Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 and come into force on 1st April 2015.

Amendment of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003

2.-(1) The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003(2) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 1 (citation, commencement, application and interpretation)-

(a)for paragraph (2) substitute-

"(2) Regulations 2 to 26, 27(2), 32 to 34 and the Schedule apply only in relation to local authorities in England."

(b)after paragraph (3) insert-

"(3A) Regulations 27(1), 28 and 29 shall not apply to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (d), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section.".

(3) In regulation 30 (retirement benefits)-

(a)at the start of regulation 30 insert "(1)";

(b)after paragraph (1) insert-

"(2) In relation to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section, this regulation has effect as if the reference in paragraph (1) to 1st April 2004 were a reference to 1st April 2015.".

(4) In regulation 30B (early repayment of loans – premiums and discounts at 31st March 2007) after paragraph (2) insert-

"(2A) This regulation does not apply to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section.".

(5) In regulation 30C (early repayment of loans – premiums and discounts after 31st March 2007) after paragraph (5) insert-

"(5A) In relation to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section, this regulation has effect as if the references in paragraph (1)(a) and (c) to 1st April 2007 were references to 1st April 2015.".

(6) In regulation 30D (interest on loans given by local authorities) after paragraph (3) insert-

"(4) In relation to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section, this regulation has effect as if-

(a)the references in paragraphs (1)(a), (2)(a) and (b) and (3)(a) to "1st April 2007" were references to "1st April 2015"; and

(b)the references in paragraphs (2)(c) and (3)(a) to "2007 financial year" were references to "2015 financial year".".

(7) In regulation 30E (interest on stepped interest rate loans taken out by local authorities) after paragraph (3) insert-

"(4) In relation to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section, this regulation has effect as if the reference in paragraph (2) to 31st March 2008 were a reference to 31st March 2016.".

(8) In regulation 30F (financial guarantees given by local authorities) after paragraph (2) insert-

"(3) In relation to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section, this regulation has effect as if the reference in paragraph (2) to 31st March 2008 were a reference to 31st March 2016 and as if the reference in sub-paragraph (2)(a) to 1st April 2006 were a reference to 1st April 2015.".

(9) In regulation 30H (short-term accumulating compensated absences)-

(a)at the start of regulation 30H insert "(1)";

(b)after paragraph (1) insert-

"(2) In relation to any person or body which is a local authority for the purposes of section 21 by virtue of subsection (6)(b), (e), (g), (h), (k) or (l) of that section, this regulation only applies to an amount in respect of a liability for short-term accumulating compensated absences recorded on a balance sheet for a financial year beginning on or after 1st April 2015.".

(10) In regulation 31 (proper practices)-

(a)omit the "and" at the end of paragraph (b);

(b)for paragraph (c) substitute-

"(c)in relation only to those authorities which are Category 2 authorities within the meaning of regulation 2(1) of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015(3), and which are not internal drainage boards, "Governance and Accountability for Local Councils: A Practitioners' Guide (England) March 2014" published jointly by the National Association of Local Councils and the Society for Local Council Clerks, as amended or reissued from time to time(4); and

(d)in relation only to internal drainage boards, "Governance and Accountability in Internal Drainage Boards in England: a Practitioners' Guide 2006" published by the Association of Drainage Authorities and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as amended or reissued from time to time(5).".

(11) In the Schedule-

(a)in paragraph 2-

(i)in the definition of "assumed debt" for the words "column A of the table in this Schedule ("the Table")" substitute "Table A in this Schedule";

(ii)in the definition of "local authority share cap" for the words "Column B of the Table" substitute "Table B in this Schedule";

(b)for paragraph 9 substitute-

"9.  L** means-

(a)2.398347729 in the financial year 2012 to 2013;

(b)2.360771759 in the financial year 2013 to 2014;

(c)2.311525846 in the financial year 2014 to 2015;

(d)2.534152780 in the financial year 2015 to 2016, except in relation to-

(i)Cambridge City Council, where it means 2.663711167; and

(ii)Winchester City Council, where it means 5.434916035;

(e)2.488865254 in the financial year 2016 to 2017, except in relation to-

(i)Cambridge City Council, where it means 2.464489035;

(ii)the London Borough Council of Hammersmith and Fulham, where it means 5.951547426; and

(iii)Winchester City Council, where it means 2.464489035."; and

(c)for the Table substitute Table A and Table B as set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Regulation 2(11)(c)

SCHEDULETables to be substituted in the Schedule to the 2003 Regulations

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Section 21 of the Local Government Act 2003 ("the 2003 Act"), and regulations made under it, make provision in respect of accounting practices to be followed by local authorities. Schedule 12 to the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 extends the scope of section 21 of the 2003 Act to include a number of local authority bodies which were not previously subject to that section ("the new bodies").

The Local Authority (Capital Finance and Accounting) (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/3146) ("the 2003 Regulations") include a number of provisions that were made under section 21 of the 2003 Act, in particular, regulations 27 to 31. These Regulations amend the 2003 Regulations in order to disapply certain of the 2003 Regulations to the new bodies and to make transitional provision for the application of certain regulations from 1st April 2015.

Regulation 2(2) amends regulation 1(2) of the 2003 Regulations to provide that regulations 1 and 27 to 31 may apply bodies that are partly in England and partly in Wales, to ensure consistency with the extended scope of section 21 of the 2003 Act. It also inserts into the 2003 Regulations a new regulation 1(3A) which disapplies regulations 27 to 29 to the new bodies.

Regulations 2(3) to (9) contain transitional provisions which amend certain of the dates from which certain of the 2003 Regulations made under section 21 of the 2003 Act will apply to the new bodies.

Regulation 2(10) updates regulation 31 of the 2003 Regulations to prescribe which publications represent proper practices in relation to accounts for the new bodies. It also updates a reference to a practitioners' guide to be to the latest edition of that guide. "Governance and Accountability for Local Councils: A Practitioners' Guide (England) March 2014" is available for download from the Society of Local Council Clerks at http://www.slcc.co.uk/bookstore/category/slcc-publications/1/. A hard copy can be purchased from the same address. "Governance and Accountability in Internal Drainage Boards in England: a Practitioners' Guide 2006" is available for download from the Association of Drainage Authorities at http://www.ada.org.uk/downloads/other/downloads_page/aud_com/IDBGovernanceandAccountabilityDraftPractitionersGuide2006.pdf. A hard copy can be requested by contacting the Association of Drainage Authorities at http://www.ada.org.uk.

These Regulations (see regulation 2(11)) also make amendments to the schedule to the 2003 Regulations which provides for the calculation of the sub-liability (as defined in regulation 1(5) of the 2003 regulations) which forms part of a local authority's poolable amount (see regulations 1(5) and 12 of the 2003 regulations).

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sections is foreseen.