Corporate report

Introduction and overview

Published 27 February 2020

Introduction

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is an executive agency of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

According to the guidance set out by the Cabinet Office, ‘Tailored Reviews: Guidance on Reviews of Public Bodies’, reviews of executive agencies should be undertaken at least once in the lifetime of a Parliament. This review was announced by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the Rt Hon Mel Stride MP, on 24 October 2018.

This tailored review will cover:

• status: the review will assess the continuing requirement for the functions that the VOA performs, and determine how these functions can best be delivered
• governance: the review will examine corporate governance and controls alongside operational delivery and performance, and will consider the appropriateness of the governance provided across key government clients. The review will produce a revised Framework Document and assess the governance in place against the Cabinet Office Corporate Governance Code of Good Practice
• efficiency and effectiveness: the review will explore whether the VOA’s stated objectives are achieved and whether targeted problems are solved. It will explore the VOA’s capacity for delivering more effectively and efficiently, including identifying the potential for efficiency savings. The review will consider efficiency measures already in progress, and suggest other measures as appropriate. The review will include an assessment of the performance of the VOA and the service it provides for clients and customers. The review will also look at how agile the VOA is with regard to preparing for and delivering in the future.

Overview of the VOA

The VOA is the public sector’s property valuation expert, helping people and businesses to pay the right property taxes and to receive the right financial support.

The business rates and council tax valuations underpin more than £50 billion of local government taxation in England and Wales. Other work facilitates the collection of national taxes and the payment of benefits. So the work of the VOA remains a vital component in funding and enabling the UK’s public services.

As at 1 April 2019 the VOA employs approximately 3,500 people and is located across 43 offices in England, Wales and Scotland.

The VOA provides the following valuation services:

• Business Rates: compile and maintain statutory lists of the rateable values for nearly 2 million non-domestic properties, enabling the collection of approximately £24 billion in business rates by local authorities across England and Wales
• Council Tax: compile and maintain statutory lists of council tax bands for approximately 25 million domestic properties, enabling the collection of approximately £27 billion in council tax across England and Wales
• Rent Officer functions: determine Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates and maintain a register of fair rents, setting the maximum that can be charged for regulated tenancies in England
• advise local authorities of the maximum subsidy level payable for Housing Benefit claims under the local reference rent system. The VOA also collect and interpret rental data on residential properties, which is used to inform parts of the benefits system and reporting for Consumer Pricing Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH)
• statutory valuations: provide statutory valuations to support taxes administered by HMRC. Deal with Right to Buy determinations and Community Infrastructure Levy appeals in England and Wales. Also provide the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with valuations to support the administration of benefits
• Property Services (also known as District Valuer Services): provide a range of independent property advice and valuations right across the public sector, in cases where there is a public function or public money is involved

The VOA serves a number of government bodies. The 4 main ones are Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Welsh Government (WG), DWP, and HMRC. These bodies along with HM Treasury lead on policy and the VOA provides operational services. The VOA is funded partly through HMRC and partly by these bodies for the work it does on their behalf. In 2017 to 2018 approximately 80% of the VOA’s work was for MHCLG and WG providing the maintenance of council tax and Non-Domestic Rating (NDR, often referred to as business rates) lists from which local Billing Authorities issue bills and collect the taxation due.

Read the report’s next section, Status and governance.