(1)    These Regulations—

(a)    may be cited as the Local Authorities (Alteration of Requisite Calculations) (England) Regulations 2009, and

(b)    come into force on 10th February 2009.

(2)    These Regulations apply in relation to authorities in England only.

(3)    These Regulations apply in relation to the financial year beginning on 1st April 2009.

In these Regulations—

“the 1992 Act” means the Local Government Finance Act 1992; and

“the 1999 Act” means the Greater London Authority Act 1999.

Section 32 of the 1992 Act has effect as if—

(a)    in subsection (3)(a), the words “or relevant special grant” were omitted;

(b)    for subsection (12) there were substituted the following subsection—

“(12)    In this section and section 33 below “police grant” means the grant payable in accordance with column (a) of paragraph 3.1 of the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2009/10 approved by a resolution of the House of Commons pursuant to section 46 of the Police Act 1996 on 4th February 2009.”; and

(c)    after subsection (12) there were inserted the following subsection—

“(12A)    In this section and section 33 below—

(a)    references to sums payable for the financial year in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates are references to sums so payable in accordance with the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2009/2010 approved by a resolution of the House of Commons pursuant to section 79(2) of, and paragraph 11(2) of Schedule 8 to, the Local Government Finance Act 1988 on 4th February 2009, and

(b)    references to sums payable for the financial year in respect of revenue support grant are references to sums so payable in accordance with that report.”.

Section 33(1) of the 1992 Act has effect as if the words “or relevant special grant” in item P were omitted.

Section 43 of the 1992 Act has effect as if—

(a)    in subsection (3)(a)(i), the words “, relevant special grant” were omitted; and

(b)    for subsection (6A) there were substituted the following subsection—

“(6A)    In this section and section 44 below—

(a)    “police grant” has the meaning given by section 32(12) above, and

(b)    references to sums payable for the financial year in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates or revenue support grant are to be construed in accordance with section 32(12A) above.”.

Section 44(1) of the 1992 Act has effect as if the words “, relevant special grant” in item P were omitted.

Section 85 of the 1999 Act has effect as if—

(a)    in subsection (5)(a)(i), the words “relevant special grant,” were omitted; and

(b)    after subsection (9) there were added the following subsection—

“(9A)    In subsection (5)(a)—

(a)    the reference to sums payable for the financial year in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates is a reference to sums so payable in accordance with the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2009/2010 approved by a resolution of the House of Commons pursuant to section 79(2) of, and paragraph 11(2) of Schedule 8 to, the Local Government Finance Act 1988 on 4th February 2009, and

(b)    the reference to sums payable for the financial year in respect of revenue support grant is a reference to sums so payable in accordance with that report.”.

Section 88 of the 1999 Act has effect as if—

(a)    in subsection (2), in the definition of P1, paragraph (e) and the word “and” preceding it were omitted; and

(b)    in subsection (4), paragraph (d) and the word “and” preceding it were omitted.

Section 89 of the 1999 Act has effect as if—

(a)    in subsection (4), in the definition of P2, paragraph (f) and the word “and” preceding it were omitted; and

(b)    in subsection (6), paragraph (e) and the word “and” preceding it were omitted.

Section 99 of the 1999 Act has effect as if the definition of “relevant special grant” were omitted.

Section 102 of the 1999 Act has effect as if—

(a)    in subsection (2), paragraph (c) were omitted; and

(b)    for subsection (8) there were substituted the following subsection—

“(8)    In this section—

(a)    the reference to sums received for the financial year in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates is a reference to sums so received in consequence of the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2009/2010 approved by a resolution of the House of Commons pursuant to section 79(2) of, and paragraph 11(2) of Schedule 8 to, the Local Government Finance Act 1988 on 4th February 2009, and

(b)    the reference to sums received for the financial year in respect of revenue support grant is a reference to sums so received in consequence of that report.”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

John Healey

Minister of State

Department for Communities and Local Government

5th February 2009

Sections 32 and 43 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 (“the 1992 Act”) set out respectively how a billing authority and a major precepting authority (other than the Greater London Authority (“GLA”)) are to calculate their budget requirements for a financial year. Sections 33 and 44 of that Act set out respectively how a billing authority and such a major precepting authority are to calculate the basic amount of their council tax. The GLA's budget requirement is calculated under section 85 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (“the 1999 Act”), the basic amount of council tax (for services funded by the GLA other than the Metropolitan Police Authority) is calculated under section 88 of that Act and the additional amount of council tax in respect of the Metropolitan Police Authority is calculated under section 89 of that Act.

Regulations 3(a) and 4 to 11 of these Regulations omit references to “relevant special grants” from sections 32, 33, 43 and 44 of the 1992 Act, and from sections 85, 88, 89, 99 and 102 of the 1999 Act, for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2009 since no special grants are being defined as relevant special grants for that financial year.

Regulation 3(b) of these Regulations alters for authorities in England the definition in section 32 of the 1992 Act of “police grant” for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2009. The altered definition applies to that section, and also to sections 33, 43 and 44 of the 1992 Act. The same definition of police grant applies to the corresponding sections of the 1999 Act (by virtue of section 99 of that Act). Regulation 3(c) inserts for authorities in England definitions of sums payable in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates and revenue support grant in section 32 of the 1992 Act for the financial year beginning on the 1st April 2009 to ensure that the amounts of redistributed non-domestic rates and revenue support grant excluded from the budget requirement calculation in that section relate only to such amounts payable under the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2009/2010. The same definitions also apply to sections 33, 43 and 44 of the 1992 Act.

Regulations 7(b) and 11(b) include for the GLA definitions of sums payable or received in respect of redistributed non-domestic rates and revenue support grant in sections 85 and 102 of the 1999 Act for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2009. These definitions ensure that the amounts of redistributed non-domestic rates and revenue support grant:

(a)    excluded from the budget requirement calculation in section 85; and

(b)    taken into account in calculating the aggregate of sums received by the GLA to be distributed amongst the functional bodies;

relate only to such amounts payable under the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2009/2010.

A copy of the Police Grant Report (England and Wales) 2009/10 approved on 4th February 2009 ISBN 978-0-10-295848-5, price £5.50, referred to in regulation 3 may be obtained from the Stationery Office.

A copy of the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2009/2010 approved on 4th February 2009 ISBN 978-0-10-295849-2, price £15.50, referred to in these Regulations may be obtained from the Stationery Office.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for these Regulations as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.