Commentary on Sections Supplementary Section 27: Special introductory provision
59.This section makes provision in relation to BRS in the period immediately after Royal Assent of the Act. In particular, subsection (1) provides that no BRS may be levied before 1st April 2010.
60.Subsection (2) provides that, in England, a BRS may be levied on or before 1st April 2012 for the purpose of supporting a project which begins before the power in section 1 to levy a BRS is commenced. After 1st April 2012, it will not be possible for BRS to be levied in respect of such pre-existing projects.
61.Subsections (3) and (4) provide that any guidance issued by the Secretary of State prior to Royal Assent is to be treated as guidance issued under section 26 and may be relied on by levying authorities for the purposes of levying a BRS on or before 1st April 2012. Subsection (5) provides that steps taken by a levying authority in line with such “pre-commencement” guidance are to be treated as having been carried out in accordance with the Act.
62.Subsection (6) relates to any BRS established by the GLA in reliance on subsection (2) on or before 1st April 2011. In those circumstances, it provides that the requirements of sections 3(1)(b) (that BRS revenues must be used to fund expenditure the levying authority would not have incurred had it not imposed the BRS) and 7(1) and 10(7) (that there must be a ballot where the BRS will fund more than one third of project costs) do not apply.
63.Subsection (7) enables the Secretary of State to make other provision in regulations on the establishment and operation of BRS in London in the period up to 1st April 2012. In particular, these may modify the operation of the Act in relation to a BRS levied by the GLA in that period.