The Valuation Appeal Committee (Procedure in Civil Penalty Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2020
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Citation | SSI 2020/382 |
| Year | 2020 |
2020 No. 382
Rating And Valuation
The Valuation Appeal Committee (Procedure in Civil Penalty Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2020
Made 17th November 2020
Laid before the Scottish Parliament 19th November 2020
Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1
The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 15(2) of the Local Government (Financial Provisions) (Scotland) Act 19631, sections 31(7) and 34(5) of the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 20202and all other powers enabling them to do so.
In accordance with sections 31(10) and 34(8) of the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020, before making these Regulations the Scottish Ministers have consulted such persons as they consider appropriate.
Citation and commencement
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Valuation Appeal Committee (Procedure in Civil Penalty Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2020.
(2) These Regulations come into force—
(a)
(a) as regards any appeal against a penalty notice issued under section 30 of the 2020 Act (assessor penalty notices), on 21 December 2020, and
(b)
(b) as regards any appeal against a penalty notice issued under section 33 of that Act (local authority penalty notices), on 1 April 2021.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the 2020 Act” means the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020,
“appellant” has the meaning given by regulation 4(a),
“assessor” means an assessor appointed under section 27(2) of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 19943and includes a depute assessor,
“authorised officer” has the same meaning as in section 27 of the 2020 Act (see subsection (5) of that section),
“committee” means a valuation appeal committee,
“party” means the appellant or respondent,
“respondent” means the assessor who issued a notice under section 30 (assessor penalty notices) of the 2020 Act, or the authorised officer who issued a notice under section 33 (local authority penalty notices) of that Act,
“secretary” means a secretary of a valuation appeal panel, and includes an assistant secretary,
“valuation appeal panel” means the panel constituted under regulation 2 of the Valuation Appeal Panels and Committees (Scotland) Regulations 19964.
(2) Where the criteria in paragraph (3) are met—
(a)
(a) any document sent in relation to an appeal may be sent by electronic communication, and
(b)
(b) a notice or document sent electronically fulfils any requirement in these Regulations that a notice or document is to be in writing.
(3) The criteria are—
(a)
(a) the recipient consents either—
(i) explicitly by nominating and, in the case of an assessor, publishing an address for the purposes of electronic communications, or
(ii) implicitly by having used electronic communications in relation to an appeal, and
(b)
(b) the notice or document sent by electronic communication—
(i) is capable of being accessed by the recipient,
(ii) makes the information it contains available to the recipient to no lesser extent than it would be if sent as a document in printed form, and
(iii) is sufficiently permanent to be used for subsequent reference.
Application
3. These Regulations apply to any appeal to a committee under section 31(1) (assessor penalty notice appeals) or section 34(1) (local authority penalty notice appeals) of the 2020 Act, and any further appeal as provided for by regulation 11.
Appeal requirements
4. Any appeal to a committee under section 31(1) or section 34(1) of the 2020 Act must—
(a) be made in writing by or with the authority of the person to whom the penalty notice was given (“the appellant”),
(b) be received by the respondent before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the notice was given,
(c) specify the ground or grounds on which the appeal is made,
(d) be accompanied by—
(i) a copy of the relevant assessor information notice or local authority information notice (unless the appellant does not have that notice), and
(ii) a copy of the penalty notice,
(e) state whether the appellant requires a hearing to be arranged,
(f) where the appeal is based on, or includes, the appellant having a reasonable excuse for not complying with the notice, be accompanied by an explanation of what that excuse is, and
(g) be accompanied by any material to which the appellant wishes the committee to have regard in support of the appeal.
Payment of penalties while appeal is pending
5. Until an appeal under section 31(1) or section 34(1) of the 2020 Act is decided or withdrawn an appellant is not obliged to pay—
(a) any penalty being appealed,
(b) any further penalty under section 30(4) or (5) of the 2020 Act to which the appeal relates,
(c) where the appeal relates to a penalty under section 33 of that Act, any other penalty under that section in relation to the same information.
Notification of appeals to the secretary
6.—(1) The respondent must—
(a)
(a) within 28 days of receipt of an appeal in accordance with regulation 4, notify the secretary that the appeal has been made,
(b)
(b) provide the secretary with the material submitted along with that appeal, and
(c)
(c) provide the secretary with a copy of any further written information the appellant has provided in support of their appeal up to the date of the notification.
(2) The duty in paragraph (1) does not apply if, within the 28 day period—
(a)
(a) the appellant withdraws their appeal, or
(b)
(b) the respondent advises the appellant that they have decided to remit5the penalty being appealed, along with any further penalty to which the appellant may be subject under section 30(4) or (5) of the 2020 Act, or as the case may be, any other penalty under section 33 of that Act.
(3) The respondent must along with the notification under paragraph (1)—
(a)
(a) advise the secretary whether or not the respondent requires a hearing to be arranged, if the appellant has not required a hearing,
(b)
(b) provide the secretary with a statement of—
(i) what information the respondent considers has not been provided,
(ii) why the respondent believes the appellant should have been able to provide that information, and
(iii) why it was considered reasonable to require the appellant to provide that information,
(c)
(c) where the appellant has not provided a copy of the relevant assessor information notice or local authority information notice, provide the secretary with a copy of that notice, and
(d)
(d) provide the secretary with any further material to which the respondent wishes the committee to have regard.
(4) The respondent must at the same time as making the notification to the secretary under paragraph (1)—
(a)
(a) provide the appellant with a copy of the notification made to the secretary and copies of all material provided along with that notification, and
(b)
(b) if neither party has required a hearing to be arranged, advise the appellant that any comments the appellant wishes to make in relation to the statement provided under paragraph (3)(b) should be made in writing to the secretary and received by the secretary within 14 days, otherwise the committee might not have regard to them.
Withdrawal of appeals after intimation to the secretary
7.—(1) The appellant may withdraw their appeal at any time before it has been decided by the committee.
(2) Where the appellant advises the respondent that they wish to withdraw an appeal that has been intimated to the secretary, the respondent must immediately notify the secretary, unless the appellant indicates that they are informing, or have informed, the secretary.
(3) If, after intimating an appeal to the secretary, the respondent decides to remit the penalty that is being appealed, along with any further penalty to which the appellant may be subject under section 30(4) or (5) of the 2020 Act or, as the case may be, any other penalty under section 33 of that Act, the respondent must immediately notify the secretary and the appellant.
(4) On receipt of a notification under paragraph (2) or (3) the secretary must treat the appeal as withdrawn, if the secretary has not already done so.
Consideration of appeals
8.—(1) Where either the appellant or the respondent has required that a hearing be arranged,...
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