The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2012

Amendment of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

2.—(1) The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992(1) are amended as follows.

(2) After regulation 21 insert—

“Referendums relating to council tax increases: excessive amount not approved

21A.— (1) This regulation applies if—

(a) a billing authority has served a demand notice on a liable person in respect of an amount set under section 30 of the Act(2) for a financial year, and

(b) as a consequence of a relevant event the authority subsequently sets a different amount in substitution for that amount under section 31 of the Act(3).

(2) The demand notice mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) shall continue to have effect unless and until a notice is issued under paragraph (3), but for the purposes of Part VI (enforcement) of these Regulations the demand notice shall have effect as if it did not include the additional amount and accordingly no liability order may be issued and no enforcement action may be taken under that Part in respect of that amount.

(3) The billing authority—

(a) may issue a notice in accordance with paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to these Regulations as modified by paragraph (4) below, and

(b) must do so if the person mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) so requires.

(4) The modifications are as follows—

(a) omit sub-paragraph (1),

(b) at the start of sub-paragraph (2) insert “If issuing a notice under regulation 21A(3),”, and

(c) for the definition of “the relevant day” in sub-paragraph (8) substitute—

““the relevant day” means the day on which the different amount mentioned in regulation 21A(1)(b) is set.”.

(5) In this regulation and in regulation 21B—

“additional amount” means the difference between the amount mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) and the different amount mentioned in paragraph (1)(b),

“Conduct of Referendums Regulations” means the Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums) (Council Tax Increases) (England) Regulations 2012(4), and

“relevant event”, in relation to a billing authority, means any of the following—

(a)

the authority’s substitute calculations having effect in accordance with section 52ZH(5) or section 52ZI(1) of the Act(5) or regulation 22(5) of the Conduct of Referendums Regulations,

(b)

the making by the authority of substitute calculations mentioned in section 52ZI(3)(b) of the Act,

(c)

substitute precepts issued to the authority having effect in accordance with section 52ZO(5) or section 52ZP(7) of the Act or regulation 22(13) of the Conduct of Referendums Regulations,

(d)

the issuing to the authority of a precept under section 52ZP(3) of the Act.

Referendums relating to council tax increases: excessive amount approved

21B.— (1) This regulation applies if—

(a) a billing authority has served a demand notice on a liable person in respect of an amount set under section 30 of the Act for a financial year,

(b) as a consequence of a relevant event the authority subsequently sets a different amount in substitution for that amount under section 31 of the Act, and either—

(i) the billing authority’s relevant basic amount of council tax for the financial year is subsequently given effect for the purposes of the Act by virtue of regulation 22(9) of the Conduct of Referendums Regulations and section 52ZH(3) of the Act, or

(ii) a relevant precepting authority’s calculations from which its relevant basic amount of council tax was derived are subsequently given effect for the financial year by virtue of regulation 22(17) of the Conduct of Referendums Regulations and section 52ZO(3) of the Act.

(2) Where a notice has not been issued in accordance with regulation 21A(3), the demand notice referred to in regulation 21A(1)(a) shall continue to have effect and regulation 21A(2) shall no longer apply in relation to that notice.

(3) Where a notice has been issued in accordance with regulation 21A(3), the billing authority must issue a notice in accordance with paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 to these Regulations as modified by paragraph (4) below.

(4) The modifications are as follows—

(a) omit sub-paragraph (1),

(b) at the start of sub-paragraph (2) insert “If issuing a notice under regulation 21B(3),”, and

(c) for the definition of “the relevant day” in sub-paragraph (8) substitute—

““the relevant day” means the day on which the election court allows the petition referred to in regulation 22(8)(b) or (16)(b) (as the case may be) of the Conduct of Council Tax Referendums Regulations.””

(5) In this regulation, “relevant precepting authority” means a precepting authority which issues a precept to the billing authority for the financial year concerned.”.

(1)

S.I. 1992/613, amended by S.I 1992/3002 and 1995/22; there are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

(2)

Section 30 was amended by section 81 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c.29) and paragraphs 7 and 8 of Schedule 7 to the Localism Act 2011 (c.20).

(3)

Section 31 was amended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 6, and paragraph 9 of Schedule 7, to the Localism Act 2011.

(4)

S.I. 2012/444.

(5)

Sections 52ZH, 52ZI, 52ZO and 52ZP were inserted into the Local Government Finance Act 1992 by Schedule 5 to the Localism Act 2011