Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Non-Domestic Rates (District Heating Relief) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and come into force on 1st April 2017.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations-

"the 1962 Act" means the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962(2);

"the 1966 Act" means the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966(3);

"the 1975 Act" means the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975(4);

"the 2000 Act" means the Electronic Communications Act 2000(5);

"communal heating" means the distribution of thermal energy in the form of steam, hot water or chilled liquids from a central source in a building which is occupied by more than one final customer, for the use of space or process heating, cooling or hot water;

"district heating network" means the distribution of thermal energy in the form of steam, hot water or chilled liquids from a central source of production through a network to multiple buildings or sites for the use of space or process heating, cooling or hot water and includes any attached communal heating;

"electronic communication" has the meaning given to it in section 15(1) of the 2000 Act(6);

"lands and heritages" has the meaning prescribed by and under section 42 of the Lands Valuation (Scotland) Act 1854(7);

"local authority" means the rating authority in whose valuation roll the entry for the lands and heritages appears; and

"valuation roll" means the roll made up under section 1 of the 1975 Act.

Amount payable as rates – lands and heritages used for the purposes of a district heating network

3.-(1) This regulation grants relief to a person who is liable to pay rates levied under section 7B of the 1975(8) Act in respect of lands and heritages on a day where-

(a)that person uses the lands and heritages wholly or mainly for the purposes of a district heating network; and

(b)application for relief is made in accordance with regulation 5.

(2) Subject to regulation 4, the relief granted under paragraph (1) is a reduction of the amount of rates payable by 50%.

Relief – further provisions

4.-(1) Where the amount of rates payable in respect of lands and heritages is reduced by virtue of one or more of the enactments specified in paragraph (2), then in relation to those lands and heritages-

(a)relief under regulation 3(1) is to be reduced to the extent of the reduction under those enactments; and

(b)no relief is to be granted under regulation 3(1) where the amount of the reduction under those enactments is 50% or more of the rates which would otherwise be payable.

(2) Those enactments are-

(a)section 4(2) of the 1962 Act;

(b)section 4(5)(c) of the 1962 Act;

(c)section 24(3) of the 1966 Act;

(d)section 24A of the 1966 Act; and

(e)regulation 3 of the Non-Domestic Rates (Levying) (Scotland) Regulations 2017(9).

(3) The relief granted under regulation 3(1) is to be made only to the extent that such relief is compatible with Article 107(1) of the Consolidated Version of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union(10).

Applications for relief

5.-(1) An application for relief must be signed by the ratepayer or a person authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer, and-

(a)"person authorised to sign on behalf of the ratepayer" means, where the ratepayer is-

(i)a partnership, a partner of that partnership;

(ii)a trust, a trustee of that trust;

(iii)a body corporate, a director of that body; and

(b)"sign" or "signed", in relation to an application made by electronic communication means an electronic signature, as defined in section 7(2) of the 2000 Act(11).

(2) An application under paragraph (1) must be made to the local authority by-

(a)addressing it to the authority; and

(b)delivering it or sending it to the authority's office by post or electronic communication.

Exemptions and discretionary reductions and remissions

6.  Nothing in these Regulations-

(a)requires rates to be paid in respect of lands and heritages for any day where those lands and heritages are under any enactment entirely exempt from rates for that day; or

(b)prejudices any power of a rating authority to grant a reduction or remission of rates under section 3A or 4(5) of the 1962 Act(12), section 25A of the 1966 Act(13) or paragraph 4 of schedule 2 of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997(14).

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make provision to reduce the amount payable as non-domestic rates in respect of subjects in Scotland used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a district heating network. They apply from the start of the 2017-2018 financial year.

Regulation 3 provides for a 50% reduction in rates where the lands and heritages are used wholly or mainly as a district heating network. Regulation 4 provides for a reduction in relief if the enactments listed already provide for a reduction and that any relief must be compatible with state aid rules.

Regulation 5 provides that an application must be made to obtain the relief. Regulation 6 allows for exemptions and discretionary reductions.