Title and coming into force

1.  The title of these Regulations is the Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and they come into force on 31 December 2024.

Amendments to the Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Wales) Regulations 1992

2.—(1) The Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Wales) Regulations 1992( 3) are amended as follows in relation to a financial year beginning with or after 1 April 2025.

(2) In paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 (rules for the calculation of non-domestic rating contributions)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (1)(a), for “the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity, and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities);” substitute “one of the following applies—”;

(b) after sub-paragraph (1)(a) insert—

“(i) the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity, and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities);

(ii) the ratepayer is a registered club for the purposes of Chapter 9 of Part 13 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010( 4) (community amateur sports clubs) and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for the purposes of that club or for the purposes of that club and of other such registered clubs; ”;

(c) in sub-paragraph (1)(b)(i), for the words “the hereditament is not an excepted hereditament, and all or part of it”, substitute “all or part of the hereditament”;

(d) omit sub-paragraph (1)(b)(ii) and the “or” after it;

(e) in sub-paragraph (1)(b)(iii), omit the words “is not an excepted hereditament, it”;

(f) in sub-paragraph (4)(a), for “the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity, and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities);” substitute “one of the following applies—”;

(g) after sub-paragraph (4)(a) insert—

“(i) the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity, and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities);

(ii) the ratepayer is a registered club for the purposes of Chapter 9 of Part 13 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 (community amateur sports clubs) and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for the purposes of that club or for the purposes of that club and of other such registered clubs; ”;

(h) in sub-paragraph (4)(b)—

(i) for “75” substitute “90”;

(ii) in sub-paragraph (i), for the words “the hereditament is not an excepted hereditament, and all or part of it” substitute “all or part of the hereditament”;

(iii) omit sub-paragraph (ii) and the “or” after it;

(iv) in sub-paragraph (iii), omit the words “is not an excepted hereditament, it”.

(3) In Schedule 2 (assumptions relating to provisional amounts)—

(a) in paragraph 3(a), for “the condition in section 47(2)(a) applies, and” substitute “one of the following applies on the chargeable day—”;

(b) after paragraph 3(a) insert—

“(i) the ratepayer is a charity or trustees for a charity, and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes (whether of that charity or of that and other charities);

(ii) the ratepayer is a registered club for the purposes of Chapter 9 of Part 13 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 (community amateur sports clubs) and the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for the purposes of that club or for the purposes of that club and of other such registered clubs, and ”;

(c) in paragraph 4(a), for “other than a hereditament in relation to which the condition in 47(2)(a) applies, and” substitute “in relation to which one of the following applies on the chargeable day—”;

(d) after paragraph 4(a) insert—

“(i) all or part of the hereditament is occupied for the purposes of one or more institutions or other organisations none of which is established or conducted for profit, and each of whose main objects are charitable or are otherwise philanthropic or religious or concerned with education, social welfare, science, literature or the fine arts;

(ii) the hereditament is wholly or mainly used for purposes of recreation, and all or part of it is occupied for the purposes of a club, society or other organisation not established or conducted for profit, and ”.

(4) For Schedule 4 (adult population figures) substitute the Schedule to these Regulations.

Regulation 2(4)

SCHEDULE

Regulation 6(5)

“SCHEDULE  4 ADULT POPULATION FIGURES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Non-Domestic Rating Contributions (Wales) Regulations 1992 (“ the 1992 Regulations”).

Under Part 2 of Schedule 8 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (“ the 1988 Act”) (non-domestic rating: pooling), billing authorities (in Wales, county and county borough councils) are required to pay amounts (called non-domestic rating contributions) to the Welsh Ministers. The 1992 Regulations contain rules for the calculation of those contributions for Welsh billing authorities.

Community amateur sports clubs (“CASCs”) are treated in the same way as charities for the purposes of non-domestic rates relief under paragraph 2 of Schedule 4ZA to the 1988 Act (occupied hereditaments: chargeable amounts). Regulation 2(2) amends paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the 1992 Regulations (rules for the calculation of non-domestic rating contributions) to bring the treatment of CASCs in line with that of charities for the purposes of calculating non-domestic rating contributions. Regulation 2(2)(h)(i) amends an inconsistency between the percentages in paragraph 3(1)(b) and 3(4)(b) of Schedule 1.

Section 69 of the Localism Act 2011 (non-domestic rates: discretionary relief) made amendments to section 47 of the 1988 Act (discretionary relief). It repealed section 47(2)(a) of that Act which set out conditions for the granting of discretionary non-domestic rates relief. It also inserted section 47(8A) into that Act, which states that section 47 does not apply where the hereditament is excepted, as defined in section 47(9).

Paragraph 3(1) and (4) of Schedule 1 to the 1992 Regulations allows billing authorities to deduct specified percentages from their non-domestic rating contributions where they have granted discretionary non-domestic rates relief under section 47 of the 1988 Act. Consequential to the insertion of section 47(8A) into the 1988 Act, references to the requirement that a hereditament is not an excepted hereditament in paragraph 3(1) and (4) of Schedule 1 to the 1992 Regulations are therefore no longer required. Regulation 2(2)(c), (e), (h)(ii) and (iv) of these Regulations makes consequential amendments to paragraph 3(1) and (4) of Schedule 1 to the 1992 Regulations to remove those references.

Paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 2 to the 1992 Regulations (assumptions relating to provisional amounts) provide for assumptions to be applied when billing authorities are calculating their provisional non-domestic rating contribution amount. Regulation 2(3) makes consequential amendments to paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 2 to the 1992 Regulations to remove references to section 47(2)(a) of the 1988 Act. Regulation 2(3) also amends Schedule 2 to place CASCs within paragraph 3.

Regulation 2(4) amends the 1992 Regulations by substituting a new Schedule 4 (adult population figures).

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations.