The Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2004

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Under Part II of Schedule 8 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”), billing authorities are required to pay amounts (called non-domestic rating contributions) to an account held by the Secretary of State (“the national non-domestic rating pool”). The national non-domestic rating pool is subsequently distributed to authorities under the rules in Part III of Schedule 8 to the 1988 Act. Payments into the national non-domestic rating pool in respect of the provisional amount of the non-domestic rating contributions are made during the financial year, final calculations and adjustments of the non-domestic rating contributions are made after the year ends.

These Regulations amend the rules for calculation of non-domestic rating contributions and the assumptions to be made in calculating the provisional amount of the non-domestic rating contributions contained in the Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (England) Regulations 1992 (“the 1992 Regulations”), for financial years beginning on or after 1st April 2005. They make amendments in relation to—

(a) the offset for a special authority in paragraph 1(4) of Schedule 1 to the 1992 Regulations;

(b) the national cost of collection figure in paragraph 4(4) of Schedule 1 to the 1992 Regulations;

(c) the cost factors in Part II of Schedule 1 to the 1992 Regulations;

(d) the buoyancy factor in paragraph 2(12) of Schedule 2 to the 1992 regulations; and

(e) the losses in collection percentages in paragraph 8(1) of Schedule 2 to the 1992 Regulations.

Following an amendment to the 1988 Act by sections 61 and 62 of the Local Government Act 2003 (c. 26), a small business non-domestic rating multiplier is created in addition to the existing standard non-domestic rating multiplier. The amendments to regulation 2 of the 1992 Regulations are consequential to the creation of this new multiplier.