Local Government Act 1966
Local Government Act 1966
1966 CHAPTER 42
An Act to make further provision, in relation to England and Wales, with respect to the payment of grants to local authorities, rating and valuation, the classification and lighting of highways and the powers of local authorities to place staff and facilities at the disposal of Ministers concerned with highways and to make payments offsetting the effect of the selective employment tax; to repeal or amend certain enactments relating to local licences and registrations; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[13th December 1966]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
Grants
Rate support grants for local authorities
1 Rate support grants.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, the Minister shall, for the year 1967-68 and each subsequent year, make grants to local authorities in England and Wales in accordance with this section; and any grants made in pursuance of this subsection shall be known as ‘rate support grants’.
(2) For the purpose of fixing the aggregate amount of the rate support grants for any year the Minister shall determine—
(a ) the aggregate amount which is to be available for the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of grants (other than housing subsidies) to local authorities in respect of their relevant expenditure for that year; and
(b ) the portion of that amount which the Minister estimates will be allocated to grants in respect of specific services and grants under the Rating (Interim Relief) Act 1964 and the Rating Act 1966 ;
and the amount remaining after deducting that portion from the aggregate amount aforesaid shall, subject to section 3 of this Act, be the aggregate amount of the rate support grants for that year.
(3) Before determining the amount and the portion mentioned in paragraphs (a ) and (b ) of subsection (2) of this section the Minister shall consult with such associations of local authorities as appear to him to be concerned and with any local authority with whom consultation appears to him to be desirable, and shall take into consideration—
(a ) the current level of prices, costs and remuneration, any future variation in that level which can be foreseen and the latest information available to him as to the rate of relevant expenditure;
(b ) any probable fluctuation in the demand for services giving rise to relevant expenditure so far as the fluctuation is attributable to circumstances prevailing in England and Wales as a whole which are not under the control of local authorities; and
(c ) the need for developing those services and the extent to which, having regard to general economic conditions, it is reasonable to develop those services;
and for the purpose of determining the said amount and portion the Minister may make such adjustments in respect of relevant expenditure and grants as appear to him to be required to offset the effects on those factors of the constitution or alteration after the passing of this Act of any joint board.
(4) The aggregate amount of the rate support grants for any year shall be divided by the Minister into three parts (to be known respectively as ‘the needs element’, ‘the resources element’ and ‘the domestic element’) which shall be of such amounts respectively as may be prescribed; and the provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act shall, subject to sections 3 and 4 of this Act, have effect with respect to the determination of the amounts payable to any local authority in respect of those elements for any year and with respect to the other matters there mentioned.
(5) Payments in respect of elements of rate support grant shall be made to any local authority at such times as the Minister may with the consent of the Treasury determine and shall be made in aid of the revenues of the authority generally; but no payment in respect of the needs element shall be made to the council of a county district and no payment in respect of the domestic element shall be made to a county council or the Greater London Council.
(6) In this section ‘housing subsidies’ means such grants to local authorities out of moneys provided by Parliament for the provision of housing accommodation as may be determined by the Minister to be housing subsidies for the purposes of this section.
(7) In this section ‘relevant expenditure’, in relation to any year, means the expenditure for that year falling to be defrayed out of the rate fund of a local authority (excluding sums falling to be paid to another local authority by virtue of a precept or other instrument) reduced by—
(a ) the amount of any payment falling to be made for that year into the housing revenue account or a trading account of the authority; and
(b ) the amount of any payments of such descriptions as the Minister may determine which fall to be made for that year into that fund;
and for the purposes of this subsection ‘rate fund’ in relation to any local authority except the Greater London Council, the Common Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly means the county fund or general rate fund, and in relation to the said excepted Councils means the general fund or general rate, as the case may be, and ‘trading account’ means any account of a kind determined by the Minister to be a trading account for the purposes of this subsection.
2 Rate support grant orders.
(1) The aggregate amount of the rate support grants fixed in accordance with subsection (2) of section 1 of this Act for any year and the matters which under that section or Schedule 1 to this Act are to be prescribed shall be fixed and prescribed by an order (hereafter in this Act referred to as a ‘rate support grant order’) made by the Minister with the consent of the Treasury and after consultation with such associations of local authorities as appear to the Minister to be concerned and with any local authority with whom consultation appears to him to be desirable.
(2) Any rate support grant order shall be laid before the Commons House of Parliament together with a report of the considerations leading to the provisions of the order, including the considerations leading to the determination of the amount and the portion mentioned in paragraphs (a ) and (b of section 1 of this Act, and shall not have effect until approved by a resolution of that House.
(3) Rate support grant orders shall be made in advance for successive periods of not less than two years; and a rate support grant order may, as respects any matter to be fixed or prescribed by the order, make different provision for different years.
3 Variation of orders etc.
(1) If it appears to the Minister that, after the time when the amount mentioned in paragraph (a ) of subsection (2) of section 1 of this Act was determined for any year, an unforeseen increase has taken place in the level of prices, costs and remuneration and that the effect of the increase on the relevant expenditure of local authorities for that year is substantial, he may at any time redetermine for that year the amount mentioned in that paragraph and the portion mentioned in paragraph (b ) of that subsection and, by an order made in the like manner and subject to the like provisions as a rate support grant order, increase the amounts fixed by the relevant rate support grant order as the aggregate amounts of the rate support grants and any elements of the grants for that year.
(2) The provisions of subsection (3) of section 1 and subsection (2) of section 2 of this Act relating to consultation and to a report of the considerations leading to a determination under the said section 1 shall apply to a redetermination under this section as they apply to a determination under that section.
(3) In deciding whether to exercise his power under subsection (1) of this section and in redetermining in the exercise of that power the amount and the portion there mentioned, the Minister shall have regard only to the extent by which the said amount and portion are insufficient by reason of the unforeseen increase aforesaid.
(4) An order made under subsection (1) of this section with respect to any year may, as respects that year, vary the matters prescribed by the relevant rate support grant order.
(5) In this section ‘relevant expenditure’ has the same meaning as in section 1 of this Act.
4 Reduction of grants in case of default.
(1) If in the case of any local authority or joint board the appropriate Minister—
(a ) is satisfied that the authority or board have failed to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard in the discharge of any of their functions, regard being had to the standards maintained by other authorities and boards; and
(b ) is of opinion that by reason of the failure a reduction should be made in the amount of any elements of rate support grant payable to the local authority or a constituent authority of the joint board,
he may, after affording to the local or constituent authority in question an opportunity of making representations, make and cause to be laid before Parliament a report stating the amount of and the reasons for the proposed reduction and setting out any representations made by the authority with respect to the proposed reduction; and if the report is approved by a resolution of the...
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