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3.—(1) The Secretary of State shall as soon as practicable in the case of the first accounting period (whether or not that shall be before the beginning of that period) and in the case of each subsequent accounting period not later than 1st March last preceding the beginning of that period—

(a)decide the total amount of the contributions to be levied under this Scheme in the accounting period in question (which amount is hereinafter referred to as “the total amount”);

(b)apportion the total amount among the contributing authorities in the manner described in paragraph (2) below:

Provided that if the amount so apportioned to a contributing authority is not a whole number of pounds the fraction of a pound shall be ignored; and

(c)issue to each of the contributing authorities a demand for payment of a charge equal to the amount apportioned under the last preceding sub-paragraph.

(2) The Secretary of State shall apportion the total amount among the contributing authorities by apportioning to each of the contributing authorities a sum which bears to the total amount the same proportion as the amount of that authority's relevant income in the last financial year bears to the total of the relevant income of all the contributing authorities in the last financial year as applicable to them respectively.