The Internal Drainage Boards (Finance) Regulations 1990

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply to England and Wales, modify the powers of internal drainage boards to make drainage rates and require those boards to raise part of their expenses by means of special levies issued to local authorities. The Regulations also make changes in relation to the membership of the boards.

The internal drainage boards are established under the Land Drainage Act 1976 (“the 1976 Act”), its predecessor legislation or local Acts. Their principal source of revenue, before 1st April 1990, is provided by drainage rates levied on the occupiers of land within their respective districts, by virtue of the provisions of the 1976 Act or of the local legislation under which they were established. The Regulations modify the boards' powers in respect of drainage rates with effect from 1st April 1990, when the new system of local government finance takes effect by virtue of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”). The principal modifications are as follows:–

(a) drainage rates may only be assessed on agricultural land and agricultural buildings, which are exempted from local non-domestic rating by virtue of Schedule 5 to the 1988 Act (regulations 5 and 8(5));

(b) only a single rate in respect of the financial year (1st April to 31st March) may be made (regulation 8(1) and (3));

(c) the boards may recover arrears of drainage rates in the same way as a district council may recover non-domestic rates under the 1988 Act (regulation 8(7));

(d) from 1st April 1993, the distinction between owners' and occupiers' rates made in section 63(2) of the 1976 Act ceases to have effect, and provisions in that Act in respect of rating which relate to the owners or ownership of land will no longer apply in relation to owners unless they are owner—occupiers (regulation 6);

(e) the annual value of agricultural land and agricultural buildings, on the basis of which drainage rates are assessed, will be revalued with effect from 1st April 1993 (regulation 7 and the Schedule).

From 1st April 1990, in addition to raising revenue by means of drainage rates, the boards must raise revenue by means of special levies issued to charging authorities for areas wholly or partly included in the board’s respective districts (in practice, district councils and London borough councils) (regulations 3 and 9). The principal provisions of the Regulations concerning special levies are as follows:–

(a) where a board’s district includes areas of more than one charging authority, the burden of special levies is borne by them in proportions determined by reference to the annual value of those areas (regulation 10); rules for the determination of those proportions in the three financial years beginning on 1st April 1990 are set out in regulation 22 and for subsequent years in regulation 10 read with regulation 18;

(b) in certain circumstances, a board may issue a substitute levy (regulation 11);

(c) a charging authority must generally pay the amount of a special levy in the financial year in respect of which it is issued by two instalments, unless otherwise agreed with the board (regulation 13);

(d) a charging authority may anticipate the issue of a special levy for the purpose of estimating its expenditure in accordance with section 95 of the 1988 Act (regulation 14).

The proportions of a board’s expenses to be raised by drainage rates (on the agricultural sector) and special levies (on the non-agricultural sector via charging authorities) in the financial years after 31st March 1993 are determined by reference to the proportion by value of agricultural and non-agricultural land in the board’s district (regulations 15 and 16) and rules for the valuation of land for this purpose are set out in regulation 18. For the three financial years from 1st April 1990 to 31st March 1993 the proportions are determined by reference to the amounts raised by the boards by drainage rates levied on the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, respectively, in respect of the financial year 1989/90 (regulations 15 and 22). Similar rules applying to the apportionment between drainage rates and special levies, where a board’s district is divided into sub-districts, are prescribed (regulation 17(4)).

Charging authorities, which will provide the revenue from the non-agricultural sector in place of drainage rates levied on that sector prior to 1st April 1990, may appoint members of the boards to which they contribute by virtue of special levies (regulation 19). Rules for calculating the total number of appointed members of a board, and the number to be appointed by each authority, are set out in regulation 20.