S.I. 2003/3181: memorandum from
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax
Base) (Amendment) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/3181)
1. The Office is today laying the above Regulations
before Parliament. This Memorandum explains why the Regulations
come into force less than 21 days from the date of laying.
2. The Office amended the Local Authorities (Calculation
of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/612, as
amended) "the principal Regulations" by the Local Authorities
(Calculation of Council Tax Base) (Amendment) (England) Regulations
2003 (S.I. 2003/3012) "the amending Regulations",
which were made on 24th November, laid on 27th
November 2003 and come into force on 19th December
2003. The amending Regulations provide for the calculation by
local authorities of their council tax base for financial years
beginning on or after 1st April 2004 in consequence
of a change to the council tax system brought in by section 75(1)
of the Local Government Act 2003. The Local Authorities (Calculation
of Council Tax Base) (Amendment) (England) (No.2) Regulations
2003 make an additional amendment to the principal Regulations,
which needs to be brought into force on 20th December,
for the reasons explained below.
3. Section 75(1) of the Local Government Act 2003
inserted a new section 11A into the Local Government Finance Act
1992 which allows the Secretary of State to prescribe classes
of dwelling in England in relation to which billing authorities
may reduce council tax discounts. The amending Regulations could
not be made before section 75(1) of the Local Government Act 2003
came into force on 18th November 2003 as they referred
to classes of dwellings, prescribed by regulations under section
11A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, in respect of which
discounts might be reduced. Those Regulations, the Council Tax
(Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/3011)
were made on 24th November, laid on 27th
November and come into force on 18th December 2003.
4. The principal Regulations at regulation 5 prescribe
30th November in the previous financial year as the
"relevant day" for the purposes of counting for example
the number of exempt dwellings, chargeable dwellings and dwellings
subject to a discount. Those numbers are then used in determining
the council tax base. It was necessary to change the "relevant
day" for the purposes of new regulation 5AA for the financial
year beginning on 1st April 2004. The amending Regulations
were made on 24th November 2003 and the relevant day
was changed to 20th December, ie one day after they
came into force. The prescribed period within which the tax base
calculations must be carried out (regulation 8 of the principal
Regulations) was also changed to the period 21st December
2003 to 31st January 2004 for the purposes of the financial
year beginning on 1st April 2004.
5. Due to an oversight, for which the Office apologises,
the amending Regulations did not amend regulation 6 (calculation
of billing authority's council tax base for a part of its area)
of the principal Regulations to prescribe a different "relevant
day". Regulation 6 also prescribes 30th November
as the "relevant day" in certain circumstances. The
Local Authority (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (Amendment)
(England) (No. 2) Regulations 2003 corrects that oversight and
prescribes that 20th December shall be the relevant
day for purpose of the financial year beginning on 1st
April 2004 where the authority determines its taxbase for part
of its area within the period 21st December 2003 to
31st January 2004. The 20th December has
been chosen so that the "relevant day" for the determination
of the tax base for part of an area is the same as the "relevant
day" for the main tax base calculation.
6. In order to bring them into force before the commencement
of the prescribed period of 21st December to 31st
January these Regulations will come into force on 20th
December 2003. The Office apologises that the amending Regulations
did not make the necessary amendment to regulation 6 of the principal
Regulations and that it is now necessary to breach the 21 day
rule.
7. The Office is notifying all authorities of the
amendment made by these Regulations by letter and the Office will,
as a matter of course, send the Regulations as made to all authorities.
9 December 2003
S.I. 2003/3181: second memorandum
from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
1. The Committee has asked for a memorandum on the
following points-
"The Committee notes that the Department
is notifying all affected authorities of the amendment made by
these Regulations, and will send the Regulations to those authorities.
Given that this Order corrects an error in S.I. 2003/3012, does
the Department not agree that arrangements should also have been
made for copies to be made available free of charge to purchasers
of that instrument? If not, why not? (See Statutory Instrument
Practice, paragraph 3.4.11.) If such arrangements have been made,
why does this Order not bear an italic headnote to that effect,
as required by paragraph 3.4.12?"
2. The reason why these Regulations were not issued
free of charge to all purchasers of the first instrument and did
not bear an italic headnote to that effect is that the Office
believes that they deal with an omission in the first instrument,
rather than a defect and that paragraph 3.4.11 of Statutory Instrument
Practice therefore does not apply.
3. Nevertheless, the Office made arrangements at
the time for the Regulations to be sent free of charge to all
those with a known interest in them, namely all affected authorities.
16 January 2004
