General Rate Act 1967

• (b) two other members of the panel selected in accordance with the scheme under which the panel is constituted.

• (6) If all persons appearing before a local valuation court on the hearing of an appeal consent thereto, the court may consist of any two of the persons mentioned in subsection (5) of this section ; but if the members of a court so constituted are unable to agree on a decision, the appeal shall be reheard by another valuation court.

Schemes for purposes of s.88.

89

• (1) Subject to section 90 of this Act, each scheme for the purposes of section 88 of this Act shall provide, as respects any local valuation panel to which the scheme relates—

• (a) for fixing the number of members of the panel and for determining their respective tenures of office and the persons by whom they are to be appointed respectively ; and

• (b) for the appointment of one of those members as chairman of the panel and of such number of the members as the scheme may provide as deputy chairmen thereof;

• (c) subject to the provisions of the said section 88, for the manner in which members of local valuation courts are to be selected from members of the panel.

• (2) Subject to section 91 of this Act, any scheme in force for any area on the date of commencement of this Act under section 45 of the Local Government Act 1948 or under paragraph 19 of Schedule 15 to the London Government Act 1963 : shall be in force for that area on and after that date for the purposes of the said section 88.

Disqualification for membership of panel.

90

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person shall be disqualified from being appointed or being a member of any local valuation panel if he is a person who—

• (a) has been adjudged bankrupt; or

• (b) has made a composition or arrangement with his creditors; or

• (c) has, within the five years immediately preceding his appointment or since his appointment, been convicted in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man of any offence and ordered to be imprisoned for a period of three months or more without the option of a fine.

• (2) A disqualification attaching to a person by reason of subsection (1)(a) of this section shall cease—

• (a) if the bankruptcy is annulled on the ground that he ought not to have been adjudged bankrupt or that his debts have been paid in full, on the date of the annulment; or

• (b) if he is discharged with a certificate that the bankruptcy was caused by misfortune without any misconduct on his part, on the date of his discharge; or

• (c) in any other case, on the expiration of five years from the date of his discharge.

• (3) A disqualification attaching to a person by reason of subsection (1)(b) of this section shall cease—

• (a) if he pays his debts in full, on the date on which the payment is completed; or

• (b) in any other case, on the expiration of five years from the date on which the terms of the deed of composition or arrangement are fulfilled.

• (4) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c) of this section, the ordinary date on which the period allowed for making appeal from a conviction expires, or, if such an appeal is made, the date on which it is finally disposed of or abandoned or fails by reason of the non-prosecution thereof, shall be deemed to be the date of the conviction.

New schemes for purposes of s.88.

91

• (1) Any scheme for the time being in force for the purposes of section 88 of this Act may be revoked or varied—

• (a) by a new scheme made and submitted to and approved by the Minister in accordance with subsections (2) to (5) of this section ; or

• (b) by a new scheme made by the Minister on a representation made by any local valuation panel or valuation officer and after consultation with any of the following councils concerned, namely, the council of any county or county borough and the Greater London Council.

• (2) A new scheme under subsection (1)(a) of this section for any area may be made by that one of the councils aforesaid within whose area the area to which the new scheme relates is situated; and any two or more of the councils aforesaid may, and if so directed by the Minister shall, make under the said subsection (1)(a) a joint new scheme providing for a local valuation panel or local valuation panels for the whole of their respective areas, or for areas which together comprise the whole of their respective areas.

• (3) The council or councils by whom a new scheme is made under subsection (1)(a) of this section shall submit it to the Minister and, as soon as they have so submitted it, shall publish in one or more newspapers circulating in their area or areas a notice stating that it has been so submitted and that a copy is open to inspection at a specified place.

• (4) Except in the case of a scheme submitted only by one or more county borough councils, the council or councils submitting a scheme under subsection (3) of this section shall, at the same time as they submit it, send a copy of it to each of the rating authorities within the area of that council or any of those councils.

• (5) No scheme submitted to the Minister under subsection (3) of this section shall be of any effect unless and until it is approved by the Minister; and the Minister, after considering any objections to the scheme which may be submitted to him by persons appearing to him to be interested, may approve the scheme with or without modifications.

• (6) Before a new scheme is made by the Minister under subsection (1)(b) of this section, he shall publish in one or more newspapers circulating in the area to which the scheme relates a notice stating his proposal to make the scheme, and that a copy of a draft of the scheme is open to inspection at a specified place, and specifying a date by which any person may send to him any representations respecting the draft.

Staff, expenses etc. of local valuation panels and courts.

92

• (1) To assist the panel, the chairman thereof and the local valuation courts constituted from members thereof in the performance of their functions under this Part of this Act, every local valuation panel shall appoint a person to be their clerk and may appoint such other officers and servants as they may with the approval of the Minister determine, and may pay to them such salaries, allowances and other remuneration as they may with the approval of the Minister and the Treasury determine, and every such panel shall be deemed for the purposes of the Local Government Superannuation Acts 1937 to 1953 to be a local authority included in Part I of Schedule 1 to the said Act of 1937; but the functions of the officers and servants appointed under this subsection shall not extend to the valuation of hereditaments, and the power to appoint officers and servants conferred by this subsection shall be exercised accordingly.

• (2) The expenses of every such panel, including the expenses of the local valuation courts from time to time constituted from the members thereof, shall be defrayed by the Minister out of moneys provided by Parliament.

• (3) Minutes of the proceedings of a local valuation panel and of a local valuation court constituted from members thereof shall be kept, and shall either be kept in books provided for that purpose or be preserved in book form by means provided for that purpose; and a minute of any such proceedings signed—

• (a) in the case of a meeting of the panel, at the same or the next subsequent meeting of the panel, by the person acting as chairman at the meeting at which the minute is signed ; and

• (b) in the case of a meeting of a local valuation court, at or not later than two days after the date of the meeting to which the minute relates, by the person acting as chairman at that meeting,

shall be received in evidence without further proof.

Supplementary provisions

Membership of local authority etc. not to be disqualification in certain cases.

93

• (1) A person shall not be disqualified to act as a member, or as the clerk or an officer, of a local valuation panel or local valuation court by reason only that he is—

• (a) a member of an authority deriving revenue directly or indirectly from rates which may be affected by the exercise of his functions; or

• (b) the owner or occupier of any property within any rating area the rates within which are affected by the exercise of his functions,

and a person shall not be disqualified from acting as aforesaid in relation to any property by reason only that an authority of which he is a member either own or occupy the whole or any part of that property.

• (2) A person shall not be disqualified to act as a valuation officer or deputy valuation officer by reason only that he is the owner or occupier of any property within any rating area the rates within which are affected by the exercise of his functions.

• (3) Nothing in this section shall authorise any person to whom this section applies to act in relation to any property which, or any part of which, he himself owns or occupies.

Use of public rooms.

94

• (1) The valuation officer may request the permission of any authority (being a county council, the Greater London Council or a rating authority) the whole or any part of whose area is within the area for which the officer acts for the use by him and his staff on such days or for such periods as may be specified in the request of such premises belonging to the authority as may be so specified, and the authority shall not unreasonably withhold their permission.

• (2) The chairman of any local valuation panel may request the permission of any such authority as aforesaid the whole or any part of whose area is within the area for which the panel acts for the use for meetings of the panel or any local valuation court constituted from the members of the panel, or for the use of the chairman, clerk or officers of the panel, on such days as may be specified in the request of any premises belonging to the authority, and the authority shall not unreasonably withhold their permission.

• (3) Any person having the control of any room maintained out of any rate may put that room at the disposal of the valuation officer or any local valuation panel or local valuation court for the purpose of the exercise by them or their officers, or, in the case of a panel, by the chairman thereof, of any functions directly or indirectly affecting the valuation list by reference to which that rate is levied.

• (4) Where a request is made under subsection (1) or (2) of this section, any dispute as to whether the permission of the authority in question has been unreasonably withheld shall be determined by the Minister.

Remuneration and expenses of valuation officers.

95

The remuneration of, and any expenses incurred by, valuation officers in carrying out their functions under this Part of this Act, including the remuneration and expenses of persons, whether in the service of the Crown or not, employed to assist valuation officers in the exercise of those functions, shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.

PART VI — DISTRESS FOR RATES

Enforcement of payment of rates.

96

• (1) Subject to section 62 of this Act and to subsection (2) of this section, if any person fails to pay any sum legally assessed on and due from him in respect of a rate for seven days after has been legally demanded of him, the payment of that sum may, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of this Part of this Act, be enforced by distress and sale of his goods and chattels under warrant issued by a magistrates' court; and, if there is insufficient distress, he may be liable to imprisonment under the provisions of this Part of this Act in that behalf.

• (2) Where the rates charged on any person in respect of any hereditament are under section 3(4) or section 50(1) of this Act payable by instalments, those rates shall be recoverable only to the extent of each respectively of those instalments as and when it falls due; and for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section no sum by way of rates in respect of any year or part of a year shall be treated as having been legally demanded from any person in respect of any hereditament in respect of which he is entitled to give but has not given a notice under the said section 50(1) until the expiration of the period for the giving of such a notice by that person in that year.

• (3) The reference in subsection (1) of this section to a sum legally assessed on and due from a person in respect of a rate shall include a reference to a sum a person is liable to pay in respect of any rate to which section 177 of the City of London Sewers Act 1848 applies, and references in other provisions of this Part of this Act to a sum to which a person has been rated or to the rating or assessment of a person shall be construed accordingly.

Application for warrant of distress.

97

• (1) The proceedings for the issue of a warrant of distress under this Part of this Act may be instituted by making complaint before a justice of the peace and applying for a summons requiring the person named in the complaint to appear before a magistrates' court to show why he has not paid the rate specified in the complaint.

• (2) The forms of complaint and summons in Schedule 12 to this Act, or forms to the like effect, may be used in proceedings under this Part of this Act.

• (3) If the person summoned fails to appear in obedience to the summons and it is proved to the magistrates' court on oath, or in such other manner as may be prescribed by rules under section 15 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949, that the summons was duly served a reasonable time before the time appointed by the summons for his appearance, the magistrates' court may, if it thinks fit, proceed in his absence as if he had appeared in person in obedience to the summons.

Statement of case on application for warrant.

98

The justices may state a case under the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 when called upon to issue a warrant of distress under this Part of this Act.

Execution of warrant of distress.

99

• (1) A warrant of distress under this Part of this Act may be directed to the rating authority, to the constables of the police area in which the warrant is issued and to such other persons, if any, as the magistrates' court issuing the warrant may think fit, and the warrant shall authorise the persons to whom it is directed to levy the amount which the person against whom the warrant is issued is liable to pay by distress and sale of his goods and chattels.

• (2) The foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall not affect the operation of any enactment which protects goods and chattels of any class from distress or which restricts in any other manner the right to obtain a warrant of distress or its execution.

• (3) A warrant of distress under this Part of this Act may be executed anywhere in England or Wales by any person to whom it is directed or by any constable acting within his police area.

• (4) The forms of warrant of distress in Schedule 12 to this Act, or forms to the like effect, may be used in proceedings under this Part of this Act and, to save expense, one warrant of distress may be issued against any number of persons in default, as in the second of the said forms.

• (5) Any person aggrieved by a distress under this Part of this Act for a rate may appeal to the next court of quarter sessions for the area where the rate was made and the appeal shall be heard and finally determined by that court.

• (6) A distress under this Part of this Act shall not be deemed to be unlawful on account of any defect or want of form in the rate or assessment or in the warrant of distress and no person making the distress shall be deemed a trespasser on that account.

• (7) No person making a distress under this Part of this Act shall be deemed to be a trespasser from the beginning on account of any subsequent irregularity in the execution of the warrant of distress, but a person who has sustained special damage by reason of the irregularity may recover full satisfaction for the special damage (and no more) by proceedings in trespass or otherwise.

Costs of obtaining warrant of distress.

100

• (1) The magistrates' court issuing a warrant of distress under this Part of this Act may, if it thinks fit, include in the warrant an order that such sum as it may deem reasonable for the costs incurred in obtaining the warrant shall be levied under the warrant.

• (2) This section shall have effect subject to the restriction on the allowance of costs imposed by the Poor Rates Recovery Act 1862 (which, in a case where several rates of the same or different kinds are due from the same person, authorises their inclusion in one warrant of distress or other document and directs that no costs be allowed if several such documents are used where one would be enough).

Charges for levying distress.

101

• (1) The Minister may make an order regulating the charges in respect of, and incidental to, the levying of distress for rates; and a warrant of distress under this Part of this Act may provide that the charges attending the distress, to the amount authorised by the order, shall be levied under the warrant.

• (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing subsection, an order under this section may include provision as. to charges in cases where, in pursuance of an agreement in that behalf, the goods distrained are not removed from the premises where the distress is levied, whether any person is left in physical possession of the goods or not.

• (3) An order under this section may contain such incidental and supplementary provisions (including provisions as to the settlement of disputes with respect to any charges to which the order relates) as may appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the order.

Imprisonment in default of sufficiency of distress.

102

• (1) If the person charged with the execution of a warrant of distress for levying a sum to which some other person has been rated makes a return to the magistrates' court that he could find no goods or chattels (or no sufficient goods or chattels) on which to levy the sums directed to be levied under the warrant on that other person's goods and chattels, a magistrates' court may, if it thinks fit, and subject to the provisions of section 103 of this Act, issue a warrant of commitment against that other person.

• (2) A warrant of commitment under this section may be directed to the rating authority, to the constables of the police area in which the warrant is issued and to such other persons, if any, as the magistrates' court issuing the warrant may think fit; and the warrant may be executed anywhere in England or Wales by any person to whom it is directed or by any constable acting within his police area.

• (3) The warrant of commitment shall be made not only for non-payment of the sum alleged to be due for rates but also for—

• (a) such costs incurred in obtaining the warrant of distress as may have been included in the warrant of distress;

• (b) the charges attending the distress ; and

• (c) the costs of commitment;

and the said costs and charges shall be stated in the warrant of commitment.

• (4) The form of warrant of commitment in Schedule 12 to this Act, or a form to the like effect, may be used in proceedings under this Part of this Act.

• (5) The order in the warrant of commitment shall be that the said person be imprisoned for a time therein specified but not exceeding three months, unless the sums mentioned in the warrant shall be sooner paid ; but if payment is made in accordance with rules under section 15 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949 of part of the said sums mentioned in the warrant, the period of imprisonment shall be reduced by such number of days as bears to the total number of days in the period specified in the warrant less one day the same proportion as the amount so paid bears to so much of the said sums as was due at the time when the period of imprisonment was imposed; and in calculating the reduction required under this subsection any fraction of a day shall be left out of account.

• (6) A single warrant of commitment shall not be issued under this section against more than one person.

Inquiry as to means before issue of warrant of commitment.

103

• (1) Section 102 of this Act shall have effect subject to and in accordance with the following provisions:—

• (a) on the application for the issue of a warrant for the commitment of any person, the magistrates' court shall make inquiry in his presence as to whether his failure to pay the sum to which he was rated and in respect of which the warrant of distress was issued was due either to his wilful refusal or to his culpable neglect;

• (b) if the magistrates' court is of opinion that the failure of the said person to pay the said sum was not due either to his wilful refusal or to his culpable neglect, it shall not issue the warrant.

• (2) Where on the application no warrant of commitment is issued, the magistrates' court may remit the payment of any sum to which the application relates, or of any part of that sum.

• (3) Where on the application no warrant of commitment is issued, the application may be renewed, except so far as regards any sum remitted under subsection (2) of this section, on the ground that the circumstances of the person to whom the application relates have changed.

• (4) A statement in writing to the effect that wages of any amount have been paid to a person during any period, purporting to be signed by or on behalf of his employer, shall be evidence of the facts therein stated in any proceedings taken before a magistrates' court under this Part of this Act against that person.

Attendance of defaulter for purposes of inquiry.

104

• (1) For the purpose of enabling inquiry to be made in . his presence as to the conduct and means of a person in relation to whom a return of insufficiency of distress has been made a mentioned in section 102(1) of this Act, a justice of the peace having jurisdiction in the petty sessions area in which the return is made may at any time issue a summons to that person to appear before a magistrates' court having jurisdiction under this Part of this Act and, if he does not appear in obedience to the summons, may issue a warrant for his arrest or, without issuing a summons, issue in the first instance a warrant for his arrest.

• (2) Where a warrant is issued under this section, then, unless the sum in respect of which the warrant is issued is sooner paid to the police officer holding the warrant, the warrant may be executed in the like manner, and the like proceedings may be taken for the execution thereof, in any part of the United Kingdom, as if it had been a warrant of arrest issued under section 15 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952.

Abatement of proceedings on payment of rate and costs.

105

• (1) If after proceedings have been taken under this Part of this Act against a person to compel payment of any sum for rates, but not after he has been imprisoned in default of a sufficiency of distress, that person pays or tenders to the rating authority, or to some other person authorised to receive the rates, the sum sought to be recovered together with the amount of all costs and charges up to that time incurred in the proceedings, the rating authority or other person shall accept the amount so paid or tendered and no further proceedings shall be taken for the recovery thereof.

• (2) If after the issue of a warrant of distress under this Part of this Act for a rate the person against whom it is issued tenders the amount of the rate before any levy is made, he shall nonetheless be liable to pay the cost of the warrant and of any person for his attendance to make the levy.

Jurisdiction of justices.

106

• (1) Subject to the provisions of section 104(1) of this Act, justices of the peace may act under the provisions of this Part of this Act as respects a rate if they are justices appointed for an area which comprises the rating area or, in Greater London, a part of the rating area.

• (2) Subject to any enactment in any other Act authorising a stipendiary magistrate or other person to act by himself, a magistrates' court shall not hear a summons for the issue of a warrant of distress under this Part of this Act, or entertain an application for a warrant of commitment under this Part of this Act, or hold an inquiry as to means on such an application, except when composed of at least two justices.

Application of other Acts.

107

• (1) For the purposes of section 122(3) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (under which enactments passed before 16th December 1949 may be amended by rules governing the procedure of magistrates' courts), this Part of this Act shall be deemed to have been passed before that date.

• (2) Nothing in the Distress (Costs) Act 1817, as extended by the Distress (Costs) Act 1827 (which make provision as to the costs and expenses chargeable in respect of the levying of certain distresses) shall apply to distress for rates.

PART VII — Miscellaneous and general

Inspection of documents.

108

• (1) Any ratepayer (whether a ratepayer in the rating area to which the documents relate or in some other area) and any valuation officer (for whatever area) may at all reasonable times, on payment in the case of a document which is more than ten years old of the prescribed fee, and in any other case without payment, inspect and take copies of and extracts from—

• (a) any valuation list, whether prepared under Part V of this Act, under Part III of the Local Government Act 1948, or under the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 ;

• (b) any draft list prepared under the said Act of 1925;

• (c) any notice of objection, proposal or notice of appeal with respect to any such valuation list;

• (d) minutes of the proceedings of any local valuation court constituted under the said Part V or Part III;

• (e) any record of totals prepared under the said Act of 1925;

• (f) any valuation made by a valuer appointed by an assessment committee constituted under the said Act of 1925;

• (g) minutes of the proceedings under the said Act of 1925 of any such assessment committee ;

• (h) minutes of the proceedings under this Act or the said Act of 1925 of any rating authority.

• (2) If any person having the custody of any document to which subsection (1) of this section applies—

• (a) obstructs any person in making any inspection or taking a copy thereof or extract therefrom which he is entitled to make under this section ; or

• (b) demands, when not authorised under this Act, a fee for allowing him so to do,

he shall on summary conviction be liable for each offence to a fine not exceeding five pounds.

• (3) For the purposes of this section the expression " ratepayer " includes an occupier who pays a rent inclusive of rates. and also includes any person authorised by a ratepayer to act on his behalf under this section.

Service of notices, etc.

109

• (1) Any notice, demand note, application, summons, order or other document of any description required or authorised to be sent, given, made or served under or for the purposes of this Act may be sent, given, made or served either—

• (a) by delivering it to the person to or on whom it is to be sent, given, made or served; or

• (b) by leaving it at the usual or last known place of abode of that person, or in the case of a company at its registered office; or

• (c) by forwarding it by post addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode, or in the case of a company at its registered office; or

• (d) by delivering it to some person on the premises to which it relates or (except in the case of a summons) if there is no person on the premises to whom it can be so delivered, then by fixing it on some conspicuous part of the premises ; or

• (e) without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this subsection, where the hereditament to which the document relates is a place of business of the person to or on whom it is to be sent, given, made or served, by leaving it at, or forwarding it by post addressed to that person at, the said place of business.

• (2) Any such document as aforesaid by this Act required or authorised to be served on the owner or occupier of any premises may be addressed by the description of " owner " or " occupier " of the premises (naming them) without further name or description.

• (3) Any such document as aforesaid—

• (a) if required or authorised for the purposes of this Act to be sent, given, made or transmitted to or served on any public or local authority shall be deemed to be duly sent, given, made, transmitted or served if in writing and delivered at or sent by post to the office of the authority addressed to that authority or to their clerk;

• (b) if required or authorised to be sent, given, made, transmitted or served under this Act by any authority or body shall be sufficiently authenticated if signed by the clerk of the authority or body.

• (4) Any notice required by this Act to be served on the valuation officer need not name the valuation officer but may describe him as the valuation officer for the rating area in question, without further description, and may be served by post.

• (5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be without prejudice to paragraph 8(6) of Schedule 1 to this Act and to the application to the service of documents under Part VI of this Act of any rules made under section 15 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949.

• (6) In this section, the expression " local authority " means any body having power to levy a rate or to issue a precept to a rating authority.

Inquiries.

110

The Minister may direct any inquiries to be held by his I inspectors which he might have directed to be so held under section 61(1) of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 if this Act had not been passed.

Interest in municipal property not to disqualify.

111

The interest of any council in any property of which I they or the corporation for which they act are owners or occupiers shall not disqualify the council or any member thereof for acting under this Act in relation to that property.

Treatment of certain payments.

112

Any sums received under section 32(5) of this Act—

• (a) where received by the council of a borough or urban p district, shall be receipts for the benefit of the whole of the borough or district;

• (b) where received by the council of a rural district, shall be receipts in respect of general expenses;

and any other sums received under this Act by any authority, not being receipts from a rate, shall be applied in the reduction of the expenses of the authority under this Act.

Power to make rules.

113

• (1) The Minister, after consultation with any local authority or association of local authorities with whom consulfation appears to him to be desirable, may by rules—

• (a) prescribe anything which by this Act is to be prescribed and the form of any rate, demand note, valuation list, statement, return or other document whatsoever which is required or authorised to be used under or for the purposes of this Act;

• (b) make any provision required by section 14(1) of this Act to be made by rules ;

• (c) make provision as to the manner in which the product of a rate of one penny in the pound for any area is to be estimated or determined for such purposes of this Act and of any other Act, whether passed before or after this Act, as may be specified by the rules.

• (2) Rules made by virtue of subsection (1)(c) of this section may—

• (a) make different provision for different purposes ;

• (b) repeal any provisions of, or of an instrument made under, this Act or any Act passed before 13th December 1966 which the Minister considers will become unnecessary in consequence of the rules ;

• (c) amend any provisions of, or of an instrument made under, this Act or any Act passed before 13th December 1966 in such manner as the Minister considers appropriate in consequence of the rules ;

• (d) provide that the provisions of any instrument having effect by virtue of an enactment repealed or amended by the rules shall continue in force as if they were contained in the rules.

• (3) Any rules made under this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Rules, regulations and orders-general provisions.

114

• (1) Any power to make rules, regulations or orders under this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

• (2) Any regulations made under this Act shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (3) Any order made under any provision of this Act other than section 52(1) may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order under that provision.

Interpretation.

115

• (1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—

• " agricultural land " has the meaning assigned by section 26(3) of this Act;

• " charges ", in Part VI of this Act, includes fees and expenses;

• " clerk ", in relation to any authority or body, includes any officer of the authority or body authorised by them to act on their behalf either generally or in relation to any particular matter;

• " the Commissioners " means the Commissioners of Inland Revenue;

• " dwelling-house " means a hereditament which, in accordance with Schedule 13 to this Act, is used wholly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings;

• " excepted rate " means any of the following, that is to say— any rate which is assessed under any commission of sewers, or in respect of any drainage, wall, embankment, or other work for the benefit of the land; any rate of the description commonly known as a church rate, a tithe rate, or a rector's rate, or any other rate of a similar character ; any rate which is leviable by the conservators of a common; any rate payable by consumers for a supply of water; any rate of the description commonly known as a garden rate or square rate, if levied by any persons other than a rating authority;

• " hereditament " means property which is or may become liable to a rate, being a unit of such property which is, or would fall to be, shown as a separate item in the valuation list;

• " local Act " includes a provisional order confirmed by Act of Parliament;

• " the Minister " means, subject to subsection (2) of this section, the Minister of Housing and Local Government ;

• " owner "— except in, or in connection with, section 49, 50, 55 or 56 of this Act and except in section 60 of or Schedule 1 to this Act, means any person for the time being receiving or entitled to receive the rack-rent of the lands or premises in connection with which the word is used, whether on his own account or as agent or trustee for any other person, or who would so receive or be entitled to receive that rent if the lands or premises were let on a rack-rent; in, or in connection with, the said section 49, 50, 55 or 56, means the person who is, or if the hereditament in connection with which the word is used were occupied would be, entitled to receive the rent payable in respect thereof or, where that hereditament is occupied free of rent, the person by whose permission it is so occupied;

• " prescribed " means prescribed by rules made under section 113 of this Act;

• " profits basis ", in relation to the valuation of a hereditament, means the ascertainment of the value of that hereditament by reference to the accounts, receipts or profits of an undertaking carried on therein;

• " rate ", subject to section 2(5) of this Act, and except in sections 1 and 2 of this Act and in the expression " excepted rate ", means the general rate and, in the application of Part VI of this Act to the City of London, includes the St. Botolph tithe rate, that is to say, any rate made and levied by the Common Council or the Corporation of the City under the powers transferred to them by the City of London (Tithes and Rates) Act 1910; and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly, so, however, that this definition shall not affect the construction of the expression " usual tenant's rates " in this Act, and that expression shall be construed as if this Act had not been passed;

• " rate period " means a year or part of a year, being a year or part for which a rate is made ;

• " ratepayer " means a person who is liable to any rate in respect of property entered in any valuation list;

• " rating area " and " rating authority " shall be construed in accordance with section 1(1) of this Act;

• " rating district "— in relation to Greater London, means a rating area and, subject to paragraph S(1)(b) of Schedule 4 to this Act, includes any part of a rating area which is subject (otherwise than in respect of a garden cr square or by reason of any provision of the City of London (Tithes and Rates) Act 1910 or the City of London (Tithes) Act 1947) to separate or differential rating; in relation to any other area, subject to any alteration of area made by or in pursuance of any Act, means a place which immediately before the commencement of this Act was a parish within the meaning and for the purposes of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925;

• " rebate application " means an application under section 49 of this Act;

• " rebate period " has the meaning assigned by section 49(1) of this Act;

• " the Temples " means the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple;

• " valuation list ", in relation to any rating area, means the valuation list maintained for that area under Part V of this Act;

• " valuation officer ", in relation to a valuation list, a rating area or any premises, means any officer of the Commissioners who is for the time being appointed by the Commissioners to be the valuation officer or one of the valuation officers, or to be the deputy valuation officer or one of the deputy valuation officers, in relation to that list, the valuation list for that rating area or the valuation list for the rating area in which those premises are situated, as the case may be ;

• " year " means a period of twelve months beginning with 1st April.

• (2) In the application to Wales and Monmouthshire of the following provisions (and, notwithstanding anything in article 2(1) of the Secretary of State for Wales and Minister of Land and Natural Resources Order 1965, in those provisions only) of this Act, namely, sections 13, 15, 40(10), 68(2), 88(4), 91, 92, 94(4), 110 and 117(9), and paragraph 10(1) of Schedule 4, any reference therein to the Minister shall be construed as a reference to the Secretary of State; and in the application of the said section 88(4) or the said paragraph 10(1) in relation to a hereditament falling partly but not wholly in Wales and Monmouthshire, any reference therein to the Minister shall be construed as references to the Minister of Housing and Local Government and the Secretary of State acting jointly.

• (3) For the purposes of sections 49 and 50 of this Act, a hereditament which is not a dwelling-house shall be deemed to be used mainly for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings—

• (a) if it appears to the rating authority that, having regard to all the circumstances at the relevant date, that is to say—

• (i) for the purposes of a rebate application, the date of the making of the application; or

• (ii) for the purposes of a notice under section 50(1) of this Act, the date of the giving of the notice,

the proportion of the rateable value of the hereditament as shown in the valuation list in force at that date which is attributable to the part of the hereditament used for the purposes of a private dwelling or private dwellings is greater than the proportion thereof which is attributable to the part used for other purposes; or

• (b) for the purposes of a rebate application in respect of a hereditament or any part thereof, if at the date of the making of the application either—

• (i) a rebate under the said section 49 in respect of the rebate period in question has already been granted to some other person entitled to make a rebate application in respect of that hereditament or any part thereof; or

• (ii) a notice under the said section 50(1) is for the time being in force in respect of the hereditament; or

• (c) for the purposes of a notice under the said section 50(1), if at the date of the giving of the notice a rebate under the said section 49 is for the time being payable in respect of the hereditament or any part thereof.

• (4) For the purposes of this Act and of any other Act, whether passed before or after this Act, a proposal to alter a valuation list shall be taken to be settled when an alteration is made in the list so as to give effect to the proposal, or to an agreement made in consequence of the proposal, or when proceedings on an appeal against, or a reference to arbitration relating to, an objection to the proposal (including any proceedings consequent on such an appeal or reference to arbitration) are finally determined, or when the proposal is withdrawn, whichever first occurs.

• (5) Any reference in this Act to the alteration of a valuation list includes a reference to the insertion in the list, or the deletion from the list, of a hereditament.

• (6) Except in so far as the context otherwise requires, a reference in this Act to an enactment or instrument shall be construed as a reference to that enactment or instrument as amended or extended by or under any other enactment or instrument, including any enactment contained in this Act.

Construction of references etc.

116

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, all enactments relating to the poor rate which were in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, including enactments relating to appeals against a poor rate, shall, so far as not repealed by this Act or by the Local Government Act 1966, apply in relation to the general rate.

• (2) References in any Act or other document to any rate which is a rate in lieu of which a general rate under this Act is levied or in lieu of which an amount is leviable together with, and as an additional item of, the general rate shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references respectively to the general rate and the additional item thereof.

• (3) References in any Act or other document to gross value or gross estimated rental or to net annual value or rateable value as determined by valuation lists made under the Union Assessment Acts 1862 to 1880 or as shown in, or ascertained in accordance with, the Acts relating to the basis or standard of county rates shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to gross value or net annual value, as the case may be, as ascertained under section 19 of this Act.

• (4) References in any Act or other document to assessable value shall, except where the term is used in relation to income tax, be construed as references to rateable value as ascertained under this Act.

• (5) References in any Act or other document to the valuation list or supplemental list under the said Acts of 1862 to 1880 shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as references to the valuation list under this Act.

• (6) So much of any Act or other document as refers, or as immediately before the commencement of this Act fell to be construed as referring, expressly or by implication—

• (a) to, or to the Act containing, any enactment repealed and re-enacted by this Act; or

• (b) to, or to the instrument containing, any instrument or provision of an instrument specified in Part II of Schedule 14 to this Act,

shall, if and so far as the context permits, be construed as referring to, or as the case may require to the corresponding provision of, this Act.

• (7) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (6) of this section—

• (a) any enactment which refers to the procedure for enforcing payment of poor rate, or to any part of that procedure, shall be construed as referring to the procedure prescribed by Part VI of this Act, or to the corresponding part of that procedure ; and

• (b) the reference in rule 45 of the Magistrates Courts Rules 1952 to section 67(2) of the Magistrates Courts Act 1952 shall include a reference to section 102(5) of this Act.

• (8) Any reference in any Act passed before this Act to a parish shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed as a reference to an area which is a rating district within the meaning of this Act, except that—

• (a) it shall not include any area which, under section 68(4) of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925, was a parish within the meaning and for the purposes of that Act only by reason of being a contributory place or an area otherwise subject to separate or differential rating ;

• (b) it shall not include a rating district consisting of part only of a rating area in Greater London except when used in an enactment relating to rating or valuation.

• (9) In section 2(7) of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925, for the words " an urban rating area ", and, in paragraph 5(a) of Schedule 2 to the Licensing Act 1964, for the words " an urban parish ", there shall be substituted the words " a rating area other than a rural district ".

• (10) In Schedule 1 to the Local Government Act 1966—

• (a) in paragraph 6 of Part II, for the reference to rules under section 25 of that Act there shall be substituted a reference to rules made by virtue of section 113(1)(c) of this Act;

• (b) in paragraph 1 of Part III, for the reference to section 6 of that Act there shall be substituted a reference to section 48 of this Act.

Repeals and savings.

117

• (1) The enactments specified in Part I of Schedule 14 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent respectively specified in the third column of that Schedule; and the instruments or parts of instruments specified in Part II of that Schedule are hereby revoked.

• (2) The following enactments, namely, the Rating (Interim Relief) Act 1964 and section 47 of this Act, are hereby repealed as from 1st April 1968 except as respects any period before that date; but nothing in this Act shall affect the operation of the said Act of 1964 as respects any such period.

• (3) Any instrument in force at the commencement of this Act and made or having effect as if made under any enactment repealed by and re-enacted in this Act, and anything whatsoever done under or by virtue of any such enactment, shall be deemed to have been made or done under or by virtue of the corresponding provision of this Act; and anything begun under any such enactment may be continued under this Act as if begun under this Act.

• (4) Any question with respect to the matters dealt with by this Act arising in respect of, or of a liability incurred during, any period before the commencement of this Act shall be determined as if this Act had not been passed.

• (5) Subject as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, nothing therein contained shall affect—

• (a) the principles on which hereditaments are to be valued or any privilege or any provision for the making of a valuation on any exceptional principle; or

• (b) any exemption from or privilege in respect of rating conferred by any local Act or order; or

• (c) any provision in any local Act under which the owner of a hereditament is liable to pay or bear a portion of any rate in relief of the occupier without being entitled to any commission, reduction, or allowance in respect of that liability; or

• (d) any statutory provision authorising appointment of a person to raise a rate on default being made by a local authority in performing any duty or making any payment.

• (6) Subsection (5) of this section shall not apply to any exemption or privilege conferred by a local Act or order passed or made before 22nd December 1925 unless that exemption or privilege either—

• (a) is continued in operation by a scheme such as is mentioned in subsection (7) of this section which is for the time being in force; or

• (b) was enjoyed in practice immediately before the commencement of this Act;

and, without prejudice to subsection (12) of this section, paragraphs (b) to (d) of the said subsection (5) shall not apply to the inner London boroughs, the City of London or the Temples.

• (7) Notwithstanding anything in this Act or in the provisions with respect to county roads of the Highways Act 1959, but subject to subsections (8) and (9) of this section, any scheme such as is mentioned in section 64(2) of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 or section 301 of the said Act of 1959 for the purpose of securing the continued operation of any exemption from or privilege in respect of rating, being a scheme in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, shall continue in force and have effect as if included in this Act.

• (8) In the case of any hereditament the rating authority (or, where the exemption continued is an exemption from a highways rate, the council of the county in which the hereditament is situated) and all persons interested in the hereditament may agree that any privilege or exemption in respect of that hereditament continued by any such scheme as is mentioned in subsection (7) of this section shall be surrendered and extinguished in consideration of such payments as may be agreed between them.

• (9) The Minister may, on an application in that behalf made by any person affected by a scheme such as is mentioned in subsection (7) of this section and after publishing notice of the proposed order in such manner as he thinks proper, by order vary or amend the scheme as he thinks proper; but if any person, being a person who will in the opinion of the Minister be affected by the proposed order, gives notice in writing to the Minister that he objects to the proposed order—

• (a) the Minister shall, before making the order, direct a local inquiry to be held for the purpose of determining whether the order ought or ought not to be made; and

• (b) if the Minister after receiving the report of the inquiry is of opinion that the order ought to be made either as originally proposed by him or with any variations or modifications, he may make the order accordingly, but, unless the objection is withdrawn, the order shall be a provisional order only and shall not be of any validity unless and until it has been confirmed by Act of Parliament

• (10) Any of the following instruments in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, that is to say—

• (a) any order made under section 66 of the Rating and Valuation Act 1925 adapting the provisions of any local Act;

• (b) any order made under section 70(3) of the Local Government Act 1948 for the continuance in force of any provision of any local Act;

• (c) any regulations made under section 71(a) to (c) of the said Act of 1948,

shall continue in force in the like manner, subject to the like power of revocation or variation, as if the said section 66, 70(3) or 71(a) to (c), as the case may be, had been re-enacted in this Act.

• (11) Notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of section 5(4) of the Rating and Valuation Act 1961, section 41(2) of the Pipe-lines Act 1962 and section 3(7) of the Gas Act 1965, the Schedule to the Plant and Machinery (Rating) Order 1960 shall continue to have effect as amended by virtue of the said sections 5(4), 41(2) and 3(7).

• (12) Nothing in this Act shall affect the operation of any provision of a local Act or order so far as that provision was in force immediately before the commencement of this Act.

• (13) The provisions of this section and of sections 107 and 116 of this Act shall be without prejudice to the general application to this Act of section 38 of the Interpretation Act 1889 (which relates to the effect of repeals).

Application to Isles of Stilly.

118

• (1) Subject to any order under subsection (2) of this section, references in this Act to a rating area or rating authority shall, in relation to the Isles of Stilly, be construed as references respectively to those Isles and to the Council of those Isles.

• (2) The Minister may by order direct that the provisions of this Act shall apply to the Isles of Stilly subject to such exceptions, adaptations and modifications, if any, as may be specified in the order.

Short title, extent and commencement.

119

• (1) This Act may be cited as the General Rate Act 1967.

• (2) This Act except section 104(2) and the repeal of section 9(2) of the Distress for Rates Act 1960 shall not extend to Northern Ireland.

• (3) This Act, except as aforesaid and except for paragraph 6 of Schedule 5, shall not extend to Scotland.

• (4) This Act shall come into force on such day as the Minister of Housing and Local Government may by order appoint, not being earlier than whichever of the following dates is the latest, that is to say—

• (a) 1st April 1967 ;

• (b) the day appointed under section 38(1) of the Local Government Act 1966;

• (c) the date of commencement of the first order to be made under section 118(2) of this Act.

SCHEDULE 1

Liability to be rated in respect of certain unoccupied property

1

• (1) Where, in the case of any rating area in which, by virtue of a resolution under section 17 of this Act, this Schedule is in operation, any relevant hereditament in that area is unoccupied for a continuous period exceeding three months, the owner shall, subject to the provisions of this Schedule, be rated in respect of that hereditament for any relevant period of vacancy ; and the provisions of this Act shall apply accordingly as if the hereditament were occupied during that relevant period of vacancy by the owner.

• (2) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the amount of any rates payable by an owner in respect of a hereditament by virtue of this paragraph shall be one-half of the amount which would be payable if he were in occupation of the hereditament; and no reduction shall be made under section 48 of this Act in respect of any rates so payable.

• (3) Where a relevant hereditament which is unoccupied becomes occupied on any day and becomes unoccupied again on the expiration of a period of less than six weeks beginning with that day, then, for the purpose of ascertaining any period of three months during which the hereditament has been continuously unoccupied and any relevant period of vacancy in respect of the hereditament, it shall be deemed to have remained unoccupied on that day and during that period.

• (4) In relation to a relevant hereditament which is a newly-erected dwelling-house within the meaning of this Schedule, the foregoing provisions of this paragraph and the definition of " relevant period of vacancy " in paragraph 15 of this Schedule shall have effect as if for any reference to three months there were substituted a reference to six months.

2

No rates shall be payable under paragraph 1 of this Schedule in respect of a hereditament for, or for any part of the three months beginning with the day following the end of, any period during which—

• (a) the owner is prohibited by law from occupying the hereditament or allowing it to be occupied ;

• (b) the hereditament is kept vacant by reason of action taken by or on behalf of the Crown or any local or public authority with a view to prohibiting the occupation of the hereditament or to acquiring it;

• (c) the hereditament is the subject of a building preservation order under section 30 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1962, or is included in a list compiled or approved under section 32 of that Act, or is notified to the rating authority by the Minister as a building of architectural or historic interest;

• (d) the hereditament is the subject of a preservation order or an interim preservation notice under the Ancient Monuments Acts 1913 to 1953, or is included in a list published by the Minister of Public Building and Works under those Acts ;

• (e) an agreement is in force with respect to the hereditament under section 56(1)(a) of this Act; or

• (f) the hereditament is held for the purpose of being available for occupation by a minister of religion as a residence from which to perform the duties of his office.

3

The Minister may by regulations provide that rates shall not be payable under paragraph 1 of this Schedule in respect of hereditaments of such descriptions as may be prescribed by the regulations or in such circumstances as may be so prescribed and the regulations may make different provision for hereditaments of different descriptions and for different circumstances.

4

Section 40 of this Act shall apply in relation to any relevant hereditament to which that section applied when it was last occupied as if it were used for the purpose for which it was then used.

Determination of rateable values

5

• (1) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the rateable value of a hereditament for the purposes of paragraph 1 thereof shall be the rateable value ascribed to it in the valuation list in force for the area in which the hereditament is situated or, if the hereditament is not included in that list, the first rateable value subsequently ascribed to the hereditament in a valuation list in force for that area.

• (2) If the relevant period of vacancy in respect of a hereditament begins before and ends at or after the time when a new valuation list comes into force for the area of the rating authority and the hereditament is not included in the previous valuation list, then—

• (a) the valuation officer shall, at the request of the rating authority or the owner of the hereditament, certify to that authority the rateable value which in his opinion would (in accordance with section 20 of this Act) have been ascribed to the hereditament if it had been included in the previous list by alteration of that list;

• (b) the provisions of Part V of this Act shall apply in relation to any such certificate as if it were a proposal by the valuation officer for the alteration of a valuation list; and

• (c) for the purposes of the liability of the owner to be rated in respect of so much of the relevant period of vacancy as fell before the coming into force of the new valuation list, the rateable value of the hereditament shall be taken to be the value as settled in pursuance of the certificate and any proceedings consequent thereon.

• (3) Where two or more persons are or have been severally entitled to possession of different parts of any property which is included in a valuation list as a hereditament or to which a certificate under sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph relates and any of those parts—

• (a) consists of property suitable for inclusion in a valuation list as a separate hereditament; and

• (b) would be a relevant hereditament if it were included in a valuation list as a separate hereditament,

the part may be treated as a relevant hereditament for the purposes of this Schedule and the valuation officer may give such directions as he thinks fit for apportioning between those parts the rateable value ascribed to the property by the list or certificate aforesaid.

6

• (1) A rating authority may request the valuation officer to make a proposal for including in the valuation fist in force for their area any unoccupied building in their area (together with any garden, yard, court or other land intended for use for the purposes of the building) which in their opinion is, or when completed will be, a newly erected dwelling-house ; and if the valuation officer thinks fit to comply with the request he may make a proposal for including the building (together with any such garden, yard, court or other land as aforesaid) as a dwelling-house in that fist and for ascribing to it in the list such values as he considers are appropriate or will be appropriate when the building is completed.

• (2) Where such a request is made by a rating authority and the valuation officer serves notice in writing by post or otherwise on the authority stating that he does not propose to comply with the request, the rating authority may, if they think fit, within the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date of service of the notice, make a proposal for including the building and any other land to which the request relates as a dwelling-house in the list aforesaid and for ascribing to it in the list such values as the authority consider are appropriate or will be appropriate when the building is completed.

• (3) Where a new valuation list is prepared for any area, the valuation officer shall include in the list as transmitted to the rating authority—

• (a) any dwelling-house included in the current list for that area in pursuance of a proposal under sub-paragraph (1) or (2) of this paragraph ; and

• (b) any building (with or without other land) in respect of which a proposal for its inclusion in the current fist as a dwelling-house has been made by him under the said sub-paragraph (1) and has not been settled,

and if any such proposal is made by him after the new list has been so transmitted, shall cause that list to be altered so as to include the building (with or without other land) as a dwelling-house in the new list.

• (4) Where a newly erected dwelling-house is first occupied after its completion and a rateable value has, in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, previously been ascribed to it in the valuation list currently in force for the area in which it is situated, any different rateable value subsequently ascribed to it in that list and which, apart from this sub-paragraph, would have effect from the date when the dwelling-house is first occupied as aforesaid shall be deemed to have effect from the date on which the current list came into force or the date from which the previous rateable value had effect, whichever is the later.

Completion of newly erected or altered buildings

7

For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Schedule, a newly erected building which is not occupied on the date determined under the subsequent provisions of this Schedule as the date on which the erection of the building is completed shall be deemed to become unoccupied on that date.

8

• (1) Where a rating authority are of opinion—

• (a) that the erection of a building within their area has been completed ; or

• (b) that the work remaining to be done on a building within their area is such that the erection of the building can reasonably be expected to be completed within three months,

and that the building is, or when completed will be, comprised in a relevant hereditament, the authority may serve on the owner of the building a notice (hereafter in this paragraph referred to as " a completion notice ") stating that the erection of the building is to be treated for the purposes of this Schedule as completed on the date of service of the notice or on such later date as may be specified by the notice.

• (2) If a person on whom a completion notice is served agrees in writing with the authority by whom the notice was served that the erection of the building to which the notice relates shall be treated for the purposes of this Schedule as completed on a day specified by the agreement, it shall be treated for those purposes as completed on that day and the notice shall be deemed to be withdrawn.

• (3) Where a rating authority has served a completion notice on any person, the authority may withdraw the notice by a subsequent notice served on that person; and a notice under this sub-paragraph may be served—

• (a) at any time before an appeal in pursuance of sub-paragraph (4) of this paragraph is brought against the completion notice; and

• (b) with the agreement of the person aforesaid, at any time thereafter and before the appeal is determined.

• (4) A person on whom a completion notice is served may, during the period of twenty-one days beginning with the date of service of the notice, appeal to the county court against the notice on the ground that the erection of the building to which the notice relates has not been or, as the case may be, cannot reasonably be expected to be completed by the date specified by the notice.

• (5) If a completion notice served in respect of a building is not withdrawn and no appeal in pursuance of sub-paragraph (4) of this paragraph is brought against the notice or such an appeal is abandoned or dismissed, the erection of the building shall be treated for the purposes of this Schedule as completed on the date specified by the notice; and if the notice is not withdrawn and such an appeal is brought and is not abandoned or dismissed, the erection of the building shall be treated for those purposes as completed on such date as the court shall determine.

• (6) A notice under this paragraph may, without prejudice to any other mode of service, be served on any person—

• (a) by sending it in a prepaid registered letter, or by the recorded delivery service, addressed to that person at his usual or last known place of abode, or, in a case where an address for service has been given by that person, at that address ; or

• (b) in the case of an incorporated company or body, by delivering it to the secretary or clerk of the company or body at their registered or principal office, or sending it in a prepaid registered letter, or by the recorded delivery service, addressed to the secretary or clerk of the company or body at that office ; or

• (c) where the name or address of that person cannot be ascertained after reasonable inquiry, by addressing it to him by the description of " owner " of the building (describing it) to which the notice relates and by affixing it to some conspicuous part of the building.

9

In the case of a building to which work remains to be done of a kind which is customarily done to a building of the type in question after the erection of the building has been substantially completed, it shall be assumed for the purposes of paragraph 8 of this Schedule that the erection of the building has been or can reasonably be expected to be completed at the expiration of such period beginning with the date of its completion apart from the work as is reasonably required for carrying out the work.

10

Where by reason of the structural alteration of any building a relevant hereditament becomes or becomes part of a different hereditament or different hereditaments, the relevant hereditament shall be deemed for the purposes of this Schedule to have ceased to exist on the date (as determined in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this Schedule) of the completion of the structural alteration and, in particular, to have been omitted on that date from any valuation list in which it is then included; but nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as affecting any liability for rates under paragraph 1 of this Schedule in respect of the hereditament for any period before that date.

Supplemental

11

• (1) Where a person for the time being liable to be rated under paragraph 1 of this Schedule

• (a) in respect of a relevant hereditament which is not included in a valuation list; or

• (b) in respect of a dwelling-house included in such a list in pursuance of paragraph 6 of this Schedule but not occupied since it was so included,

serves on the valuation officer a notice referring to the hereditament or dwelling-house and stating his name and address and that he is so liable, then, in relation to any proposal for including the hereditament in a valuation list or, as the case may be, any proposal served in respect of the dwelling-house before the end of the rate period during which it is first occupied after it was so included in the list, the person aforesaid shall be treated for the purposes of the provisions of Part V of this Act relating to proposals, objections and appeals as standing in the same position as the occupier of the hereditament or dwelling-house.

• (2) A notice served under sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph in respect of a hereditament such as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of that sub-paragraph which subsequently becomes a dwelling-house such as is mentioned in paragraph (b) thereof shall be treated as served in respect of the dwelling-house as well as in respect of the hereditament.

• (3) Where, in pursuance of such a proposal in respect of a dwelling-house as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, an alteration is made in a valuation list which affects the amount of any rate levied under paragraph 1 of this Schedule in respect of the dwelling-house, 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) References in sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph to a person liable as there mentioned include references to a person who would be so liable if a relevant period of vacancy had begun in relation to the hereditament or dwelling-house in question.

12

No rate shall be payable under paragraph 1 of this Schedule in respect of a hereditament for any period during which it is deemed by virtue of sub-paragraph (3) of that paragraph to have been unoccupied ; and any rate paid under that paragraph in respect of such a period shall be recoverable by the person by whom it was paid.

13

Any amount due in respect of rates payable by virtue of paragraph 1 of this Schedule shall, without prejudice to the operation of any other enactment under which it is recoverable, be recoverable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

14

In calculating any period for the purposes of this Schedule, any period when this Schedule is not in force in the rating area in question shall be disregarded ; but the fact that this Schedule has ceased to be in force in any area shall not affect its operation as respects any period when it was in force in the area.

15

In this Schedule, the following expressions have the following meanings respectively, that is to say—

• " building " includes part of a building;

• " local authority " means the council of a county, county borough or county district, the Greater London Council, the council of a London borough, the Common Council of the City of London or the Council of the Isles of Scilly ;

• " owner ", in relation to a relevant hereditament or to a building, means the person entitled to possession of the hereditament or building;

• " relevant hereditament " means any hereditament consisting of, or of part of, a house, shop, office, factory, mill or other building whatsoever, together with any garden, yard, court or other land ordinarily used or intended for use for the purposes of the building or part;

• " relevant period of vacancy ", in relation to any relevant hereditament, means, subject to paragraph 1(4) of this Schedule, any period beginning with the day following the end of a period of three months during which the hereditament has been continuously unoccupied and ending with the day preceding that on which the hereditament becomes or next becomes occupied or ceases to exist;

and references to a newly erected building or dwelling-house include references to a building or dwelling-house produced by the structural alteration of a building included in a relevant hereditament which by virtue of paragraph 10 of this Schedule has ceased or will cease to exist on the completion of the structural alteration and, in relation to a building or dwelling-house so produced, references to erection of a building shall be construed as references to the structural alteration producing it.

SCHEDULE 2

1

Where a proposal for the alteration of a valuation list in respect of any hereditament was served on or made by the valuation officer on or after 3rd December 1965 and settled before 13th December 1966, then if—

• (a) a further proposal for the alteration of the valuation list in respect of that hereditament was served or made before the end of March 1967 and remains to be settled ; and

• (b) that further proposal is expressed to be made on the ground only that the value or altered value determined pursuant to the original proposal exceeds that which would have been so determined if section 17 of the Local Government Act 1966 had applied to it,

section 20 of this Act shall apply to the further proposal as if for references therein to the time of valuation there were substituted references to the time of valuation for the purposes of the original proposal; and any alteration made in the valuation list in respect of the hereditament in pursuance of the further proposal shall have effect for the purposes of this Act and any other enactment relating to rating and valuation as if the further proposal had been served or made immediately after the original proposal.

2

Where a further proposal for the alteration of the valuation list in resoect of a hereditament has been served on the valuation officer by any other person before the end of March 1967 but is not expressed to be made on the ground specified in paragraph 1(b) of this Schedule, and that person gives or has given, either before or within one month after the settlement of the further proposal, notice in writing to the valuation officer of his intention to make a further proposal in respect of the hereditament on that ground, any such further proposal made by that person which—

• (a) is expressed to be made on that ground only ; and

• (b) is or was served within one month after the service of the notice,

shall be treated for the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Schedule as if it had been served before the end of March 1967.

SCHEDULE 3

CLASS 1

1

Machinery and plant (together with the shafting, pipes, cables, wires and other appliances and structures accessory thereto) which is used or intended to be used mainly or exclusively in connection with any of the following purposes, that is to say—

• (a) the generation, storage, primary transformation or main transmission of power in or on the hereditament; or

• (b) the heating, cooling, ventilating, lighting, braining, or supplying of water to the land or buildings of which the hereditament consists, or the protecting of the hereditament from fire:

CLASS 2

2

Lifts and elevators mainly or usually used for passengers.

CLASS 3

3

Railway and tramway lines and tracks.

CLASS 4

4

Such part of any plant or any combination of plant and machinery, including gas holders, blast furnaces, coke ovens, tar distilling plant, cupolas, and water towers with tanks, as is, or is in the nature of, a building or structure.

CLASS 5

5

• (1) A pipe-line, that is to say, a pipe or system of pipes for the conveyance of any thing, not being—

• (a) a drain or sewer;

• (b) a pipe or system of pipes vested in an area board established by the Gas Act 1948, in the Gas Council, in a board established by the Electricity Act 1947, or in the Central Electricity Generating Board;

• (c) a pipe or system of pipes fonrring part of the equipment of, and wholly situate within, a factory or petroleum storage depot or premises comprised in a mine, quarry or mineral field,

and exclusive of so much of a pipe or system of pipes forming part of the equipment of, and situate partly within and partly outside, a factory or petroleum storage depot or premises comprised in a mine, quarry or mineral field as is situate within, as the case may be, the factory or petroleum storage depot or those premises.

• (2) In this paragraph—

• (a) " factory " has the same meaning as in the Factories Act 1961 ;

• (b) " mine " and " quarry " have the same meanings respectively as in the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 ;

• (c) " mineral field " means an area comprising an excavation being a well or borehole or a well and borehole combined, or a system of such excavations, used for the purposes of pumping or raising brine or oil, and so much of the surface (including buildings, structures and works thereon) surrounding or adjacent to the excavation or system as is occupied, together with the excavation or system, for the purpose of the working of the excavation or system ;

• (d) " petroleum storage depot " means premises used primarily for the storage of petroleum or petroleum products (including chemicals derived from petroleum) or of materials used in the manufacture of petroleum products (including chemicals derived from petroleum).

SCHEDULE 4

Ascertainment of cumulo-value for undertaking

1

• (1) There shall be ascertained in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph for the undertaking as a whole an amount hereafter in this Schedule referred to as the " cumulo-value ".

• (2) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the cumulo-value for the purposes of valuation lists in force or to come into force at any time (hereinafter in this Schedule referred to as the " relevant lists ") shall be determined in accordance with the following provisions of this paragraph by reference to the amount (hereafter in this Schedule referred to as the " previous cumulo-value ") of the cumulo-value determined for the purposes of the valuation lists (hereafter in this Schedule referred to as the " previous lists ") last coming into force before the relevant lists.

• (3) If the yearly average supply of the undertakers in the basic period for the relevant lists exceeds their yearly average supply in the basic period for the previous lists, there shall be added to the amount of the previous cumulo-value an amount which bears to the aggregate of the previous cumulo-values for all undertakings in England and Wales the proportion which the difference between the said yearly average supplies bears to the yearly average supply of all undertakers in England and Wales in the basic period for the previous lists.

• (4) If the yearly average supply of the undertakers in the basic period for the relevant lists falls short of their yearly average supply in the basic period for the previous lists, the amount of the previous cumulo-value shall be reduced in the proportion which the one bears to the other.

• (5) The amount of the previous cumulo-value, after any adjustment in accordance with sub-paragraph (3) or (4) of this paragraph, shall be apportioned among rating areas in which water hereditaments of the undertaking are situated.

• (6) The amount apportioned under sub-paragraph (5) of this paragraph to each county borough, to each rating area in Greater London and to the Isles of Stilly, and the aggregate of the amounts apportioned to the rating areas in each county, shall be adjusted by multiplying it by the proportional change in the level of net annual values appearing, on the average, from a comparison of the values expected to be shown in the relevant lists for the borough, rating area, Isles or county, as transmitted to rating authorities in pursuance of section 68(2) of this Act, with those shown in the previous lists for the borough, rating area, Isles or county at the beginning of April last before the coming into force of the relevant lists.

• (7) The sum of the amounts and the aggregates referred to in sub-paragraph (6) of this paragraph, adjusted in accordance with that paragraph, shall be the cumulo-value for the undertaking for the purposes of the relevant lists.

• (8) In relation to the valuation lists in force at the commencement of this Act, the cumulo-value and the previous cumulo-value for any undertaking shall be those determined for the purposes of those lists in accordance with Part II of the Rating and Valuation Act 1961.

Rateable value of water hereditaments

2

The amount of the cumulo-value as determined under paragraph 1(7) of this Schedule shall be apportioned among rating districts in which water hereditaments of the undertaking are situated; and for the purposes of the relevant lists the amount apportioned to any rating district shall be the rateable value of such hereditaments in that district, and rateable values (but no net annual values) shall be shown accordingly in lists transmitted to rating authorities in pursuance of section 68(2) of this Act.

Adjustment of cumulo-value during currency of valuation lists

3

• (1) If in any of the successive periods of five calendar years ending respectively with the December last before the coming into force of the relevant lists and the subsequent Decembers falling earlier than two years before the date on which those lists cease to be in force—

• (a) the yearly average supply of any statutory water undertakers exceeds or falls short of their yearly average supply in the basic period for those lists ; and

• (b) the excess or deficiency is greater than ten per cent. of the last-mentioned average supply,

the cumulo-value for the undertaking as determined for the purposes of those lists shall be adjusted in accordance with the following provisions of this paragraph, and the rateable values of the water hereditaments of the undertaking shall be varied in accordance with paragraph 4 of this Schedule for any rate period beginning fifteen months or more after the end of the said period of five years and ending not later than the date on which the lists cease to be in force or on which a subsequent variation in accordance with the said paragraph 4 takes effect (hereafter in this paragraph and in the said paragraph 4 referred to as a " relevant rate period ").

• (2) If there is such an excess as aforesaid, the said cumulo-value shall be increased by an amount which bears to the aggregate of the cumulo-values for all undertakings in England and Wales, as deter-rrrined for the purposes of the relevant lists, the proportion which the excess bears to the yearly average supply of all undertakers therein in the basic period for those lists.

• (3) If there is such a deficiency as aforesaid, the said cumulo-value shall be reduced in the proportion which the one average supply mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph bears to the other.

• (4) Where the cumulo-value for an undertaking is adjusted under this paragraph, the Commissioners shall, not later than five months before the beginning of the first relevant rate period, furnish to the undertakers and to any rating authority concerned the particulars required for determining the amount of the adjustment.

• (5) Where the cumulo-value for any undertaking falls to be adjusted under this paragraph as respects any of the successive periods mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) thereof, then (whether or not the consequential variation of the rateable values of the water hereditaments of the undertaking has taken effect) in the application, in the case of that undertaking, of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph to any subsequent such period—

• (a) for the reference in paragraph (a) of the said sub-paragraph (1) to the basic period for the relevant lists there shall be substituted a reference to the preceding or last preceding period of five calendar years as respects which the conditions specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the said sub-paragraph (1), or those conditions as modified by this sub-paragraph, are satisfied;

• (b) for the references in the foregoing provisions of this paragraph to the cumulo-value for the undertaking as determined for the purposes of the relevant lists there shall be substituted references to the cumulo-value for the undertaking as adjusted or last adjusted under this paragraph.

• (6) In the application of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph to the valuation lists in force at the commencement of this Act, references to a period of five calendar years do not include references to any period beginning before the basic period for those lists, but do include references to a period of three or four calendar years beginning with that basic period.

Alterations of valuation lists consequential on adjustment of cumulo-value

4

• (1) Where the cumulo-value for an undertaking has been adjusted under paragraph 3 of this Schedule, that cumulo-value as so adjusted shall be apportioned among rating districts in which water hereditaments of the undertaking are situated, and the valuation officer shall make proposals for such alterations of valuation lists as are requisite for increasing or decreasing, as the case may require, the rateable values of the water hereditaments of the undertaking to accord with the apportionment.

• (2) Any such proposals shall be made not later than three months before the beginning of the first relevant rate period, and in relation to such proposals section 79(1) of this Act shall have effect as if after the words " commencement of " there were inserted the words " the year immediately following ".

• (3) Where the valuation officer transmits copies of any proposals under this paragraph, he shall transmit with them particulars of the manner in which the adjusted cumulo-value has been apportioned among rating districts so as to produce the alterations in valuation lists which are the subject of the proposals ; and effect shall not be given to objections to the proposals on any grounds other than the grounds that the apportionment was not properly made.

Other alterations of valuation lists with respect to water hereditaments

5

• (1) Where, after the valuation officer has transmitted a valuation list to the rating authority, but before the date on which the list is to come into force, it appears to him that in the case of a statutory water undertaking of which water hereditaments are included in the list the cumulo-value for the undertaking ought to be redetermined to conform with paragraph 1 of this Schedule and that on that account the list needs to be altered in any respect, he shall cause the fist to be altered accordingly before that date.

• (2) A proposal for the alteration of a valuation list so far as it relates to a water hereditament of a statutory water undertaking may be made on the grounds that the apportionment required by paragraph 2 or 4(1) of this Schedule was not properly made, or that the cumulo-value for the undertaking ought to be re-apportioned among rating districts in which water hereditaments of the undertaking are situated.

• (3) Where, in the case of any rating area, a proposal is made falling within sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph, or an objection is made falling within paragraph 4(3) of this Schedule, the valuation officer shall cause copies of the proposal or objection to be served on the rating authority for every other rating area in which there are water hereditaments of the undertaking in question which appear relevant to the proposal or objection.

• (4) Where it appears to the valuation officer that the valuation list may be affected by any such proposal or objection as aforesaid relating to another valuation list, and he makes a proposal for any consequential alteration of the first-mentioned list which appears to him to be required if effect is given, in whole or in part, to the original proposal or objection, then, if the valuation officer states in his proposal that it is one to which this sub-paragraph applies, any alteration of the list which is made in consequence of his proposal shall have effect as from such date as may be specified in the proposal notwithstanding that the date is earlier than that provided by section 79 of this Act.

• (5) In proceedings on any such proposal or objection as aforesaid a local valuation court or the Lands Tribunal shall afford to the rating authority for every such other area as aforesaid an opportunity of appearing and being heard before the court or Tribunal, and may then direct such consequential alterations as may be required in the valuation list for any such area; and the valuation officer shall cause the valuation list to be altered accordingly.

• (6) The reference in sub-paragraph (3) of this paragraph to water hereditaments appearing relevant to a proposal or objection is a reference to water hereditaments of which the rateable value appears to the valuation officer (in relation to the valuation list in which that value is shown), or as the case may be to the court or Tribunal, liable to be affected by any re-apportionment in consequence of the proposal or objection.

Apportionment etc., of cumulo-value

6

• (1) Any provision of this Schedule relating to the apportionment of the cumulo-value of an undertaking among rating areas or rating districts or with respect to any amount so apportioned shall have effect subject to the necessary modifications where, by reason of the fact that the undertaking does not extend beyond the boundaries of a single rating area or a single rating district, provision for apportionment is inappropriate; and in relation to an undertaking which does not extend beyond the boundaries of a single rating district—

• (a) effect shall not be given to objections to any proposal under paragraph 4 of this Schedule with respect to the water hereditaments of that undertaking ;

• (b) paragraph 5(3) to (6) of this Schedule shall not apply.

• (2) Anything required under this Schedule to be done in determining or adjusting the cumulo-value for an undertaking, and any apportionment of a cumulo-value, shall be done or made by the Commissioners.

• (3) Any apportionment of the cumulo-value for an undertaking among rating districts shall be done in like manner as would have been required for the apportionment of the net annual value of the undertaking if the valuation of the water hereditaments of the undertaking had fallen to be made under section 19(3) of this Act on the profits basis as hereditaments of an undertaking not including any dwellings, and any such apportionment among rating areas shall be done in the same manner.

• (4) Before the end of December last before the coming into force of any new valuation lists, the Commissioners shall as respects each statutory water undertaking furnish to the undertakers and to the rating authorities concerned the particulars required by the Commissioners for determining the cumulo-value for the undertaking for the purposes of those lists and also particulars of the manner in which the cumulo-value is to be apportioned among rating districts.

Ascertainment of average water supplies

7

• (1) The yearly average supply of any or all undertakers in any period shall be ascertained for the purposes of this Schedule as follows.

• (2) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, it shall be taken to be the aggregate of the amounts certified under sub-paragraph (3) of this paragraph by the undertakers or all the undertakers for the calendar years comprised in the period, divided by the number of those calendar years.