Coal Act 1938

Constitution of Valuation Boards

3 (1) There shall be a Central Valuation Board consisting of the following members, that is to say—

(a) an independent person, being a member of the legal profession or a person who has had experience in the management of land or with business experience, appointed to act as chairman of the Board;

(b) two other independent persons; and

(c) in respect of each valuation region, one person who is at the date of his appointment engaged in the management of .mineral estates in that region and who has a knowledge of coal-mining, and experience in the valuation of minerals :

Provided that, for the purpose of the exercise by the Board of their duty under subsection (4) of section six of this Act to divide Great Britain into valuation regions, the Board shall consist of the chairman, the two other independent members, and such number of other members, being persons engaged in the management of mineral estates and having such knowledge and experience as aforesaid, as the Board of Trade may determine.

(2) The appointments aforesaid shall be made by the Board of Trade after consultation, in the case of the chairman of the Board, with the Lord Chancellor, and, in the case of the other members thereof, with the chairman of the Mineral Owners' Joint Committee and the president of the Chartered Surveyors Institution.

(3) The Board of Trade may, after such consultation as aforesaid, make a temporary appointment of a person to act as chairman or other member of the Board at any time when the chairman or another member is temporarily absent or unable to act.

(4) The quorum of the Board shall be such number of the members of the Board as may be prescribed.

(5) A determination of the Board shall be taken by the votes of the members of the Board present and voting, or, in case of difference between them, of the majority, and in the case of an equality of votes the chairman shall be entitled to a second or casting vote.

(6) In this and the next succeeding paragraph the expression " independent person " means a person who is not at the date of his appointment, and has not recently been, engaged in or connected with the management of mineral estates and is not a member, or an officer or servant, of an organisation of employers or of workpeople in the coal-mining industry, a practising mining engineer, or in any other manner directly connected with that industry.

4 (1) There shah be a Regional Valuation Board for each valuation region, consisting of the following members, that is to say—

(a) an independent person, being a member of the legal profession, appointed to act as chairman of the Board; and

(b) such number of other members, being persons engaged in the management of mineral estates in the region and having a knowledge of coal-mining and experience in the valuation of minerals, as the Board of Trade may determine.

(2) The appointments aforesaid shall be made by the Board of Trade after consultation, in the case of the chairman of the Board, with the Lord Chancellor, and, in the case of the other members thereof, with the chairman of the Mineral Owners' Joint Committee and the president of the Chartered Surveyors Institution.

(3) The Board of Trade may, after such consultation as aforesaid, make a temporary appointment of a person to act as chairman of the Board at any time when he is temporarily absent or unable to act.

(4) The quorum of the Board shall be such number of the members of the Board as may be prescribed, and the rules may prescribe different numbers as respects different Regional Valuation Boards.

(5) A determination of the Board shall be taken by the votes of the members of the Board present and voting, or, in case of difference between them, of the majority, and in the case of an equality of votes the chairman shall be entitled to a second or casting vote.

(6) In this Act references to the Regional Valuation Board mean in relation to any holding the Regional Valuation Board for the valuation region in which the holding is. A holding shall be deemed to be in the valuation region that comprises the premises in which the holding subsisted or the greater part thereof, and if any question arises as to which of two or more valuation regions a holding is in, the question shall be referred to the Central Valuation Board whose decision shall be conclusive.

5 (1) The Board of Trade shall, after consultation with the Central Valuation Board or the Regional Valuation Board, as the case may be, appoint a person to act as clerk to each of the said Boards, and such number of persons as the Board of Trade think fit to act as officers and servants of each of the said Boards.

(2) The Commission shall pay to the chairman and to the members of each of the said Boards and to the officers and servants of each of the said Boards and to a referee appointed under this Schedule, such remuneration, and such allowances for expenses properly incurred by any of them as the Board of Trade may determine, and the Commission shall pay such other expenses of the Central Valuation Board and of a Regional Valuation Board and of a referee appointed under this Schedule as the Board of Trade may determine.

(3) No person who has an acquired interest, or who has acted in any capacity in connection with the valuation under this Schedule of a holding on behalf of a person having an acquired interest, shall be appointed to be the chairman or an independent member of the Central Valuation Board or of a Regional Valuation Board, and neither the chairman nor an independent member of any such Board shall act as aforesaid. None of the other members of any such Board shall vote on the taking of any determination of the Board as to the value of a holding in respect of which he has acted as aforesaid or, if he has any acquired interest, of a holding that comprises that interest.

Any person who contravenes the provisions of this paragraph shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds in respect of every day on which he acts in contravention thereof.

(4) The Central Valuation Board and a Regional Valuation Board may cause any inquiry or inspection required to be made by them to be made on their behalf by one or more of the members or officers or servants of the Board.

(5) It shall be the duty of each person having an acquired interest that is comprised in a holding to furnish to the Central Valuation Board, or a referee appointed under this Schedule, or the Regional Valuation Board, on being requested so to do by the Board or the referee, all such information with respect to any matter relevant to the valuation of the holding as the Board or the referee may reasonably require, and the Board or the referee may require any such person to verify any information given by him in such manner by statutory declaration or otherwise as may be reasonably requisite.

(6) The provisions of the Arbitration Acts, 1889 to 1934, with respect to—

(a) the administration of oaths and the taking of affirmations;

(b) the correction of mistakes and errors in awards; and

(c) the summoning, attendance and examination of witnesses and the production of documents;

shall apply in respect of proceedings before the Central Valuation Board, or a referee appointed under this Schedule, or a Regional Valuation Board, but save as aforesaid the said Acts shall not apply to or at any such proceedings.

(7) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule and of rules made thereunder, the Central Valuation Board, a referee appointed under this Schedule, and a Regional Valuation Board shall have power to regulate their own procedure.