Local Government Finance Act 1992

Part III Community Charges

100 Abolition of community charges

(1) No person shall be subject to a community charge in respect of any day falling after 31st March 1993.

(2) In this section “community charge” means—

(a) in relation to England and Wales, any community charge provided for by the 1988 Act;

(b) in relation to Scotland, any community charge or community water charge provided for by the 1987 Act.

101 Transitory exemption for school leavers

(1) After paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the 1988 Act (personal community charge: exemption) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“School leavers

5A A person is an exempt individual on a particular day if—

(a) he is aged under 20 on the day,

(b) the day falls within the period of 6 months beginning with 1 May 1992,

(c) immediately before that date he was undertaking a qualifying course of education, and

(d) the course was not undertaken in consequence of an office or employment held by him.”

(2) After sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 6A of Schedule 1A to the 1987 Act (personal community charge: exemption) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(1A) If such a person as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (1) above ceases to undertake such a course of education on or after 30th April 1992, he shall continue to be exempt until the start of the earlier of the following days—

(a) 1st November 1992,

(b) his twentieth birthday.”

102 Transitory enforcement provisions for England and Wales

(1) Schedule 4 to the 1988 Act (community charges: enforcement) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 7 (distress), after sub-paragraph (3) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

“(3A) The regulations may include provision that—

(a) no person shall make a distress unless he is an officer of the authority concerned, or he is a person of a prescribed description and any prescribed conditions are fulfilled;

(b) no person making a distress shall seize goods of a prescribed description.”

(3) In paragraph 8 (commitment to prison), in sub-paragraph (1)(a), for the words “it appears to the authority that no (or insufficient) goods of the debtor can be found” there shall be substituted the words “the person making the distress reports to the authority that he was unable (for whatever reason) to find any or sufficient goods of the debtor”.

(4) After paragraph 13 there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“Admissibility of evidence

13A(1) Regulations under this Schedule may include provision that, in any proceedings before a magistrates' court under any provision included by virtue of the preceding provisions of this Part of this Schedule—

(a) a statement contained in a document of record shall be admissible as evidence of any fact stated in it of which direct oral evidence would be admissible; and

(b) a certificate which is made with respect to a document of record produced by a computer and purports to be signed by a responsible person shall be admissible as evidence of anything which is stated in it to the best of his information and belief.

(2) In this paragraph—

• “document of record” means a document constituting or forming part of a record compiled by the authority concerned;

• “responsible person” means a person occupying a responsible position in relation to the operation of the computer;

• “statement” includes any representation of fact, whether made in words or otherwise.”

(5) In paragraph 15 (joint and several liability), in sub-paragraph (3), for the words “it appears to the authority concerned that no (or insufficient) goods of that person can be found” there shall be substituted the words “the person making the distress reports to the authority that he was unable (for whatever reason) to find any or sufficient goods of the chargeable person”.