HC Deb 01 February 1929 vol 224 cc1292-6

Amendment of Special Lists made under 18 and 19 Geo. V., C. 44, and Consequential Amendment of Valuation Lists.

1.—(1) When a draft special list for a rating area has been deposited in accordance with the First Schedule to the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, then, without prejudice to the provisions of that Schedule as to the making of objections and applications, an objection to the list as deposited with, or as approved by, the assessment committee, may be lodged with that committee at any time before the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, by the persons and on the grounds hereinafter mentioned, and the provisions of the said Schedule relating to objections and to appeals shall apply thereto.

(2)Such an objection as aforesaid may be lodged—

  1. (a) in the case of a hereditament in respect of which no claim for its inclusion in the special list has been made under the said Schedule by the occupier or owner thereof on the ground that the hereditament ought to be inserted in the list; and
  2. (b) in the case of a hereditament included in the special list by the occupier or owner thereof on the ground that any value appearing in the list in respect of the hereditament is incorrect or unfair, and by the rating authority or, where he considers the value excessive, by the revenue officer on the same ground, notwithstanding that the value objected to may have been inserted in the list by or with the approval of that authority or officer.

A notice of objection on the ground that a hereditament ought to be inserted in the special list shall contain such particulars as would have been required by or under the said Schedule in the case of a claim for the inclusion in the hereditament in the draft special list before that list was deposited.

(3) Any amendment of a special list made in consequence of any such objection lodged as aforesaid which is not determined until after the thirtieth day of September, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, shall be deemed to have been made upon that date.

(4) The gross value (if any) and the net annual value appearing in respect of any hereditament in a special list for any rating area outside the County of London approved in accordance with the First Schedule to the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, shall be taken to be the gross value and the net annual value of that hereditament for the purposes of the current valuation list, and, accordingly, the assessment committee, upon approving the special list and thereafter upon making any amendment thereof, shall make or cause to be made in the valuation list the necessary amendments (including any necessary amendments of rateable values), and those amendments shall have effect as if made in consequence of a proposal for the amendment of the valuation list served upon the rating authority on or before the thirtieth day of September, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine.

Amendment of Valuation Lists in London.

2.—(1) In respect of the period of twelve months beginning on the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, the following provisions shall have effect in relation to hereditaments in the County of London,—

  1. (a) as respects any hereditament whereof the value was reduced or increased by reason of its having become or ceased to be an agricultural, industrial, or freight transport hereditament at any time before the appointed day, sub-section (3) of section fifty-six of this Act shall have effect as if the words "in the course of any year" were omitted therefrom; and
  2. (b) a provisional list made by virtue of the said sub-section and sent to the assessment committee before the sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and thirty, or sent to them in compliance with a requisition served on the rating authority before that date, shall have effect as from the date on which the hereditament became or ceased to be an agricultural, industrial, or freight transport hereditament, as the case may be, or as from the appointed day, whichever is the later.

(2) If any person, being a person entitled to object to a provisional list, is aggrieved by any decision of the assessment committee with respect to such a provisional list as aforesaid sent to them before the first day of October, nineteen hundred and thirty, or sent to them in compliance with a requisition served on the rating authority before that date, or if any person by whom a requisition for such a list has been so served is aggrieved by the failure of the rating authority to comply therewith within six weeks after the service thereof he may appeal to quarter sessions, and notwithstanding anything in section forty-two of the Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869, notice of any such appeal shall be given within twenty-eight days after the decision or failure, as the case may be, and any such appeal may be heard by quarter sessions at any date but, save as aforesaid, such appeals shall be made in like manner and the decision thereon shall have the like effect as in the case of appeals against decisions of the assessment committee on objections to new valuation lists.

(3) In the case of any hereditament included in a provisional list as respects which a right of appeal to quarter sessions is given by this paragraph so much of paragraph (10) of section forty-seven of the Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869, as provides for repayments and allowances if the value of the hereditament included in a provisional list is reduced when the next revision of the valuation list takes place shall not apply.

Totals of Values in London.

3. For the purpose of totals of values in the county of London, any amendment made in a valuation list in force for the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, on the ground that a hereditament was or was not on that date an agricultural, industrial, or freight transport hereditament shall, if made by means of a special list prepared in accordance with the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928, or by means of a provisional list sent to the assessment committee before the first day of October, nineteen hundred and thirty, or sent to them in compliance with a requisition served on the rating authority before that date, have effect notwithstanding anything in sub-section (11) of section forty-seven of the Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869 as if it had been made by a supplemental list coming into force on the sixth day of April, nineteen hundred and thirty.

Provisions as to Revenue Officer

4. Where any proposal for the amendment of a valuation list or the making of any provisional list involves a question whether a hereditament ought to be shown in any such list as having been on the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, an agricultural, industrial, or freight transport hereditament, the revenue officer shall, save that he shall not be entitled to contend that the gross value or net annual value of a hereditament as a whole ought to be increased, have the like rights with respect to receiving copies of provisional lists and of proposals and notices in connection therewith, making and opposing objections thereto, and appearing upon any proceedings relating thereto, and with respect to appealing and receiving notices of and resisting appeals as if he were the occupier of the hereditament.

In this Part of this Schedule the expression "revenue officer" has the same meaning as in the First Schedule to the Rating and Valuation (Apportionment) Act, 1928.

This amendment is a very formidable looking one and takes up nearly two whole pages of the Order Paper. It deals with highly technical and difficult questions connected with the amendment of the valuation lists for the Provinces and in London. There is really no reason why I should worry the Committee by going into details of the various points in the Amendment as I do not see any Amendment put down on the Paper raising any special question.

Amendment agreed to.

Motion made, and Question proposed, "That this Schedule, as amended, be the Ninth Schedule to the Bill."

Mr. LANSBURY

I should like to ask the Minister about the provisions as to the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund in the last part of the Schedule. It says there No expenditure incurred by any poor law authority in London in respect of the financial year ending immediately before the appointed day shall be repayable to the authority out of the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund, and as soon as practicable after the appointed day the fund shall be wound up and the balance standing to the credit of the fund shall be paid to the London County Council. Does that mean that the legal expenditure of the different boards of guardians in London will be payable by themselves, and that they will not be able to draw as now from the Central Fund?

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

If I understand the hon. Member rightly, he wants to know whether the expenditure incurred by any board of guardians in respect of the last year before the appointed day, will be repayable to them out of the Common Poor Fund. The Section clearly shows that it is not going to be so repayable.

Mr. LANSBURY

Does that mean that the boards will be thrown back, as regards the expenditure for that year, in the position in which they were before the Common Poor Fund was established? At present, the poorer boards draw a very considerable proportion of their expenditure from the whole of London, and in Poplar Union, which I represent, this provision would mean a very considerable addition to their rates for that last year. I cannot understand why this should be done.

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

I can tell the hon. Member that there is no gap in the sense that no further charge will fall upon the boards of guardians which has hitherto been raised by the Common Poor Fund. At the moment, I cannot tell exactly how it is done, but he need not have any anxiety that the boards of guardians will have some fresh charge thrust upon them.

Sir K. WOOD

As it is rather technical, perhaps I may add a word on this matter. These payments are always technically in arrear. This particular paragraph provides for the winding up of the Fund and the payment over of the balance. The boards of guardians will receive their payment which is in arrear and the balance will then be paid over and the Fund wound up. This matter has, of course, been discussed with the representatives of those concerned, and there need be no anxiety.

Mr. LANSBURY

I only want to point out that some of the boards of guardians borrow in anticipation of what they are going to receive. Perhaps I am muddle-headed about it, but I cannot see how it is to be arranged, and I do not see how the fact that we are a year behind affects the matter at all. The paragraph says that no expenditure shall be repayable, and, if words mean anything, that means that the poorer boroughs will not be able to collect the expenditure for the last year out of the Common Poor Fund. Will the Minister give us an assurance that he will, before the Report stage, either issue a memorandum explaining what this really means or insert some words making the matter perfectly clear?

Sir K. WOOD

We will look into the matter very carefully, and, if any alteration is necessary, it will be made. It is a very technical matter, and I shall see my hon. Friend personally about it.

Question, "That this Schedule, as amended, be the Ninth Schedule to the Bill," put, and agreed to.

Back to