected by him in respect of rent and rates bears to the aggregate amount due in respect thereof.

• (6) In the case of an undertaking by an owner under subsection (1)(c) of this section, unless the undertaking expressly so provides—

• (a) the expression " rates due " in the provisions of this section relating to such an undertaking shall not include rates accruing due before the date on which the undertaking comes into operation; and

• (b) account shall not be taken for the purposes of subsection (5) of this section of rent which accrues due before that date.

• (7) Section 177 of the City of London Sewers Act 1848 shall not apply to any hereditament in the City of London so long as an undertaking in respect of that hereditament is in force under subsection (1)(a) of this section.

Provisions supplementary to ss.55 and 56.

57

• (1) Where in the case of any hereditament the owner is rated in respect thereof in pursuance of section 55 of this Act, or has undertaken in pursuance of section 56 of this Act to pay or collect the rates charged in respect thereof, the amount due from him in respect of those rates shall be recoverable by the rating authority from him, or, where the rates are collected by an agent of his, either from him or from that agent, in like manner and subject to the like conditions as rates payable by the occupier of a hereditament (not being an occupier by whom a notice under section 50(1) of this Act has been given and is for the time being in force) are recoverable from the occupier.

• (2) Every owner who is rated under the said section 55 instead of the occupier, or who enters into an agreement with the rating authority under the said section 56, in respect of any hereditaments shall, without prejudice to the rights of the occupier of any of those hereditaments, be treated in relation to any right of appeal against a rate under section 7 of this Act as standing in the same position as the occupier.

• (3) Every owner who is rated under the said section 55 instead of the occupier or who enters into an agreement with a rating authority under the said section 56 shall from time to time on demand deliver to the rating authority—

• (a) a list of the occupiers of the hereditaments in respect of which he is so rated or has so agreed ; and

• (b) such particulars with respect to the periods for which any of those hereditaments have been unoccupied and with respect to the amount which he has failed to collect from the occupiers as the authority may require for the purpose of enabling them to determine what amount is properly due from the owner under the said section 55 or 56;

and if any such owner refuses or neglects to comply with the provisions of this subsection, or knowingly delivers to any authority particulars which are untrue in any material respect, he shall in respect of each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds and, in the case of refusal or neglect to deliver particulars, to a further penalty not exceeding one pound for each day during which the offence continues after conviction therefor.

• (4) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall have effect in substitution for any provisions contained in any local Act with respect to the rating of owners instead of occupiers.

• (5) Where in the case of any rating area a resolution of the rating authority made under Schedule 2 to the Rating and Valuation Act 1928 was in force immediately before the date of commencement of this Act whereby any provisions contained in any local Act with respect to the rating of owners instead of occupiers applied to any rates made by the authority, then, until that resolution is rescinded—

• (a) those provisions shall continue so to apply and, if and so far as they may have been repealed by, or by any order made under, the Rating and Valuation Act 1925, shall have effect as if re-enacted in this Act; and

• (b) all resolutions, agreements and notices in force under those provisions immediately before the said date shall continue to have effect until they are rescinded or modified.

Deduction of rates from rent by lessees for short terms.

58

Where a hereditament is let to the occupier for a term not exceeding three months—

• (a) the occupier shall be entitled to deduct any amount paid by him in respect of rates upon that hereditament s from the rent due or accruing due to the owner, and every such payment shall be a valid discharge of the rent to the extent of the rates so paid ;

• (b) the occupier shall not be compelled to pay to the rating authority at any one time or within any four weeks a greater amount by way of rates than would be due for one quarter of the year.

Deduction from rent of rates omitted to be paid by owner.

59

Where an owner who has undertaken, whether by agreement with the occupier or with the rating authority, to pay rates, or has otherwise become liable to pay rates, omits or neglects to pay any rate, the occupier may pay that rate and deduct the amount of the payment from the rent due or accruing due to the owner, and the receipt for the rate shall be a valid discharge of the rent to the extent of the rate so paid.

Owner's liability for rates where occupier entitled to diplomatic immunity.

60

• (1) Without prejudice to the operation of any other provision of this Act, where—

• (a) any hereditament in a rating area in Greater London is occupied upon terms which provide that the owner shall pay the rate charged on that hereditament; and

• (b) the occupier of the hereditament would in any proceedings against him by the rating authority to enforce payment of the rate be entitled to claim diplomatic immunity,

the owner shall be liable to pay to the rating authority an amount equal to so much of any payment in respect of rent received by him from the occupier as represents the proportion of rate included in that payment, and that amount may be recovered from the owner in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as rates recovered from the occupiers of rated hereditaments.

• (2) In this section—

• (a) the expression " diplomatic immunity " means immunity from suit and legal process which is accorded by law to an envoy or other public minister of a foreign sovereign power accredited to Her Majesty, or to the family or official or domestic staff of such an envoy or minister or to the families of any such staff, and includes any like immunities and any exemption or relief from rates which is conferred on any person or organisation by or under the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964;

• (b) the expression " owner " in relation to a hereditament includes any person who receives any rent of the hereditament whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for another person.

Recovery of rates from tenants and lodgers.

61

• (1) Where the rates due from the person rated for any hereditament are in arrear, it shall be lawful for the rating authority to serve upon any person paying rent in respect of that hereditament, or any part thereof, to the person from whom the arrears are due a notice stating the amount of those arrears of rates and requiring all future payments of rent (whether already accrued due or not) by the person paying the rent to be made direct to the rating authority until those arrears shall have been duly paid ; and that notice shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section, operate to transfer to the rating authority the right to recover, receive and give a discharge for that rent.

• (2) The right of the rating authority to recover, receive and give a discharge for any rent by virtue of subsection (1) of this section shall be postponed to any right in respect of that rent which may at any time be vested in a superior landlord by virtue of a notice under section 6 of the Law of Distress Amendment Act 1908.

• (3) In this section, the expression " rent " includes a payment made by a lodger.

Recovery of rates unpaid by owner.

62

Notwithstanding that the owner of a hereditament has become liable for payment of the rates assessed thereon, the goods and chattels of the occupier shall be liable to be distrained and sold under Part VI of this Act for payment of such rates as may accrue during his occupation of the hereditament at any time while those rates remain unpaid by the owner, except that—

• (a) no such distress shall be levied unless the rate has been demanded in writing by the rating authority from the occupier and the occupier has failed to pay it within fourteen days of the service of that demand;

• (b) no greater sum shall be raised by the distress than shall at the time of making the distress be actually due from the occupier for rent of the premises on which the distress is made;

• (c) the occupier shall be entitled to deduct the amount of rates for which the distress is made, and the expenses of the distress, from the rent due or accruing due to the owner, and every such payment shall be a valid discharge of the rent to the extent of the rates and expenses paid.

Deduction from rent etc. of rates by certain tenants of mines.

63

Any lessee, licensee, or grantee of a mine rateable by virtue of section 16W) of this Act whose lease, licence or grant was granted or made before 6th April 1875 may, unless before that date he had specifically contracted to pay any rates in respect of the mine in the event of the abolition of his exemption from being so rated, deduct from any rent, royalty, or dues payable by him during the continuance of his lease, licence or grant, or before the arrival of the period at which the amount of the rent, royalty or dues is liable to revision or readjustment, whichever is the less of the following, that is to say—

• (a) one half of any rates paid by him in respect of the mine; or

• (b) one half of what those rates would have been if calculated upon the rent, royalty or dues so payable by him.

Deduction from rent of rate in respect of land used as plantation, etc.

64

Where the rateable value of any land is increased by reason of its being estimated in accordance with section 27(2) or (4) of this Act, the occupier of that land under any lease or agreement made before 6th April 1875 may, during the continuance of the lease or agreement, deduct from his rent any amount paid by him by way of rates in respect of that increase ; and the valuation officer, on the application of the occupier, shall certify in the valuation list or otherwise the fact and amount of that increase.

Deduction from rent in respect of rate for rights of sporting.

65

In a case to which section 29(1) of this Act applies, if the rateable value of any land is increased by reason of its being estimated in accordance with the said section 29(1), but not otherwise, the occupier of the land may, unless he has specifically contracted to pay the rates in the event of such an increase, deduct from his rent such portion of any rate as is paid by him in respect of the increase; and the valuation officer, on the application of the occupier, shall certify in the valuation list or otherwise the fact and amount of the increase.

General provision as to deduction of rates from rent, etc.

66

Where any person is authorised by section 63, 64 or 65 of this Act to deduct any rate or sum in respect of a rate from any rent, royalty, or dues payable by him, then—

• (a) any payment so authorised to be deducted shall be a good discharge for such amount of rent, royalty or dues as is equal to the amount of the payment, and shall be allowed accordingly ;

• (b) any payment so authorised to be deducted may be recovered as an ordinary debt from the person to whom rent, royalty, or dues may be payable;

• (c) the person receiving the rent, royalty or dues shall have the same right of appeal and objection with reference to the rate and to the valuation of the hereditament in respect of which the rate is payable as he would have if he were the occupier of that hereditament.

PART V — Valuation lists

Maintenance of, and preparation of new, valuation lists

The valuation list.

67

• (1) For the purposes of rates, there shall be maintained for each rating area a valuation list prepared, and from time to time caused to be altered, in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act by the valuation officer.

• (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall be inserted in the valuation list such particulars as may be prescribed—

• (a) with respect to every hereditament in the rating area and the value thereof; and

• (b) with respect to totals of values—

• (i) in respect of the whole rating area; and

• (ii) in respect of any rating district forming part only of that area which is liable to be charged separately in respect of any expenses; and

• (iii) except in Greater London, in respect of any other part of that area which is so liable.

• (3) In any case where a payment in respect of a deficiency in the assessments for a rate falls to be made by any person under section 133 of the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 : or section 27 of the Compulsory Purchase Act 1965, there shall be included among the particulars inserted in the valuation list the assessment on which that payment is based, and any such payment shall be taken into account for the purpose of ascertaining the proceeds of any rate.

• (4) Where a rating area comprises more than one rating district, the particulars aforesaid with respect to each respectively of those districts shall be set out in a separate division of the valuation list.

• (5) Subject to any alteration duly made under this Act, every valuation list (including every list in force immediately before the commencement of this Act) shall remain in force until it is superseded by a new valuation list.

• (6) Subject to subsection (7) of this section, the valuation list in accordance with which, under section 2(4)(M of this Act, any rate falls or fell to be made, as in force (or about to come into force) at the date of the making of the rate, shall be conclusive evidence for the purposes of the levying of that rate of the values of the several hereditaments included in the list.

• (7) As respects any period during which, under this Act, an alteration of the valuation list referred to in subsection (6) of this section is for the time being to be treated as having had effect, the reference in the said subsection (6) to that list shall be construed as a reference to that list as so altered.

New valuation lists.

68

• (1) In the case of each rating area, new valuation lists shall be prepared and made by the valuation officer so as to come into force on 1st April in 1973 and each fifth year thereafter.

• (2) The valuation officer by whom a new valuation list is prepared shall, not later than the end of the month of December preceding the date on which the list is to come into force (or if in any particular case the Minister, either before or after the end of that month, allows an extended period, then not later than the end of that period) sign the list and transmit it, together with a copy thereof, to the rating authority, who shall deposit the list at the offices of the authority.

• (3) Where, after the valuation officer has transmitted the list to the rating authority, but before the date on which the list is to come into force, it appears to him that, by reason of a material change of circumstances which has occurred since the time of valuation, the list needs to be altered in any respect, he shall cause the list to be altered accordingly before that date.

• (4) In subsection (3) of this section, the expression " material change of circumstances " means a change of circumstances which consists of—

• (a) the coming into occupation of a newly erected or newly constructed hereditament or of a hereditament which has been out of occupation on account of structural alterations; or

• (b) a change in the value of a hereditament caused by the making of structural alterations or by the total or partial destruction of any building or other erection by fire or any other physical cause ; or

• (c) the happening of any event whereby a hereditament or part of a hereditament becomes, or ceases to be, not liable to be rated ; or

• (d) a change in the extent to which any railway or canal premises within the meaning of section 32 of this Act are occupied for non-rateable purposes within the meaning of that section; or

• (e) property previously rated as a single hereditament becoming liable to be rated in parts; or

• (f) property previously rated in parts becoming liable to be rated as a single hereditament; or

• (g) a hereditament becoming or ceasing to be—

• (i) a dwelling-house; or

• (ii) a private garage or private storage premises within the meaning of Schedule 11 to this Act; or

• (h) a hereditament being, in accordance with Schedule 13 to this Act, used to a greater or lesser extent for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings,

and the expression " the time of valuation ", in relation to a change of circumstances, means the time by reference to which the valuation officer prepared so much of the list as is affected by that change of circumstances.

• (5) The omission from a new valuation list of any matter required by law to be included therein shall not of itself render the list invalid.

• (6) In respect of any new valuation list, it shall be the duty of the rating authority immediately upon receipt thereof to take such steps as the authority may consider most suitable for giving notice of the list, and of the rights of persons to inspect the list and to make proposals for altering it.

Alterations of current valuation list

Proposals for alteration of current valuation list.

69

• (1) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, any person (including a rating authority) who is aggrieved—

• (a) by the inclusion of any hereditament in the valuation list; or

• (b) by any value ascribed in the list to a hereditament or by any other statement made or omitted to be made in the list with respect to a hereditament; or

• (c) in the case of a building or portion of a building occupied in parts, by the valuation in the list of that building or portion of a building as a single hereditament,

may at any time make a proposal for the alteration of the list so far as it relates to that hereditament.

• (2) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, the valuation officer may at any time make a proposal for any alteration of a valuation list and in particular, in addition to the proposals authorised or required by, or by virtue of, the following provisions of this Act, namely, paragraph 6(1) of Schedule 1, paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 4, paragraph 8(4) of Schedule 5, paragraph 13 of Schedule 6 and paragraph 15 of Schedule 7, shall from time to time make such proposals as may be requisite—

• (a) for deleting from the list any premises exempted from rating by virtue of section 33(1)(b) of this Act;

• (b) for excluding from the list any premises which form part of a hereditament shown in the list and which, by virtue of section 33(1)(#) or (b) of this Act, are not liable to be rated, and for including in the list, as one or more separate hereditaments, so much of any such hereditament as remains liable to be rated ;

• (c) for altering the list in consequence of any event whereby premises cease to be within the exemption from rating conferred by section 32(3), 33(1) or 34(1) of this Act.

• (3) Without prejudice to any right exercisable by rating authorities by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, where—

• (a) it appears to a rating authority that a hereditament in their rating area which is not included in the list ought to be included therein ; and

• (b) the valuation officer gives notice in writing to the rating authority that he does not intend to make a proposal for inserting that hereditament in the list,

the rating authority, at any time within twenty-eight days after the date on which that notice was given, may make a proposal for the alteration of the list by the insertion of that hereditament therein.

• (4) Where a proposal in relation to a hereditament has been made under the foregoing provisions of this section, a further proposal for the alteration of the list in relation to that hereditament may be so made which is contingent on an alteration being made in consequence of the earlier proposal.

• (5) Every proposal under this section must—

• (a) be made in writing ; and

• (b) specify the grounds on which the proposed alteration is supported; and

• (c) comply with any requirements of any regulations made by the Minister with respect to the form of such proposals and otherwise with respect to the making thereof,

and every such proposal made otherwise than by the valuation officer must be served on the valuation officer.

• (6) No proposal shall be made under this section—

• (a) for the alteration of a valuation list so far as it relates to a hereditament included in the list by virtue of paragraph 10(6) of Schedule 6 or paragraph 14(6) of Schedule 7 to this Act; or

• (b) save as provided by paragraph 4(1) or 5(2), or by an order under paragraph 10, of Schedule 4 to this Act, for the alteration of the rateable value of a water hereditament within the meaning of section 31 of this Act;

and the provisions of this section shall have effect subject to the provisions of any order under section 35 of this Act.

Provision for objections to proposals.

70

• (1) The valuation officer shall, within twenty-eight days '. after the date on which a proposal under section 69 of this Act is served on him, or within seven days after the date on: which such a proposal is made by him, as the case may be transmit a copy thereof, together with a statement in writing of the right of objection conferred by subsection (2) of this section, to each of the following persons, not being the maker of the proposal, that is to say—

• (a) the occupier of the hereditament to which the proposal relates; and

• (b) the rating authority for the area in which the hereditament in question is situated.

• (2) Any of the following persons, that is to say, the owner or occupier of the whole or any part of a hereditament to which the proposal relates or the rating authority for the area in which that hereditament is situated, may, within twenty-eight days from the date on which notice is served under subsection (1) of this section on the occupier or, in the case of the rating authority (where they are not the occupier), on the rating authority, serve on the valuation officer notice in writing of objection to the proposal; and, where the proposal was made otherwise than by the valuation officer, the valuation Officer shall, within twenty-eight days of the date on which a notice of objection is served on him, transmit a copy thereof to the maker of the proposal.

Unopposed proposals.

71

• (1) Where in the case of any proposal under section 69 of this Act—

• (a) no notice of objection is served within the time limited by section 70(2) of this Act, or every such notice is unconditionally withdrawn; and

• (b) either—

• (i) the proposal was made by the valuation officer; or

• (ii) the valuation officer is satisfied that the proposal is well-founded ; or

• (iii) at the end of the period of four months beginning with the date on which the proposal was served on the valuation officer, that officer has not given a notice under section 74(1) of this Act,

the valuation officer shall cause the valuation list to be altered so as to give effect to the proposal.

• (2) Where the proposal was served on the valuation officer before the first anniversary of the coming into force of the valuation list to which the proposal relates, subsection (1)(6)(iii) of this section shall have effect as if for the words " four months " there were substituted the words " six months ".

Agreed alterations after proposal.

72

• (1) Where, in the case of any proposal under section 69 of this Act, the requirements of section 71 of this Act are not satisfied, but—

• (a) all the persons referred to in subsection (2) of this section agree on an alteration of the valuation list (whether the alteration is that specified in the proposal or another alteration); and

• (b) the agreement is reached without, or before the determination of, any appeal to a local valuation court, or reference to arbitration, with respect to an objection to the proposal,

the valuation officer shall cause that alteration to be made in the valuation list.

• (2) The persons referred to in subsection (1)(a) of this section are—

• (a) the valuation officer ;

• (b) the person who made the proposal, where the proposal was not made by the valuation officer;

• (c) any person who has served and who has not unconditionally withdrawn a notice of objection to the proposal;

• (d) the occupier of the hereditament to which the proposal relates, if he is not included by virtue of paragraph (b) or (c) of this subsection ;

• (e) the rating authority (if not included by virtue of paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of this subsection), unless they have notified the valuation officer that they do not desire to be included by virtue of this paragraph either generally or as respects a class of hereditament which includes the hereditament to which the proposal relates.

Opposed proposals.

73

• (1) If in the case of any proposal under section 69 of this Act notice of objection thereto has been served and not unconditionally withdrawn, and the proposal is not withdrawn, the valuation officer may at any time within the period of four months beginning with—

• (a) in the case of a proposal made by the valuation officer, the date on which the proposal was made ; or

• (b) in the case of any other proposal, the date on which the proposal was served on the valuation officer,

and shall not later than the end of that period, transmit a copy of the proposal, and of every notice of objection thereto which has not been unconditionally withdrawn, to the clerk to the local valuation panel constituted under section 88 of this Act from the members of which a local valuation court for the hearing of an appeal against that objection would fall to be constituted.

• (2) Where under the foregoing subsection the valuation officer transmits a copy of a proposal to the clerk to a local valuation panel—

• (a) the valuation officer shall forthwith notify the fact that he has done so to the person who made the proposal, to any person who served a notice of objection of which a copy is transmitted with the copy of the proposal, and to the rating authority; and

• (b) the said transmission shall have effect as an appeal to a local valuation court, by the person who made the proposal, against every objection (whether of the valuation officer or of any other person) signified by a notice of which a copy is transmitted with the copy of the proposal.

• (3) Where the date referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) of this section falls before the first anniversary of the coming into force of the valuation list to which the proposal relates, that subsection shall have effect as if for the words " four months " there were substituted the words " six months ".

Proposals objected to by valuation officer.

74

• (1) In the case of a proposal made under section 69 : of this Act otherwise than by the valuation officer, the valuation o officer may, at any time within the period of three month beginning with the date on which the proposal was served on the valuation officer, give notice in writing to the person who made the proposal that he objects to the proposal, and that the said person, if he does not withdraw the proposal within fourteen days, will be treated as intending to appeal to a valuation court against the valuation officer's objection to the proposal.

• (2) Not less than fourteen nor more than twenty-eight days after the valuation officer has given a notice under subsection (1) of this section, he shall, unless the proposal has then been withdrawn, transmit to the clerk to the local valuation panel constituted under section 88 of this Act from the members of which the local valuation court would fall to be constituted a copy of the proposal together with a copy of the notice under the said subsection (1) and of any notice of objection to the proposal which has been served under section 70(2) of this Act and has not been unconditionally withdrawn.

• (3) Where, in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, the valuation officer transmits a copy of a proposal to the clerk to a local valuation panel, section 73(2) of this Act shall apply for the purposes of this section as if any reference in the said section 73(2) to section 73(1) of this Act included a reference to subsection (2) of this section.

• (4) Where the proposal was served on the valuation officer before the first anniversary of the coming into force of the valuation list to which the proposal relates, subsection (1) of this section shall have effect as if for the words " three months " there were substituted the words " five months ".

Two or more proposals in respect of same hereditament.

75

Where a proposal is made for the alteration of a valuation list so far as it relates to a particular hereditament, and before that proposal is settled a further proposal is made, otherwise than by the occupier, for the alteration of the list in relation to that hereditament, then if no notice of objection to the further proposal is served under section 70(2) of this Act within the time limited for the purpose—

• (a) the occupier shall for the purposes of sections 71 to 74 of this Act be deemed to have served such a notice on the last day for doing so; and

• (b) the valuation officer in transmitting a copy of the further proposal to the clerk of a local valuation panel under section 73(1) or 74(2) of this Act shall, instead of transmitting a copy of the notice of objection thereto, transmit a notification that the occupier is deemed to have served such a notice; and where such a notification has been transmitted, section 73(2) of this Act shall apply as if a copy of the notice of objection had been so transmitted with a copy of the further proposal.

Appeals to local valuation courts against objections to proposals.

76

• (1) Where a copy of a proposal is transmitted to the clerk to a local valuation panel and by virtue of section 73(2), 74(3) or 75 of this Act that transmission has effect as an appeal to a local valuation court against an objection to the proposal, it shall be the duty of the chairman or a deputy chairman of that panel to arrange for the convening of such a court.

• (2) The procedure of a local valuation court shall, subject to any regulations made in that behalf by the Minister, and subject to subsection (3) of this section, be such as the court may determine; and the court—

• (a) shall sit in public, unless the court otherwise order on the application of any party to the appeal and upon being satisfied that the interests of one or more parties to the appeal would be prejudicially affected; and

• (b) may take evidence on oath and shall have power for that purpose to administer oaths.

• (3) Where, by virtue of section 75 of this Act, the transmission of a copy of a proposal relating to any hereditament has effect as an appeal to a local valuation court, the court may hear and determine the appeal together with any appeal against objections to earlier proposals relating to that hereditament, but except as aforesaid the court shall not hear the first-mentioned appeal until all earlier proposals relating to the hereditament are settled.

• (4) On the hearing of an appeal to a local valuation court—

• (a) the appellant; and

• (b) the valuation officer, when he is not the appellant; and

• (c) the owner or occupier of the hereditament to which the appeal relates, when he is not the appellant; and

• (d) the rating authority for the rating area in which the hereditament in question is situated, when that authority are not the appellant; and

• (e) the objector, where he is not one of the persons aforesaid,

shall be entitled to appear and be heard as parties to the appeal and examine any witness before the court and to call witnesses.

• (5) Subject to the provisions of this Act, after hearing the persons mentioned in subsection (4) of this section, or such of them as desire to be heard, the local valuation court shall give such directions with respect to the manner in which the hereditament in question is to be treated in the valuation list as appear to them to be necessary to give effect to the contention of the appellant if and so far as that contention appears to the court to be well founded; and the valuation officer shall cause the valuation list to be altered accordingly.

Appeal from decision of local valuation court to Lands Tribunal.

77

Any person who in pursuance of section 76 of this Act appears before a local valuation court on the hearing of an appeal and is aggrieved by the decision of the court thereo may, within such period as may be prescribed by rules made by the Lord Chancellor under section 3 of the Lands Tribunal Act 1949, appeal to the Lands Tribunal, and that Tribunal, after hearing such of the persons as appeared as aforesaid as desire to be heard, may give any directions which the local valuation court might have given; and the valuation officer shall cause the valuation list to be altered accordingly.

Arbitration with respect to proposals.

78

• (1) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act, the persons who would be entitled to appear and be heard before a local valuation court may by agreement in writing agree to refer to arbitration any matter which would but for the agreement fall to be heard or determined by such a court, and the matter shall be referred to arbitration accordingly.

• (2) The Arbitration Act 1950 shall apply to any such arbitration.

• (3) The award in any such arbitration may include any directions which might under this Part of this Act have been given by the local valuation court; and the valuation officer shall cause the valuation list to be altered accordingly.

Effect of alterations to valuation list made in pursuance of proposals.

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• (1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section and to the following provisions of this Act, namely, paragraph 6(4) of Schedule 1, paragraph 5(4) of Schedule 4, paragraph 8(4) of Schedule 5, paragraphs 10(6) and 13 of Schedule 6 and paragraphs 14(6) and 15 of Schedule 7, where an alteration is made in a valuation list by virtue of sections 71 to 78 of this Act, then, in relation to any rate current at the date when the proposal in pursuance of which the amendment so made was served on the valuation officer, or, where the proposal was made by the valuation officer, current at the date when notice of the proposal was served on the occupier of the hereditament in question, that alteration shall be deemed to have had effect as from the commencement of the period in respect of which the rate was made, and shall, subject to the provisions of this section, have effect for the purposes of any subsequent rate.

• (2) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) of this section, where an alteration in the valuation list—

• (a) consists of the inclusion in the valuation list of a newly erected or newly constructed hereditament or an altered hereditament which has been out of occupation on account of structural alterations; or

• (b) is made by reason of any of the events specified in section 68(4)(b) to (h) of this Act,

the alteration shall have effect only as from the date when the new or altered hereditament comes into occupation or as from the happening of the event by reason of which the alteration is made as the case may be.

• (3) Where, in the case of an alteration made in a valuation list by virtue of the said sections 71 to 78, the alteration affects the amount of any rate levied in respect of any hereditament in accordance with the list, then, subject to subsection (4) of this section, the difference—

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

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

• (4) No liability shall be imposed or right conferred on any person by virtue of subsection (3) of this section to pay or receive the difference referred to in that subsection if that person had ceased to occupy or own the hereditament in question before—

• (a) the date when the proposal in pursuance of which the alteration in the valuation list was made was served on the valuation officer; or

• (b) if the proposal was made by the valuation officer, the date when notice thereof was served on the occupier of the hereditament.

Alteration of valuation list without proposal.

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• (1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the valuation officer may at any time cause to be made in a valuation list any alteration which is necessary to correct any clerical or arithmetical error therein and the list shall have effect, and be deemed always to have had effect, accordingly.

• (2) If the alteration referred to in the foregoing subsection is made in respect of any matter other than totals, the valuation officer shall, before causing the alteration to be made, send notice thereof to the occupier of the hereditament affected and to the rating authority of the rating area, and shall allow fourteen days to elapse during which any person concerned may make representations with respect to the proposed alteration.

• (3) The valuation officer may at any time, if so requested by the rating authority, cause a valuation list to be altered by the deletion therefrom of any hereditament which the valuation officer is satisfied has ceased to exist; and section 79(1) of this Act shall apply in relation to the alteration of a valuation list under this subsection as it applies in relation to its alteration under sections 71 to 78 of this Act with the substitution for the reference in the said section 79(1) to any rate current at the date specified therein of a reference to any rate current at the date of the request.

• (4) In addition to any alterations in the valuation list required by paragraph 9(4) or 11(9) to (11) of Schedule 4, paragraph 10(6) of Schedule 6 or paragraph 14(6) of Schedule 7 to this Act or by any order under section 35 of this Act or under paragraph 10 of the said Schedule 4 to be made without a proposal, the valuation officer shall without any proposal—

• (a) from time to time cause such alterations to be made in the list as may be requisite for deleting from the list any premises which by virtue of section 33(1)(a) of this Act are not liable to be rated;

• (b) cause the list to be altered by the deletion therefrom of any property which he is satisfied has, by virtue of section 38(2) of the Local Government Act 1966, ceased to be rateable.

Supplementary provisions as to proceedings.

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• (1) Any person may include in the same proposal, objection or other proceeding under this Part of this Act all or . any hereditaments comprised in the same valuation list as respects which he has a right to make or bring any such proposal, objection or other proceeding, notwithstanding that they are separately assessed in that list, if, but only if, those hereditaments are owned or occupied by the same person or are comprised in the same building.

• (2) Every owner who is rated under section 55 of this Act instead of the occupier, or who enters into an agreement with the rating authority under section 56 of this Act, in respect of any hereditaments shall, without prejudice to the rights of the occupier of any of those hereditaments, be treated for the purposes of the provisions of this Part of this Act relating to proposals, objections and appeals as standing in the same position as the occupier.

• (3) Where any premises are unoccupied, any reference in this Part of this Act to the occupier shall be construed as a reference to the owner of the premises:

Provided that, where the owner is unknown and by virtue of subsection (2) of section 109 of this Act a notice addressed to the occupier has been served in accordance with that section, that notice shall be deemed to have been duly served on the owner.

• (4) Any officer of a rating authority acting under any special or general resolution of the authority may authorise the institution, carrying on or defence of any proceedings, or the taking of any step, in relation to a valuation list which the authority are authorised or required to institute, carry on, defend or take.

Power for valuation officer to call for returns.

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• (1) In every case where a new valuation list is to be made for any rating area, the valuation officer may serve a notice on the occupier, owner or lessee of any hereditament or premises in the area, or on any one or more of them, requiring him or them to make a return containing such particulars as may be reasonably required for the purpose of enabling him accurately to compile the list.

• (2) The valuation officer may at any time in connection with a proposal which has been made for the alteration of the valuation list for the time being in force for a rating area, or with a view to the making of such a proposal, serve a notice on the occupier, owner or lessee of any hereditament or premises in the area, or on any one or more of them, requiring him or them to make a return containing such particulars as may be reasonably required for the purpose of enabling him to decide whether or not to make or, as the case may be, to object to the proposal.

• (3) Every person upon whom a notice to make a return is served in pursuance of the provisions of this section shall within twenty-one days after the date of the service of the notice make a return in such form as is required in the notice and deliver it in manner so required to the valuation officer.

• (4) If any person on whom notice has been served under the provisions of this section fails without reasonable excuse to comply with the notice, he shall for each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

• (5) Where a person is convicted under subsection (4) of this section in respect of a failure to comply with a notice and the failure continues after the conviction, then, unless he has a reasonable excuse for the continuance of the failure, he shall be guilty of a further offence under the said subsection (4) and may, on summary conviction, be punished accordingly.

• (6) If any person, in a return made under this section, makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular, he shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to both.

Use of returns as evidence.

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• (1) The provisions of this section shall apply to the use as evidence of—

• (a) any return made under section 82 of this Act, section 58 of the Local Government Act 1948, section 40 or 41 of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925, or section 55, 56 or 57 of the Valuation (Metropolis) Act 1869 ;

• (b) any return made in compliance with a request of the valuation officer, being a request made before 31st July 1953 for information which would have been reasonably required by the valuation officer for the purpose of preparing a valuation list if the Valuation for Rating Act 1953 had been in operation when the request was made.

• (2) Subject to the following provisions of this section, any return to which this section applies shall in any valuation proceedings be admissible as evidence of the facts stated in the return; and any document purporting to be a return to which this section applies shall, in any valuation proceedings, be presumed, unless the contrary is shown—

• (a) to be such a return ;

• (b) to have been made by the person by whom it purports to have been made ; and

• (c) if it purports to have been made by that person as occupier, owner or lessee of a hereditament, or in any other capacity specified in the document, to have been made by him as such occupier, owner or lessee, or in that other capacity, as the case may be.

• (3) Returns to which this section applies shall not be used by or on behalf of the valuation officer as evidence in any valuation proceedings unless—

• (a) not less than fourteen days' notice, specifying the returns to be so used and the hereditaments to which they relate, has previously been given to the person who made the proposal to which the proceedings relate (where the proposal was not made by the valuation officer) and to every person who has served, and has not unconditionally withdrawn, a notice of objection to the proposal; and

• (b) the valuation officer has permitted any such person, who has given not less than twenty-four hours' notice of his desire to do so, to inspect at any reasonable time, and to take extracts from, any of the returns specified in the notice under paragraph (a) of this subsection,

• (4) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall not apply to any proceedings relating to the ascertainment of the net annual value of a hereditament on the profits basis:

Provided that this subsection shall not be construed as preventing the use of any return in any such proceedings in circumstances where the return could be so used apart from this section.

• (5) Any person to whom notice relating to any hereditaments has been given under subsection (3)(a) of this section for the purposes of any valuation proceedings may give notice to the valuation officer specifying one or more other hereditaments as being hereditaments which are comparable in character or are otherwise relevant to the said person's case, and requiring the valuation officer—

• (a) to permit him at any reasonable time specified in the notice under this subsection to inspect, and (if he so desires) to take extracts from, all returns (if any) to which this section applies which relate to those other hereditaments and are in the possession of the valuation officer; and

• (b) to produce to him at the hearing such of those returns as before the hearing he has informed the valuation officer that he requires:

Provided that the number of hereditaments specified in a notice under this subsection shall not exceed the number of hereditaments specified in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of this section in the notice given by the valuation officer under that paragraph.

• (6) Where a notice has been given to the valuation officer under subsection (5) of this section, and the valuation officer refuses or fails to comply with the notice, the person who gave the notice may apply to the court or tribunal before which the valuation proceedings in question are to be brought; and if on any such application the court or tribunal is satisfied that it is reasonable to do so, the court or tribunal may by order direct the valuation officer to comply with the notice, either with respect to all the hereditaments specified therein or with respect to such one or more of those hereditaments as the court or tribunal may determine.

• (7) Subsection (6) of this section shall apply, with the necessary modifications, to proceedings on an arbitration as it applies to proceedings before a court.

• (8) An appeal shall lie from the decision of a local valuation court on an application under subsection (6) of this section as if it were a decision in the valuation proceedings to which the application relates.

• (9) In this section " valuation proceedings " means any of the following, that is to say, any proceedings on or in consequence of an appeal to a local valuation court, and any proceedings on or in consequence of a reference to arbitration under section 78 of this Act.

Evidence of valuation lists.

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The contents of a valuation list as for the time being in force, or an extract from any such list, may be proved by the v production of a copy of the list or of the relevant part thereof purporting to be certified by the clerk of the rating authority to be a true copy.

Duty of local authorities with respect to alteration of valuation list.

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• (1) If in the course of the exercise of their functions any information comes to the notice of any local authority which leads them to suppose that a valuation list requires alteration as respects a hereditament it shall be the duty of that authority to inform the valuation officer.

• (2) In this section, the expression " local authority " means the council of a county, county borough, London borough or county district, the Greater London Council, or the Common Council of the City of London, and includes any joint committee of any two or more local authorities and any joint authority on which any local authority are represented.

Powers of entry of valuation officer.

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• (1) The valuation officer and any person authorised by him in writing in that behalf shall have power, at all reasonable times and after giving not less than twenty-four hours' notice in writing and, in the case of a person authorised as aforesaid, on production if so required of his authority, to enter on, survey and value any hereditament in the area for which the valuation officer acts.

• (2) If any person wilfully delays or obstructs any person in the exercise of any of his powers under this section, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

Duty of rating authority to give effect to directions as to alteration of valuation list.

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The rating authority shall give effect to any directions which may from time to time be given to them by the valuation officer in pursuance of any provision of this Act authorising or requiring the valuation officer to cause or direct alterations to be made in a valuation list.

Local valuation courts and panels

Constitution of local valuation courts and panels.

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• (1) Local valuation courts constituted as hereinafter provided shall be convened as often as may be necessary for the purpose of hearing and determining appeals under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act against objections to proposals for the alteration of valuation lists.

• (2) The local valuation court which hears and determines an appeal with respect to any hereditament shall consist of members of a local valuation panel constituted under a scheme for the time being in force for the purposes of this section, being, subject to subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the panel for the area within which that hereditament is situated.

• (3) Regulations made by the Minister may provide, in relation to hereditaments the value of which is or may be ascertained on the profits basis, that jurisdiction as respects all or any of the hereditaments occupied for the purposes of a particular undertaking shall be exercised by a local valuation court consisting of members of such one of the local valuation panels within whose areas any of those hereditaments are situated as may be specified by or under the regulations.

• (4) The Minister may by regulations make provision whereby hereditaments which are within the same curtilage, or are contiguous and in the same occupation, but (in either case) not within the area of a single local valuation panel, shall be treated for the purposes of appeals to local valuation courts as both or all being within the area of such one of the local valuation panels in question as may be determined by or under the regulations; and any such regulations may revoke so much of any scheme for the purposes of this section as makes provision for treating as in the same area hereditaments which are within the same curtilage or contiguous and in the same occupation.

• (5) Subject to subsection (6) of this section, a local valuation court shall consist of—

• (a) either the chairman of the local valuation panel or the deputy chairman (or, if more than one, one of the deputy chairmen) of the panel; and