The Non-Domestic Rating (Rural Areas and Rateable Value Limits) (Scotland) Order 1997

Made: 21st November 1997

Laid before Parliament: 28th November 1997

Coming into force: 22nd December 1997

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by paragraphs 1(3)(c) and (5), 3(2)(b) and 4(2)(b) of Schedule 2 to the Local Government and Rating Act 1997¹ and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Order:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Non-Domestic Rating (Rural Areas and Rateable Value Limits) (Scotland) Order 1997 and shall come into force on 22nd December 1997.

• (2) In this Order–

• “the Act” means the Local Government and Rating Act 1997;

• “the Census Report” means the publication “1991 Census -Key Statistics for Localities in Scotland” (ISBN 0 11 495736 3) which was published by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office in 1995 and was laid before Parliament pursuant to section 4(1) of the Census Act 1920².

Designation of rural areas

2

• (1) There are designated as rural areas for the purposes of paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Act (rural settlement list) each of the local authority areas specified in column 1 of the Schedule to this Order under exclusion of the localities specified in columns 2 and 3 of that Schedule opposite the name of the local authority area in question.

• (2) The boundaries of the localities–

• (a) specified in column 2 of the Schedule to this Order shall be the boundaries of those localities used for the purposes of the Census Report and referred to at paragraphs 4.1 to 4.18 of that publication;

• (b) specified in column 3 of that Schedule shall be as notified by the Secretary of State no later than 19th December 1997 to the local authority within the area of which the locality in question lies.

Rateable value limits

3

• (1) £5,000 is the amount prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 3(2)(b) of Schedule 2 to the Act (mandatory rate relief – maximum rateable value).

• (2) £10,000 is the amount prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 4(2)(b) of Schedule 2 to the Act (discretionary rate relief – maximum rateable value).

SCHEDULE — DESIGNATED RURAL AREAS

Signed

Malcolm Chisholm — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office — 21st November 1997

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Schedule 2 to the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 makes provision for mandatory relief from non-domestic rates for certain general stores and post offices, and discretionary relief for property used for purposes beneficial to the local community, in settlements of less than 3,000 people in areas of Scotland designated as rural areas by the Secretary of State.

Article 2 of this Order designates for the purposes of these provisions the local authority areas specified in column 1 of the Schedule to the Order, under exclusion of the localities specified in columns 2 and 3 of that Schedule. The boundaries of the localities specified in column 2 are those used for the purposes of the publication “1991 Census -Key Statistics for Localities in Scotland”, copies of which may be purchased from Stationery Office Bookshops. The boundaries of the localities specified in column 3 will be as notified by the Secretary of State to the local authorities in question no later than 19th December 1997.

Article 3 prescribes maxima of rateable value, above which property will not be eligible for the relief. £5,000 is prescribed in relation to mandatory relief, and £10,000 in relation to discretionary relief.

Footnotes