SUMMARY OF MEETING - LOCAL AUTHORITY LIAISON GROUP MEETING
27 APRIL 2005

PRESENT:

Mr D Tretton VOA (Chair)
Mr J Giles VOA
Mr R Browne VOA
Mr A Dowling VOA
Ms D Curtis VOA
Mr T Eden VOA
Mr D Maddison LGA
Ms C – M Heath LB City
Ms M Elocks Birmingham
Ms P Soobrayen Secretary

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from: Charlotte Corkish, Stephen Wright, Vic East and John Morris.

ACTION POINT – ALL – Attendees were asked to confirm attendance of meeting to assist with the ordering of refreshments and notifying security.

2. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING – 27 APRIL 2005

Mr Tretton apologised that the minutes of the previous meeting had incorrectly been issued as the final version. A Slight amendment was required in apologies for absence, the text should read: “Colchester District Council”

Subject to above the minutes of the last meeting were accepted.

3. MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising.

4. REVALUATION 2005

The NDR rating lists were successfully published on 1 April 2005 and are available to view on the VOA website. The VOA has provided enhanced Internet search facilities and explanatory text to assist ratepayers. The VOA has also published the details of some 1.5 million summary valuations on the website and details of the valuation schemes that underpin them.

VOA will be publishing on the Internet later this week a detailed analysis of the 2005 compiled rating lists, compared to the 2000 rating lists, showing the rateable value movements by primary description code and by SCAT code at Economic Region level; VOA Group level and BA level.

The RV for England at 1 April 2005 was £46.67Bn and the rating lists contained 1.655m assessments. The RV was 18.04% higher than the 2000 rating lists. The RV for Wales at 1 April was £1.89Bn and the rating lists contained 100,567 assessments. The total RV was 13.84% higher. The overall increase in RV for England and Wales was 17.87% showing a total RV of £48.57Bn.

The VOA website can also be used to make electronic appeals over the Internet. Facilities have been improved to assist completion for those ratepayers who have multiple properties, and wish to make a number of appeals, by allowing common fields to be carried forward to each proposal. In conjunction with representation from the rating profession the VOA has developed a web service application that will enable multiple appeals to be made electronically. This has benefits to all parties by automating the registration and acknowledgement of receipt of proposals. At present there have only been modest numbers received but agents are expected to make greater use of the system once their own computer systems have been altered to give effect to the agreed scheme. This is the first step in the project to enable more e communication to take place with ratepayer representatives. Eventually we expect to develop further e communication around programming and the transfer of agreement and withdrawal forms.

Proposals made against 2005 List assessments are being received at modest levels – receipts to close on 25 April: -

16,254 appeals registered (4,951 hardcopy remainder electronic)

959 invalid appeals

3396 potential appeals (received electronically but not processed)

5. COUNCIL TAX

Tim Eden, Business Change Manager for the Council Tax Revaluation, attended the meeting in place of Diane Leggo. He indicated that this was likely to be a permanent arrangement. Tim distributed a high-level programme plan and went through the key tasks being carried out at present. Main points were:

Data capture has now been completed and work is focusing on plugging any gaps in the data (data enhancement) and ensuring we have full data on all the properties that were subject to a sale in the 18 month period from January 2004 (sales validation). Questionnaires were being issued as part of these processes, although this approach had been put on hold pending the outcome of the general election.

Valuation

The concept of "locality digitisation” was explained (i.e. identifying value significant localities and plotting these on mapping software). The majority of effort on the valuation project is around making adjustments to the automated valuation model to ensure that it will produce valuations on individual properties where there would be a sufficient degree of confidence. Those valuations that are rejected will be valued manually. Good data remains the key to the model producing acceptable estimates of value.

Work is being undertaken to develop an approach to handling enquiries that would seek to reduce the number of cases that became appeals to the Valuation Tribunal. This centres around an informal review of the entry in the list. If the council taxpayer is unhappy with the conclusion of this review there will be an opportunity to appeal to the VT. Discussions are taking place with ODPM and the Valuation Tribunal Service on how this will operate.

6. VOA/BA IT INTERFACE ISSUES

Richard Browne reported that the Compiled List entries were made available within the application for the public on 1st April 2005. These include not only the List entries but also the Summary Valuations and the supporting valuation schemas.

Improvements to the appeals process from the site have enabled automatic case creation on the VOAs system. Further facilities are planned to incorporate programming and an on-line method of dealing with appeal agreements and withdrawals.

Both the 2000 and 2005 Rating Lists are available from the Internet site but the 1995 Rating List has now been dropped as it has almost become static. The Lists are being refreshed weekly, which removes the need to show the update schedules.

Progress is being made on this project, which will enable electronic submission of BA Reports via the File Transfer system. Subject to Council Tax Revaluation work priorities, development work is expected start in June with completion in December. It is proposed to provide a web page for the entry of single and bulk reports, the facility to import the existing Excel Reports spreadsheets and files in the Valuebill XML format.

The process will incorporate automatic case creation on the VOA database and should provide significant savings in time in the submission and recording of BA Reports.

The 2005 – 2006 CMOA had been agreed and signed by all parties. This was now available to view on the BA Internet File Transfer System and will shortly be issued with a covering letter to individual BAs by the VOA's Group Customer Service Managers.

Richard summarised the main issues contained in the agreement such as the cessation of sending electronic files on tape and disc, a move away from sending hardcopy schedules by encouraging the download of the files in pdf format, the inclusion of the NLPG reference numbers on XML files and the proposed cessation of the electronic submission of CT reports by disc.

The CMOA is supplemented by periodic BA Newsletters, issued by the VOA IT Services Division, to give regular updates on new and pending changes.

Alan Dowling gave a brief résumé of the items included in the latest newsletter, such as the change of name of COVO to IT Services Division, He informed the meeting that these newsletters were being added to the BA File Transfer website via a link from the introduction to the VOA Technical Circular. ACTION POINT - Feedback from the authorities would be appreciated.

BAs had downloaded at least one file since the inception of the system in May 2003 but there were, to the end of March 2005, about 20 authorities (in England and Wales) that had not downloaded any files in 2005. There was a concern that some may not be retrieving their NNDR Draft 2005 schedules.

Recent changes to the site include new Excel templates with an additional column for the NLPG reference number, which is appearing on NNDR Full Lists and some schedules . There are also updates to the Calendar of overnight generations, VOA Technical Circular, Help and about pages.

The record number of bulk updates to BA reference numbers made to the VOA database in the last 12 months was highlighted. The importance of keeping the reference numbers on the BA and VOA databases in step as much as possible was stressed. These were key to the use of electronic data transfers from the VOA to the BA and, by the end of the year, electronic BA reports being sent to the VOA.

ACTION POINT – David Maddison asked for a brief note about the bulk reference number updating so that he could bring it to the attention of all authorities.

7. RATING CASES OF INTEREST

Following meetings with the National Trust and their agents, progress was made in identifying and valuing those National Trust (Enterprises) Ltd hereditaments to be separately assessed following the decision of the Valuation Tribunal re Hidcote Manor Gardens and Snowshill Manor. The appeals have now been withdrawn from the Lands Tribunal register.

Consequential revisions to other assessment at National Trust properties for both R2000 and R2005 throughout England and Wales were prior agreed and implemented in March.

The decision in this long outstanding case was delivered on the 31 January 2005. The member found for the VO case and VOA was Invited to submit a written submission as to costs, the IR Solicitors office has asked for all our costs in this case to be met.

It is understood that the Banks Legal team are studying the decision with a view to petition the Court of Appeal on a point of law.

Land Tribunal date for Pre trial Review is likely during April (The agent is claiming local office evidence as best basis (houses not in office location). Houses close to Thames in Richmond sold in excess of £1m each, & VO defending % of toned back sale price. Also sales of showhouses to investors subject to lease back to developer’s connected company at very high commercial rents.)

Research is ongoing to obtain a greater insight into the underlying religious beliefs and practices of the Mormon faith in order for VO to decide which buildings on the site might be eligible for exemption, under ‘public religious worship’ or ‘offices used in connection with’ headings.

At a Pre trial review on 10 th Feb, after submission of VO draft statement of case, the President of the LT acceded to Counsel’s request for a split hearing, and directed that there should be a preliminary hearing to deal with the principle of exemption, as a preliminary issue, and a subsequent hearing to deal with valuation matters. He saw no good reason for objection. A Lands Tribunal hearing will be held in June at date to be confirmed.

The hearing took place on 28 th February 2005 before the President. A decision was issued on 14 th March 2005.

The Appellant VO contended that the DHS did not form an appurtenance to the domestic accommodation to which it supplied heat. The VO further contended that the correct valuation approach was the contractors basis, and that the value produced was not nominal. The decision in Hodgkinson V Strathclyde Regional Council Superannuating Fund 1996 not applying.

The Respondent, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, submitted that the DHSs were appurtenant to domestic property, and in the alternative if they were considered rateable as non-domestic hereditaments then their value would be nominal Strathclyde applying.

The President decided that the DHSs were an appurtenance to domestic property within the meaning of LGFA 1988 sec 66. It was held that the block of flats, which the DHS served, constituted domestic property. Further that the determination of domestic property was not restricted in terms of whether the domestic property constituted a hereditament or a number of hereditaments.

The President also noted, that should a DHS not form an appurtenance to domestic property then the appropriate method of valuation was the contractors basis and the a nominal value would not be appropriate.

The Lands Tribunal appeals should now progress following the decision in the DHS.

8. CUSTOMER SERVICES – DIANE CURTIS

No matters arising.

9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

ACTION POINT – The authorities members were asked to provide feedback on the following sites: mybusinessrates.gov.uk and counciltaxinfo.gov.uk.

10. DATES OF NEXT MEETING

7 September 2005 at 13.30 in MR12.