The Act Part 2 – Administration and enforcement of non-domestic rates Section 5 – Entering of parks in valuation roll
28.Section 19 of the 1963 Act makes provision about the entry in the valuation roll of lands and heritages which consist of certain types of park (including buildings in the park used for purposes ancillary to those of the park). At the time of publication of these Notes, subsection (1) of that section sets out a basic rule that such lands and heritages are not to be entered in the valuation roll, with subsections (1A) and (1B) of section 19 of the 1963 Act then specifying exceptions to this rule. As noted above, non-domestic rates are not payable in respect of lands and heritages which are not entered in the valuation roll.
29.Under subsection (1A) of section 19 of the 1963 Act, a park vested in or under the control of a local authority requires to be entered in the valuation roll only if the local authority derives a net profit from the park. A park vested in or under the control of a Minister of the Crown or Government department (or other persons or bodies exercising functions on behalf of the Crown) requires to be entered in the valuation roll only if the park is not available for free and unrestricted use by members of the public (subsection (1B) of section 19 of the 1963 Act).
30.Section 5(3) amends section 19 of the 1963 Act by replacing subsections (1A) to (1C) with four new subsections. New subsection (1ZA) sets out a new basic rule that parts of parks which have certain characteristics are to be entered in the valuation roll (and, as a consequence, section 5(2) amends subsection (1) of section 19 of the 1963 Act to remove the previous statement of the basic rule). The characteristics that will lead to a part of a park (of one of the two types of park mentioned in both the old and the new version of subsection (1)) being entered in the valuation roll are set out in subsections (1ZB) and (1ZC).
31.The first case (subsection (1ZB)) is where the part of the park is occupied by a person other than the local authority or, as the case may be, the Minister or Government department (or other person exercising functions on behalf of the Crown). In this case, the part of the park which is occupied by the other person must be entered in the valuation roll. This requires, for example, a food outlet which is located within a local authority park (and used for purposes ancillary to those of the park10) but which is run by another person to be entered in the valuation roll. The rates payable would depend on the rateable value determined for the food outlet and whether the occupier was in receipt of any relief.
32.The second case is where, despite being occupied by a local authority or, as the case may be, a Minister or Government department (or other person exercising functions on behalf of the Crown), at least some members of the public are required to pay in order to access facilities in a particular part of the park or for goods and services provided in the part. If, for example, a local authority park contains tennis courts, which can only be used on payment of a charge by some or all users, then that part of the park requires to be entered in the valuation roll. The fact that some categories of people may be able to access the courts at a concessionary rate (or even free of charge) does not change this. Again, the rates payable as a result of the entry will depend on the rateable value and any reliefs being received.
33.Parts of parks (of the two types set out in subsection (1) of section 19 of the 1963 Act) which do not fall into either subsection (1ZB) or (1ZC)) will continue not to be entered in the valuation roll (subsection (1ZD).