Citation, commencement, application and interpretation

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2003 and shall come into force on 19th December 2003.

(2) These Regulations apply in relation to authorities in England only ( 3 ).

(3) In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) Regulations 1992 ( 4 ).

Interpretation of the principal Regulations

2. In regulation 1(3) of the principal Regulations, at the end add the following definition —

“ “a relevant percentage” means a percentage by which the amount of council tax payable in respect of any chargeable dwelling and any day is reduced due to the application of a discount under section 11 or 11A ( 5 ) ; ” .

Calculation of the relevant amounts for a financial year beginning on or after 1 April 2004

3. Before regulation 5A( 6 ) of the principal Regulations, insert the following regulation—

“ Calculation of the relevant amounts for a financial year beginning on or after 1 April 2004

5AA. —(1) For the purposes of regulation 3, the relevant amount for a financial year beginning on or after April 1, 2004 (“the year”) for a valuation band (“the band”) is the amount found by applying the formula—

(2) The authority shall calculate the number of chargeable dwellings for the purposes of item H in paragraph (1) above by deducting from the number of dwellings listed in the band on the relevant day its estimate of the number of such dwellings which were exempt on that day.

(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) above, the authority shall ascertain the number of dwellings listed in any valuation band by reference to—

(a) the state on the relevant day of the authority’s list, including any alterations of the list which were shown as having effect on that day; and

(b) any alterations of the valuation list maintained by the listing officer for that authority which were not shown on the authority’s list but of which the authority had been informed by the listing officer and which had effect on that day.

(4) Q is the aggregate of amounts found by multiplying, for each different relevant percentage, R by S, where—

• R is the number of dwellings taken into account for the purposes of item H in paragraph (1) above, for which the amount of council tax payable for the relevant day was reduced by that relevant percentage, estimated by the authority in accordance with paragraph (5) below;

• S is that relevant percentage.

(5) The authority shall make the estimates required for the purpose of paragraph (4) above on the basis of all the information available to the authority on the relevant day.

(6) The authority shall calculate the amount of any adjustment for the purposes of item J in paragraph (1) above as equal to the amount by which the number which the authority calculates in accordance with paragraph (7) below exceeds the number which the authority calculates in accordance with paragraph (8) below; and if there is no such excess, the adjustment shall be nil or, as the case may be, a negative amount.

(7) Subject to paragraph (10) below, the authority shall calculate the aggregate of—

(a) the authority’s estimate of the number of chargeable dwellings which are not ascertained for the purposes of paragraph (2) above as listed in the band on the relevant day but which will be listed in the band for the whole or part of the year; and

(b) the aggregate of amounts found by multiplying, for each different relevant percentage, U by V, where—

• U is the authority’s estimate of the number of dwellings in respect of which the amount of council tax payable for the relevant day was reduced by that relevant percentage and which were taken into account for the purposes of item R in paragraph (4) above, but in respect of which the amount of council tax payable for the whole or part of the year will not be reduced by that relevant percentage;

• V is that relevant percentage.

(8) Subject to paragraph (10) below, the authority shall calculate the aggregate of—

(a) the authority’s estimate of the number of chargeable dwellings which are ascertained for the purposes of paragraph (2) above as listed in the band on the relevant day but which:

(i) will not be listed in the band for the whole or part of the year; or

(ii) will be exempt at any time in the year or that part of the year for which they will be listed; and

(b) the aggregate of amounts found by multiplying, for each different relevant percentage, W by X, where—

• W is the number of dwellings, taken into account for the purposes of item H in paragraph (1) above or falling within paragraph (7)(a) above, in respect of which the amount of council tax payable for the whole or part of the year will be reduced by that relevant percentage, and which were not taken into account for the purposes of item R in paragraph (1) above, estimated by the authority in accordance with paragraph (4) above;

• X is that relevant percentage.

(9) Paragraph (3) of regulation 4 ( 7 ) shall apply for the purposes of making any of the calculations or estimates referred to in paragraphs (2), (7) and (8) above as it applies for the purposes of paragraph (2) of regulation 4.

(10) Where it appears to the authority likely that—

(a) a dwelling will be listed in a band in the authority’s list, or will not be so listed, for part of the year;

(b) a dwelling will be exempt for part of the year during a period for which it will be listed in a band in the authority’s list; or

(c) the amount of council tax payable in respect of a dwelling will be subject to a discount of a relevant percentage for part of the year;

the authority shall, for the purposes of making any of the estimates referred to in paragraphs (7) or (8) above, treat such a dwelling or discount as a fraction produced by dividing the number of days in that part of the year by the number of days in the year.

(11) For the purposes of this regulation, the relevant day—

(a) in respect of the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 is 20th December 2003; and

(b) in respect of financial years beginning on or after 1st April 2005 is 30th November in the financial year preceding that for which the relevant amount is calculated. ”

Band A dwellings: reductions for disability

4. In regulation 5A(1) of the principal Regulations, for “3 and 5” substitute “3, 5 and 5AA”.

Calculation of billing authority’s council tax base for a part of its area

5. Regulation 6(2) of the principal Regulations is amended as follows—

(a) for “5 but”, substitute “5 or 5AA but”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (c), after “regulation 5”, insert “or 5AA”.

Calculation of council tax base for the purposes of a major precepting authority

6. Regulation 7 of the principal Regulations is amended as follows—

(a) in paragraph (1)( 8 )—

(i) for “5 and” substitute “5 or 5AA and”;

(ii) after “regulation 5” insert “, or items H, Q and J in regulation 5AA”;

(b) in paragraph (2) after “regulation 5” insert “, or items H, Q and J in regulation 5AA”.

Prescribed period

7. Regulation 8 of the principal Regulations is amended as follows—

(a) in paragraph (1) omit the words “paragraph (2)” and substitute “paragraphs (2) and (3)”;

(b) after paragraph (2) add—

“ (3) In respect of the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004, the prescribed period for the purposes of item T in sections 33(1) and 44(1) of the 1992 Act and section 88(2) of the 1999 Act and item TP in sections 45(3) and 48(3) and (4) of the 1992 Act and item TP2 in section 89(4) of the 1999 Act is the period beginning on 21st December 2003 and ending with 31st January 2004. ”

Determination of billing authority’s council tax base

8. In regulation 9(3) of the principal Regulations, for “be, 5” substitute “be, 5 or 5AA”.