Appeals
Regulations under The Local
Government Finance Act 1992 renamed The Valuation and Community
Charge Tribunals as
Valuation
Tribunals. The regulations give the Tribunal jurisdiction over
decisions made by the billing
authority,
completion notices,
penalties and appeals relating to
alterations to the valuation list. Separate
regulations govern the appeals procedures for liability and
valuation matters but they are very similar and can be organised
into:
The Valuation Tribunal is an
independent body and each Tribunal serves the residents and
businesses of several adjacent councils. The Tribunals deals with
many other matters as well as council tax and business rates
appeals. The membership of the Tribunal comprises Councillors from
the authorities it serves supported by an administration headed by
the Clerk to the Tribunal. Councillors do not sit on hearings that
involve their authority.
Decision by Billing
Authority
Subject to conditions a person
may appeal to a valuation tribunal if he is aggrieved by the
following decisions of a billing authority;
- A decision of a billing authority that a dwelling is a
chargeable dwelling, or that he is liable to pay the council tax in
respect of that dwelling
- A calculation made by a billing authority of an amount which he
is liable to pay
- The imposition of a penalty
The remit is sufficiently wide
enough to cover decisions regarding liability, discounts,
exemptions and disability reductions. However appeals regarding
council tax benefit are not dealt with by the Valuation Tribunal
because they are subject to the housing benefit review
procedures.
The conditions are that with the
exception of appeals against the imposition of a penalty, no appeal
may be made unless the aggrieved person serves a written notice on
the billing authority stating the matter on which he is aggrieved
and his reasons. Having served the notice an appeal may be made if
the person is notified in writing that the grievance is not well
founded; notified in writing that steps have been taken to deal
with the grievance, but the person is still aggrieved; or the
billing authority makes no reply within two months.
Billing authorities and listing
officers are empowered to impose a financial penalty in prescribed
circumstances. Repeat offences of the prescribed circumstances can
result in repeat or escalating penalties being imposed. An
aggrieved person may appeal to a valuation tribunal on the
imposition of a penalty or that there is no power to impose a
penalty and the appeal must be made within 2 months of it being
imposed. There are no formal preliminary arrangements in
regulations but as good practice many billing authorities offer
informal arrangements similar to those in place for other appeals
against decisions made by a billing authority.
There is no prescribed form on
which to lodge an appeal but Valuation Tribunals offer a standard
form to ensure appellants include all the mandatory elements.
Within two weeks of receiving the appeal the Clerk to the Tribunal
will issue an acknowledgement to the appellant and the billing
authority. The appeal may be dealt with by written representation
or under the Arbitration Act 1950 and in the case of a valuation
appeal the Chair of the Tribunal may convene a pre-hearing meeting.
The Clerk to the Tribunal will give all parties 4 weeks written
notice of the hearing of the appeal.
The Hearing
Any party to the appeal may appear
in person and be represented by a legal or other representative who
is not a member of the Tribunal. The hearing will be in the
presence of three Tribunal Members with one elected as the Chair.
The Tribunal members are Councillors from other billing authority
served by the same Tribunal. If all parties agree the hearing can
proceed with only two members. The conduct of the hearing, matters of evidence and the decision are all subject to
regulations.
The Conduct of the
Hearing
The hearing will be in public
unless a party to the hearing satisfies the Tribunal that a public
hearing will prejudice them. In the event of a non-attendance by
one or more parties to the hearing the Tribunal can dismiss the
appeal or conduct the hearing in their absence. The parties to the
appeal may present evidence and call witnesses and the Tribunal may
conduct the hearing in a manner of their own discretion, including
whether to take evidence on oath.
Evidence
Information shall be admissible as
evidence of fact and any document is presumed to be supplied by the
person supplying it in the capacity in which they purport to supply
it. The contents of a valuation list may be proved by the
production of a copy of it certified to be a true copy by the
listing officer and special arrangements must be followed regarding
evidence supplied by a listing officer.
A listing officer shall not use
information at a hearing unless having first given at least two
weeks' notice to every other party specifying the information, the
media in which it is held and the dwelling(s) to which it relates.
Any person entitled to inspect the information and take copies may
do so provided at least 24 hours' notice is given.
Any person on whom an information
notice has been served may serve notice on the listing officer
specifying other dwellings comparable or otherwise relevant to that
person's case. The number of dwellings specified in the notice
shall not exceed whichever is the greater of four or the number in
the listing officer's notice.
The notice may require the listing
officer to permit him to inspect and make copies (other than
photographic copies) of any document containing information
relating to those other dwellings and to produce or submit to the
tribunal such documents as before the hearing he has informed the
listing officer that he requires
The
Decision
An appeal may be decided by a
majority decision of the three Tribunal members and where two
members hear the appeal and are unable to agree the appeal shall be
remitted to a tribunal consisting of three different members. Where
an appeal is disposed of on the basis of a hearing, the decision
may be reserved or given orally at the end of the hearing. In all
cases the decision will be confirmed in writing accompanied by a
statement of the reasons for the decision and an order to the billing authority or listing
officer where necessary.
Orders
On deciding a valuation appeal
the Valuation Tribunal may by order require a listing officer to
alter a list and any ancillary matter and the listing officer shall
comply within six weeks. Where the order is that the valuation band
should be higher than the band at the date of the proposal the
order shall require the list to be altered from the day on which
the decision is given.
On or after deciding an appeal on
a decision by a billing authority the Tribunal may order;
- An estimate to be quashed or altered
- A penalty to be quashed
- The decision of a billing authority to be reversed
- A calculation of an amount to be quashed and recalculated
- Any ancillary matter to be attended to
Reviews
If a party to an appeal makes a
written application within 4 weeks of a decision being given then
the Chair of a Valuation Tribunal has the power to review or set
aside a decision. Where a listing officer applies for the review he
shall, at the same time or as soon as practicable, notify the
billing authority of the application. The grounds that the Tribunal
can consider are:
- The decision was wrongly made as a result of clerical
error
- A party who did not appear can show reasonable cause
- The decision is affected by a decision of the High Court or
Lands Tribunal.
Where practicable the tribunal
that reviews the decision should have the same members as the
tribunal who took the original decision. If the tribunal sets aside
a decision it shall revoke any order made in consequence of that
decision and order a re-hearing before either the same or a
different tribunal. As soon as practicable after a tribunal
completes the review the Clerk to the Tribunal shall give written
notice of the decision to every party to the appeal.
Further
Appeals
An appeal may be made to the High
Court on a question of law arising out of a decision or order of a
tribunal. The Court may dismiss the appeal if it is not made within
four weeks of the date of the decision, notice or order that is the
subject of the appeal. Where a listing officer makes an appeal he
shall at the same time, or as soon as practicable, notify the
billing authority of the appeal. The High Court may confirm, vary,
set aside, revoke or remit the decision or order of the tribunal
and make an order the tribunal could have made.