AB35 (Appellant) and The Department of Finance (Respondent)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Neutral Citation | NIVT 35/21 |
| Court | Valuation Tribunal (NI) |
| Date | 06 April 2022 |
1
NORTHERN IRELAND VALUATION TRIBUNAL
THE RATES (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1977 (AS AMENDED) AND THE
VALUATION TRIBUNAL RULES (NORTHERN IRELAND) 2007 (AS AMENDED)
CASE REFERENCE NUMBER: NIVT 35/21
AB35– APPELLANT
AND
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE –RESPONDENT
Northern Ireland Valuation Tribunal
Chairman: Mr Charles O’Neill
Members: Mr Hugh McCormick and Ms Noreen Wright
Date of hearing: 13 December 2021, Belfast
DECISION
The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the appeal is not successful for the
reasons provided below and the appeal is accordingly dismissed by the tribunal.
REASONS
Introduction
1. This is a reference under Article 12B of the Rates (Northern Ireland) Order
1977, as amended (the 1977 Order). In view of the nature of the appeal the
tribunal has sought to redact the identity of the appellant (who is hereafter
referred to as AB35 or the appellant) and also identifying details of the
hereditament under consideration.
2. This matter proceeded by what has been referred to as a hybrid hearing, with
the tribunal members in the tribunal room and the appellant joining by an audio
link and the representatives of the respondent appearing by a videolink.
3. The appellant appealed against the outcome of a review decision by the
Department of Finance (the respondent) that the appellant was not entitled to
claim Disabled Persons Allowance (DPA).
The law
4. The statutory provisions are to be found in the 1977 Order, Article 31A(12B) as
inserted by Article 17(8) of the Rates (Amendment) (NI) Order 2006 (the 2006
Order). The legislation entitles a person to appeal to this tribunal where as a
result of a review the respondent has decided that a person is not entitled to
DPA.
5. Article 31A currently states (as far as is material to these proceedings):
“(2) This Article applies to-
(a) a hereditament in which there is a facility which is required for meeting
the needs of a person who resides in the hereditament and has a disability,
including a facility of either of the following descriptions-
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