Part 2: Previous Revaluations

The Valuation Office Agency's (VOA) technical manual for the rating of business (non-domestic) property.

Part 2 - Practice note 1 - Revaluation 2005: Hereditaments valued by the Central Valuation Officer

1. Statutory provisions

1.1 Outline

The principal secondary legislation governing the content of the 2005 central rating lists consists of Statutory Instruments made under the powers referred to at Para.4.1 of the main section. There are now separate Statutory Instruments for England and for Wales. The function of these Regulations is to designate the persons (in practice they are all companies) whose hereditaments are to be shown in the lists, describe the classes of hereditaments to be shown and lay down the information to be shown in the lists.

The amendments to the English Regulations affect British Telecommunications plc (both amendments) and certain cross-country pipelines (the 2008 amendment)

Other Regulations specific to central rating lists are contained within the relevant SIs dealing with miscellaneous matters concerning the administration of both local and central lists, such as the conduct of Appeals and the issue of transitional certificates.

1.2 The statutory instruments

The principal Regulations:

The Central Rating List (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/551), as amended by The Central Rating List (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/495) and The Central Rating List (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/429).

The Central Rating Lists (Wales) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/422)

Other relevant Regulations include:

The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/659)

The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/758)

Part 3 of these Regulations govern the manner in which alterations to the respective central lists are made by modifying the application of Part 2 to those lists. The conduct of appeals is dealt with by part VI, in common with local rating lists.

There are no Rateable Value Orders made in relation to the 2005 Lists. All central list hereditaments are now valued in accordance with Schedule 6 Paragraphs 2 to 2C of the 1988 Act.

1.3 General changes brought about by the new regulations

The designation of persons appearing in the central lists for England and Wales and the definition of the hereditaments shown in those list have now been brought together in a single, consolidated statutory instrument in respect of each country’s list. These Regulations now refer exclusively to the central lists. Other Regulations, which prescribe the extent of certain hereditaments in local rating lists, are now completely separate and are dealt with elsewhere in the Rating Manual.

The other general change brought about is that, with the exception of cross-country pipelines, all central list entries now comprise a single, artificial hereditament for each ratepayer in each country. The principal significance of this change lies in the simplification of the issue of transitional certificates.

Some changes have been made to the extent of central list hereditaments that have an impact on what GVOs need to show in local lists. These are described in detail in paragraphs 4 to 14, under the heading for the relevant class of property concerned.

2. Layout of the central rating lists for 2005

The layout of the 2005 central rating list pages is similar to that of the 1995 & 2000 lists. The style and content differs substantially from a local list entry. The most significant of these differences, for the purposes of this section, are as follows:

a. There is only one entry per page, and the entry essentially relates to the Designated Person, rather than to the hereditaments. This has importance in relation to the way Notices of Alteration and Proposals are expressed.

b. Hereditaments are described in a general way and, where there is more than one, they are not individually identified. At first sight, this would appear to be contrary to the requirement of Regulation 6(1)(b) of SI 1994/ 3121. As long as the class of hereditaments is described in the list however, that requirement is satisfied by virtue of s67(9) & (9A) of the Act.

The central rating lists are not kept on the central database. The current list, and summaries of historic entries, can however be viewed at P:CEO2\Central Rating List 2005 Archive. Additionally, the current and superseded list pages are now available to the public via the Business Rates section of the VOA Website.

Details of the new regulations

For simplicity of layout, all definitions in this practice note are taken from the English regulations. Although there are minor differences between the wording of these and the Welsh regulations, they are considered to be similar in effect. The wording of the relevant Regulations (available from Ryde on Rating and the Council tax) must however be used in correspondence or VT proceedings. The following paragraphs reproduce the hereditament definitions from the new Regulations in full, and give a commentary on their interpretation, with especial reference to any changes taking effect from April 2005.

3. Railways (all types)

Ratepayers in central lists:

• Network Rail Infrastructure Limited
• London Underground Limited
• Docklands Light Railway Limited
• The Tyne & Wear PTE

The Regulations treat “railway hereditaments” and “Light railway hereditaments” separately.

4.2 Railway hereditaments

These are prescribed by Regulation 6, which covers Network Rail and London Underground. The Regulation provides that:

1. Where Network Rail Infrastructure Limited –

(a) occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns any hereditament; or

(b) lets or licenses a hereditament to –

(i) a licence holder or a licence exempt operator, other than a licence holder or licence exempt operator who is also a designated person under Parts 1 or 2 of the Schedule to these Regulations or under Part 2 of the Schedule to the Non-Domestic Rating (Communications and Light Railways) (England) Regulations 2005, and the lessee, licensee or British Transport Police Authority occupies, or, if unoccupied, owns the hereditament; or

(ii) the British Transport Police Authority, and it occupies, or, if unoccupied, owns the hereditament, and if, apart from these Regulations, those hereditaments would be more than one hereditament, and each separate hereditament satisfies the conditions in paragraph (3), those separate hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

1. Where London Underground Limited –

(a) occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns any hereditament; or

(b) lets or licenses a hereditament to any person (other than a licence holder or licence exempt operator who is also a designated person under Parts 1 or 2 of the Schedule to these Regulations), and if, apart from these Regulations, those hereditaments would be more than one hereditament, and provided each separate hereditament satisfies the conditions in paragraph (3), those separate hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

1. The conditions mentioned in paragraphs (1) and (2) are that the hereditament is –

(a) used wholly or mainly for –

(i) in the case of Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, railway purposes;

(ii) in the case of London Underground Limited, LUL purposes; and

(b) not an excepted hereditament. 1. In this regulation – “excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising –

(a) premises used as a shop, hotel, museum or place of public refreshment;

(b) premises used wholly or mainly as office premises, where those premises are not situated on the operational land of –

(i) any person designated by regulation 3 and named in Part 1 of the Schedule;

(ii) a licence exempt operator or licence holder;

(c) premises or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment, other than those falling within paragraph (1)(b) or (2)(b); or

(d) premises (other than premises used in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail) used wholly or in part for purposes concerned with –

(i) the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport; or

(ii) harbours, or for purposes incidental to such purposes; “licence exempt operator” and “licence holder” have the meanings given by section 10(6) and 83(1) respectively of the Railways Act 1993; “LUL purposes” means the purposes of the parts of LUL’s undertaking which are concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of the exhibiting of advertisements); and “railway purposes” means the purposes of providing railway services, within the meaning given by section 82(1) of the Railways Act 1993, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purposes of providing policing services or the exhibiting of advertisements).

1. The hereditaments described in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

Changes from the 2000 List

The principal change from previous lists provides that where premises are let or licensed by Network Rail Infrastructure Limited (NRIL) to a licence-exempt operator or licence holder, the premises will only form part of NRIL’s central list hereditament if they are in the occupation of the lessee or licensee (or are held vacant by them). Where such premises are sublet by the licence exempt operator or licence holder to a third party then they must now be shown in the local list as a separate hereditament, even if they are used for railway purposes. The wording of the new regulation ensures that where the tenant of NRIL is not only a licence holder or licence exempt operator but also a person designated by the parts of the Schedule relating to railways or light railways, then the premises so let form part of the tenant’s central list hereditament, and not NRIL’s

The other change ensures that the British Transport Police Authority is treated on the same basis as a licence exempt operator or licence holder, regardless of their legal status in that respect. This provision has been made to ensure continuity in the future, because originally the Authority was part of British Railways Board, then was separated from it, then was made a licence exempt operator, and now looks likely to lose that status.

4.3 Light railway hereditaments

These are prescribed by Regulation 7, which covers The Docklands Light Railway and The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive. The Regulation provides that:

1. Where a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 2 of the Schedule occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns any hereditament; and if, apart from these Regulations, those hereditaments would be more than one hereditament, and each separate hereditament satisfies the conditions in paragraph (2), those separate hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. The conditions mentioned in paragraph (1) are that the hereditament is –

(a) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the parts of its undertaking which are concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail, or purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purposes of the exhibiting of advertisements); and

(b) not an excepted hereditament.

1. In paragraph (2) – “excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising –

(a) premises used as a shop, hotel, museum or place of public refreshment;

(b) premises used wholly or mainly as office premises of the designated person, where those premises are not situated on the operational land of the designated person or of any person designated by regulation 3 and named in Parts 1 or 2 of the Schedule;

(c) premises or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment ;and

(d) premises (other than premises used in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail) used wholly or in part for purposes concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport or with harbours, or for purposes incidental to such purposes.

1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

Changes from the 2000 list

There are no material changes to the definition of these hereditaments made by the new regulations.

4.4 Advertisement sites

In relation to the railway undertakings designated and listed in this section, the central rating list regulations state that the purpose of exhibiting advertisements is to be regarded as a purpose ancillary to the purposes of the parts of the designated person’s undertaking concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail.

Accordingly, hereditaments occupied for this purpose fall within the central list unless they come within the definition of excepted hereditaments, which in this context means advertisement sites or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment.

The position, in relation to advertisement rights owned by designated railway undertakings may therefore be summarised as:

Occupier	Rating list
Designated person	central lists
Any other person	local lists

At the time of writing, it is understood that no advertisement rights owned by the undertakings have been let out so as to be capable of separate assessment, since the terms of the contracts between the various designated railway undertakings and their advertising contractors leave the undertakers in rateable occupation. The situation is reviewed periodically and GVOs will be notified of any change by CVO.

No such special provisions are made in respect of advertisement rights owned or occupied by any other designated persons, and these, where they occur, should be entered in local rating lists.

4.5 “Licence holders” and “Licence-exempt operators”

These are defined in the Railways Act 1993. The definition is complicated, and covers a multitude of companies providing railway services, including train operating companies, infrastructure maintenance companies and many others. In past versions of these instructions, attempts were made to give a list of names, but because of frequent name changes and transfers of licences this has proved to be impractical.

If any person or company claims that a hereditament should be deleted from a local list on the grounds that it is let by NRIL to a licence holder or licence exempt operator who is in occupation, and all the other qualifying conditions are satisfied, they should be requested to provide documentary evidence to that effect. The legal advice referred to in the 2000 Practice Note is not relevant to 2005 lists.

4.6 Office premises used in connection with railways

A summary of the position regarding offices post 1 April 2005 is given below. Note that “railway purposes” now includes the provision of policing services.

a. Office premises used for railway, DLR, Tyne & Wear Metro or LUL purposes and not situated on operational land should always be shown in a local rating list, regardless of the identity of the occupier.

b. Office premises which are situated on operational land and used for railway, DLR, Tyne & Wear Metro or LUL purposes should be regarded as falling within the relevant central list assessment if, and only if, they satisfy one of the following conditions:

• Occupied by NRIL, or unoccupied but owned by them.
• Owned by NRIL and let or licensed by them to any licence holder or licence-exempt operator, or to the British Transport Police Authority, where the licence holder, the licence-exempt operator or the British Transport Police Authority (as the case may be) is either in actual occupation or the premises are unoccupied *.
• Owned by NRIL and let or licensed by them to any licence holder or licence-exempt operator, where the licence holder or the licence-exempt operator (as the case may be) has sublet the premises to the British Transport Police Authority, which is either in actual occupation or the premises are unoccupied*.
• Occupied by Docklands Light Railway Limited, or unoccupied* but owned by them.
• Occupied by Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive, or unoccupied* but owned by them.
• Occupied by London Underground Limited, or unoccupied* but owned by them, or owned by them and let or licensed to any other person.
• In all the above cases, unoccupied offices will only qualify if it appears that when next occupied it will be for railway, DLR, Tyne & Wear Metro or LUL purposes as appropriate.

4. Communications hereditaments

Ratepayers in central lists:

• British Telecommunications plc
• Cable and Wireless UK
• Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications Limited
• Energis Communications Limited

These are prescribed by Regulation 8, which covers British Telecommunications plc and the three other communication network companies named in Part 3 of the Schedule. The Regulation provides that:

1. Subject to paragraph (3), where –

a) British Telecommunications plc occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns any hereditament which comprises posts, wires, fibres, cables, ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switching equipment, or other equipment, or easements or wayleaves, being property used for the monitoring, processing or transmission of communications or other signals for the provision of electronic communications services;

b) any person occupies, or if it is unoccupied, owns any hereditament which is an unbundled local loop, and which would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

1. Where a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 3 of the Schedule occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns any hereditament which comprises posts, wires, fibres, cables, ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switching equipment, or other equipment, or easements or wayleaves, being property used for the monitoring, processing or transmission of communications or other signals for the provision of electronic communications services, and which would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. A hereditament described in paragraph (1)(b) shall, on 1st April 2006, cease to form part of the hereditament treated as one hereditament under paragraph (1).

3. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by British Telecommunications plc.

4. The hereditament described in paragraph (2) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

5. In paragraph (1), “unbundled local loop” means –

a) cables, fibres, wires and conductors (or any part of them) used or intended to be used for carrying communications or other signals between the network terminating equipment on the premises of end-users and premises (or any part of them) used for the processing of the communications or other signals, and land occupied therewith; and

b) poles, posts, towers, masts, mast radiators, pipes, ducts, conduits and any associated supports and foundations (or any part of them) used or intended to be used in connection with any of the items listed in sub-paragraph (a), and land occupied therewith, which British Telecommunications plc lets or licenses to any person.

Changes from the 2000 List

The extent of the hereditaments prescribed in relation to the four central list telecommunications undertakings remains unchanged from the 2000 lists. A major change has been made to the wording of the definition applicable to British Telecommunications plc (BT) in England only. The purpose of this change is to ensure that when BT lets cable comprising an individual connection from a BT exchange to a customer’s property to another telecommunications operator as part of the process known as “local loop unbundling”, the cable in question is treated as remaining part of the BT central list hereditament. Accordingly, such cables should not be entered as separate hereditaments in the local list. Local loop unbundling is only applicable to BT’s network. The Regulation was worded in such a way that unbundled local loops in England would cease to form part of the BT central list hereditament on 1st April 2006. Subsequently the period has been extended twice by amending legislation, firstly up to 1st April 2008 (by amending Regulation 8(3)) and now for the remainder of the life of the Regulations (by deleting Regulation 8(3) altogether).

The National Assembly for Wales (NAW) has elected not to make a similar provision. Instead, in Wales, a regulation with similar wording to Regulation 8(2) applies to all four ratepayers. However it is thought that there are likely to be very few instances of “unbundling” in Wales. Should a GVO be requested to enter such a cable in a Welsh local list he should approach CEO Local Taxation – Rating Directorate (Telecommunications) for guidance before taking any action.

5. National and regional gas transportation hereditaments

Ratepayers in central lists:

• Transco plc (now called National Grid Gas plc)
• Wales & West Utilities Limited
• Northern Gas Networks Limited
• Southern Gas Networks Limited

These are prescribed by Regulation 9, which provides:

1. Where Transco occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, and each of those hereditaments satisfies the conditions set out in paragraph (4), those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. Subject to paragraph (3), where a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 4 of the Schedule occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, and each of those hereditaments satisfies the conditions set out in paragraph (4), those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

3. Paragraph (2) shall not apply where the hereditament is occupied or if unoccupied, owned by Transco.

4. The conditions are that each of the hereditaments is –

(a) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the designated person acting as a gas transporter; and

(b) not an excepted hereditament. 1. In this regulation and Part 4 of the Schedule –

“excepted hereditament” means –

(a) a hereditament to which regulation 11 applies; and

(b) a hereditament consisting of or comprising one or more of the following -

(i) premises used wholly or mainly as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person;

(ii) premises used wholly or mainly for the manufacture of plant or gas fittings;

(iii) premises used wholly or mainly as storage facilities, being underground storage cavities, liquefied natural gas storage facilities and facilities used or available for use in connection with off-shore storage;

“gas transporter” has the meaning given by section 7 of the Gas Act 1986;

“Transco” means Transco plc and each subsidiary of National Grid Transco plc existing on 1st March 2005; and

“subsidiary” has the meaning given by section 736 of the Companies Act 1985.

1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by Transco.

2. The hereditament described in paragraph (2) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

6. Changes from the 2000 List

The total extent of the hereditaments prescribed in relation to gas undertakings of various kinds remains unchanged from the 2000 lists. However, major changes have been made to the wording to reflect the changes made in the structure of the gas industry in recent years. The single entry in the 2000 lists contained the former, vertically integrated, Transco hereditament. The new industry structure has a single national transporter and eight regional transporters (one of which covers Scotland only). Additionally, in anticipation of the “unbundling” of meters, these have been excluded from the transportation hereditaments and have separate central list entries (see paragraph 8 below).

This section of the list now contains a single entry for the hereditament that comprises the national transportation network of Transco and also the four regional networks occupied by Transco subsidiary companies. The three remaining regional networks now have separate assessments.

7. Local gas transportation hereditaments

7.1 Ratepayers in central lists

• ESP Connections Limited
• British Gas Pipelines Limited
• Global Utility Connections Limited
• Utility Grid Installations Limited
• Independent Pipelines Limited
• The Gas Transportation Company Limited
• SSE Pipelines Limited
• SP Gas Limited
• Quadrant Pipelines Limited
• GTC Pipelines Limited
• ESP Networks Limited
• ESP Pipelines Limited
• E.S. Pipelines Limited

These are prescribed by Regulation 10, which provides:

1. Where a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 5 of the Schedule occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, and each of those hereditaments satisfies the conditions set out in paragraph (2), those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. The conditions are that each of the hereditaments is –

(a) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the designated person acting as a gas transporter; and

(b) not an excepted hereditament

1. In paragraph (2) –

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person; and

“gas transporter” has the meaning given by section 7 of the Gas Act 1986;

1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

7.2 A description of the hereditaments

As a consequence of the passing of the Gas Act 1995, companies other than Transco have been able to apply for licences as public gas transporters (PGTs). Any PGT may compete to construct and operate a local gas distribution system. These systems typically consist of a network of low-pressure gas mains providing the link between the Transco national distribution system and the premises of the consumers within the area covered by the licence, and at present include the gas meters on the premises so supplied. Such systems will be found on post-1995 residential developments or, more rarely, on small business parks. The customers of such systems are not the consumers of the gas, but the gas supply companies.

Note that, unlike national and regional gas transportation networks, the consumer meters are not separately assessed, but are include in the same hereditament as the pipes.

Changes from the 2000 List

None, as regards the extent of the hereditament, but three new companies have been added, and many of the original ten have changed name and ownership.

8. Gas meter hereditaments

8.1 Ratepayers in central lists:

• Transco plc (now called National Grid Gas plc)
• Wales & West Utilities Limited
• Northern Gas Networks Limited
• Southern Gas Networks Limited

These are prescribed by Regulation 11, which provides:

1. Where Transco or any other person, occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament and each of those hereditaments is a gas meter attached to the end of the gas pipeline of Transco, those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. Subject to paragraph (3), where –

(a) a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 6 of the Schedule; or

(b) any other person, occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament and each of those hereditaments is a gas meter attached to the gas pipeline of the company, those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

1. Paragraph (2) shall not apply where the hereditament to which the meter is attached is occupied, or if unoccupied, owned by Transco.

2. In this regulation and Part 6 –

(a) “gas pipeline” means a hereditament described in regulation 9(1) or (2);

(b) “Transco” means Transco plc and each subsidiary of National Grid Transco plc existing on 1st March 2005; and

(c) “subsidiary” has the meaning given by section 736 of the Companies Act 1985.

1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by Transco.

2. The hereditament described in paragraph (2) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

Changes from the 2000 list

This is a new section for the 2005 list. See paragraph 6 above for details.

9. Electricity transmission hereditaments

9.1 Ratepayers in Central Lists

• National Grid (now called National Grid Electricity Transmission plc)

These are prescribed by Regulation 12, which provides: 1. Where National Grid occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament and each of those hereditaments satisfies the conditions set out in paragraph (2), those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

1. The conditions are that each of the hereditaments is –

(a) (used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the transformation or transmission of electrical power, or for ancillary purposes; and

(b) not an excepted hereditament

1. In this regulation and in Part 7 –

(a) “excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly as office premises of the designated person, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person;

(b) “National Grid” means the National Grid Company plc and each subsidiary of National Grid Transco plc existing on 1st March 2005; and

(c) “subsidiary” has the meaning given by section 736 of the Companies Act 1985.

1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by National Grid.

Changes from the 2000 List

The total extent of the hereditaments prescribed in relation to electricity undertakings of various kinds remains unchanged from the 2000 lists. However, major changes have been made to the wording to reflect the changes made in the structure of the electricity industry following the coming into force of the Utilities Act 2000. The single section in the 2000 lists contained all those hereditaments formerly referred to as electricity supply hereditaments. The new legislation differentiates between electricity transmission hereditaments (of which there is only one in each list, occupied by National Grid), electricity distribution hereditaments and electricity meter hereditaments, each within a separate section of the lists. The latter two sections together cover those hereditaments formerly listed as being occupied by electricity suppliers. The term “electricity supplier” is now used to refer to those companies that retail electricity to consumers, as distinct from those occupying the networks through which it is distributed. These companies are not the subject of central list designation. In anticipation of the “unbundling” of meters, these have been excluded from the distribution hereditaments and have separate central list entries in a manner similar to that adopted for gas meters (see paragraph 11 below).

.

10. Electricity distribution hereditaments

10.1 Ratepayers in central lists

• Central Networks East plc
• Central Networks West plc
• EDF Energy Networks (EPN) plc
• EDF Energy Networks (LPN) plc
• EDF Energy Networks (SPN) plc
• Independent Power Networks Limited
• Laing Energy Limited
• Northern Electric Distribution Limited
• Southern Electric Power Distribution plc
• SP Distribution Limited
• SP Manweb plc
• United Utilities Electricity plc
• Western Power Distribution (South Wales) plc
• Western Power Distribution (South West) plc
• Yorkshire Electricity Distribution plc

These are prescribed by Regulation 13, which provides:

1. Where a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 8 of the Schedule occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, and each of those hereditaments satisfies the conditions set out in paragraph (2), those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. The conditions are that each of the hereditaments is –

(a) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the designated person acting as an electricity distributor or for ancillary purposes; and

(b) not an excepted hereditament.

1. In paragraph (2) –

“electricity distributor” has the meaning given by section 6 of the Electricity Act 1989; and

“excepted hereditament” means –

(a) a hereditament to which regulation 14 applies;

(b) a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person.

1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

Changes from the 2000 List

See paragraph 9 above for details – note also the disappearance of shop premises from the definition of excepted hereditaments

11. Electricity meter hereditaments

11.1 Ratepayers in central lists

• Central Networks East plc
• Central Networks West plc
• EDF Energy Networks (EPN) plc
• EDF Energy Networks (LPN) plc
• EDF Energy Networks (SPN) plc
• Independent Power Networks Limited
• Laing Energy Limited
• Northern Electric Distribution Limited
• Southern Electric Power Distribution plc
• SP Distribution Limited
• SP Manweb plc
• United Utilities Electricity plc
• Western Power Distribution (South Wales) plc
• Western Power Distribution (South West) plc
• Yorkshire Electricity Distribution plc

These are prescribed by Regulation 14, which provides:

1. Where -

(a) a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 9 of the Schedule; or

(b) any other person, occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, and each of those hereditaments is an electricity meter attached to the end of the electricity distribution network of the company, those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament. 1. In paragraph (1), “electricity distribution network” means a hereditament described in regulation 13(1).

1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

Changes from the 2000 List

This is a new section for the 2005 list. See paragraph 9 above for details.

12. Water supply hereditaments

12.1 Ratepayers in central lists

• Anglian Water Services Limited
• Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water plc
• Bristol Water plc
• Cambridge Water plc
• Cholderton & District Water Company Limited
• Dee Valley Water plc
• Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig
• Folkestone & Dover Water Services Limited
• Mid Kent Water plc (now part of South East Water Limited)
• United Utilities Water plc
• Northumbrian Water Limited
• Portsmouth Water Limited
• Severn Trent Water Limited
• South East Water plc (now renamed South East Water Limited)
• South Staffordshire Water PLC
• South West Water Limited
• Southern Water Services Limited
• Sutton and East Surrey Water plc
• Tendring Hundred Water Services Limited
• Thames Water Utilities Limited
• Three Valleys Water PLC
• Wessex Water Services Limited
• Yorkshire Water Services Limited

These are prescribed by Regulation 15, which provides:

1. Where a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 10 of the Schedule occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament, and each of those hereditaments satisfies the conditions set out in paragraph (2), those hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. The conditions are that each of the hereditaments is –

(a) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a water undertaker or for ancillary purposes; and

(b) not an excepted hereditament.

1. In paragraph (2) – “excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising one or both of the following –

(a) premises used wholly or mainly for the manufacture, storage, sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of water (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of water or sewerage services being disregarded);

(b) premises used wholly or mainly as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person; and

“water undertaker” has the same meaning as in Part 2 of the Water Industry Act 1991

. 1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

Changes from the 2000 List

None. Note that whereas former Regulations defined the relevant hereditaments directly by reference to Part III of the Water Act 1991, the new Regulations define them indirectly, by reference to the definition of the occupying water undertaker in Part II of the same Act. This is to achieve uniformity in the wording used to combine the individual hereditaments into a single hereditament. It does not enlarge the scope of the prescription in any way and hereditaments provided wholly or mainly for recreational or conservation purposes remain liable to entry in local lists.

13. Canal hereditaments

13.1 Ratepayers in central lists

• The British Waterways Board

The Board is prescribed by Regulation 16, which provides:

1. Where a company which is a designated person by virtue of regulation 3(1) and Part 11 of the Schedule occupies or, if it is unoccupied, owns any hereditament which –

(a) comprises –

(i) waterways (including cuts and culverts, locks, gates, sluices, pumps, flood let-off valves, feeders, conduits, weirs, side ponds, ditches and drains);

(ii) aqueducts, basins, bridges, embankments, reservoirs and tunnels;

(iii) lighthouses, beacons, buoys, breakwaters, boatlifts and other structures designed to aid navigation;

(iv) docks, wharves, piers, jetties, pontoons, moorings, slipways, land and buildings used for the building, maintenance or floating storage of craft, or for the provision, maintenance or servicing of inland waterways and plant or machinery used in connection therewith;

(v) clay pits, dredging or other waste disposal tips; or

(vi) other land, buildings or structures or parts of buildings or structures used for the provision or servicing of facilities for traffic by, public access to, or enjoyment of, inland waterways, or for ancillary purposes; and

(b) is not an excepted hereditament,

then if, apart from these Regulations, those hereditaments would be more than one hereditament, those separate hereditaments shall be treated as one hereditament.

1. In paragraph (1) – ”excepted hereditament” means any hereditament –

(a) consisting of or including a dock or harbour undertaking carried on under authority conferred by or under any enactment;

(b) consisting of premises so let out as to be capable of separate assessment;

(c) consisting of premises used wholly or mainly as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person; or

(d) consisting of a car park used wholly or mainly in connection with office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person; and “inland waterway” means any such waterway, whether natural or artificial. 1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by the relevant designated person.

Changes from the 2000 List

There is one change to the definition, which will concern GVOs since it alters the definition of “excepted hereditaments”. Under previous Regulations, all offices in the occupation of British Waterways Board (BWB) were required to be shown in local lists. Difficulties were experienced in the application, in the context of canal hereditaments, of the informal “de minimis” arrangements which the VOA has always sought to apply to low value accommodation which fell within the ambit of “office premises” as defined by the Regulations.

Accordingly, only those offices not situated on the operational land of BWB will now be required to be shown in local lists. The effect of this is that many canal-side offices in the occupation of BWB fall to be deleted with effect from 1 April 2005. In considering which hereditaments to delete, GVOs attention is particularly drawn to paragraphs 9.2 and 9.9 of the main part of this section, which give detailed guidance on the definition of “office premises” and “operational land” respectively.

14. Long distance pipelines

14.1 Ratepayers in central lists

• Barking Power Limited
• The BOC Group plc
• BP Chemicals Limited
• BP Exploration Operating Company Limited
• BP Oil UK Limited
• Cemex UK Cement Limited (wef 22nd July 2005)
• ConocoPhillips (UK) Limited
• ConocoPhillips Limited
• Esso UK Limited
• Total Downstream UK plc
• Huntsman Petrochemicals (UK) Limited (now re-named Sabic UK Petrochemicals Limited)
• Ineos Chlor Limited
• Ineos Manufacturing Scotland Limited (wef 16th June 2006)
• E.ON UK Gas Limited
• Mainline Pipelines Limited
• United Utilities Water plc
• The Secretary of State for Defence
• Shell Chemicals UK Limited
• Shell UK Limited
• The Rugby Group Limited
• United Kingdom Oil Pipelines Limited
• Walton-Gatwick Pipeline Company Limited

The relevant hereditaments are cross-country pipelines (within the meaning of the Pipe-lines Act 1962) situated within the area of more than one charging authority. A cross-country pipeline is one which exceeds 10 miles in length.

The two additional companies were introduced by the 2008 Amendment Regulations to reflect divisions in designated pipelines between different, non-designated, companies.

Because no special hereditament needs to be created in relation to these pipelines, a dedicated Regulation is not necessary, and they are included in the central lists by virtue of the general provisions in Regulations 3 – 5.

Changes from the 2000 list

None. The new Schedule has however taken account of changes of name, and some redundant names have been dropped from the list.

Part 2: Practice note 1 - Formula-rated hereditaments valued by the Central Valuation Officer - Matter specific to 2000 lists

1. Statutory provisions

1.1 Outline

The secondary legislation consists of a series of Statutory Instruments made under the powers referred to at Para. 4.1. of the main section. There are now separate sets of Statutory Instruments for England and for Wales. The function of the first group of Regulations is to designate the persons (in practice they are all companies) whose hereditaments are to be shown in the lists, describe the classes of hereditaments to be shown and lay down the information to be shown in the lists.

The second group of Regulations deal with miscellaneous matters concerning the administration of the lists, including special provisions for the conduct of Appeals, the issue of transitional certificates, and the determination of the unit of assessment in certain cases.

The final group consists of Orders which lay down the method of calculation of Rateable Values for those classes of hereditament which are to be valued by statutory formula.

1.2 The statutory instruments

Group 1

The Central Rating Lists (England) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/525)

The Central Rating Lists (Wales) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3453 (W.50))

The Central Rating Lists (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/737)

Group 2

The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/291) as amended

Parts III & IV of these Regulations govern the manner in which alterations to the central lists are made, The conduct of appeals is dealt with by part VI, in common with local rating lists.

The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways, Telecommunications and Canals) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/3123)

Group 3

The British Waterways Board and Telecommunications Industry (Rateable Values) Revocation Order 1994 (SI 1994/3281)

The Gas Industry (Rateable Values) (England) Order 2000 (SI 2000/946)

The BG plc (Rateable Value) (Wales) Order 2000 (SI 2000/352 (W.10))

The Electricity Supply Industry (Rateable Values) (England) Order 2000 (SI 2000/947)

The Electricity Supply Industry (Rateable Values) (Wales) Order 2000 (SI 2000/1163 (W.91))

The Railways (Rateable Values) (England) Order 2000 (SI 2000/949)

The Railtrack plc (Rateable Value) (Wales) Order 2000 (SI 2000/555 (W.22))

The Water Undertakers (Rateable Values) (England) Order 2000 (SI 2000/950)

The Water Undertakers (Rateable Values) (Wales) Order 2000 (SI 2000/299 (W.6))

2. Layout of the central rating lists for 2000

The layout of the 2000 central rating list pages is similar to that of the 1995 lists. The style and content differs substantially from a local list entry. The most significant of these differences, for the purposes of this section, are as follows:

a. There is only one entry per page, and the entry essentially relates to the Designated Person, rather than to the hereditaments. This has importance in relation to the way Notices of Alteration and Proposals are expressed.

b. Hereditaments are described in a general way, and are not individually identified. At first sight, this would appear to be contrary to the requirement of Regulation 6(1)(b) of SI 1994/ 3121. As long as the class of hereditaments is described in the list however, that requirement is satisfied by virtue of s67(9) & (9A) of the Act.

3. Central list hereditaments in detail

3.1 British Waterways

The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways, Telecommunications and Canals) Regulations 1994 provide that: 1. (a) “excepted hereditament” means any hereditament -

i. consisting of or including a dock or harbour undertaking carried on under authority conferred by or under any enactment; (i.e. any statutory dock or harbour, not merely those to which the Docks and Harbours (Rateable Values) Order 2000 (SI 2000/952) applies - see RM 5:350)

ii. consisting of premises so let out as to be capable of separate assessment;

iii. consisting of office premises or consisting of a car park used wholly or mainly in connection with office premises; and

1. Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if:-

a) it is occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by the British Waterways Board;

b) it comprises -

i. Waterways (including cuts and culverts, locks, gates, sluices, pumps, flood let-off valves, feeders, conduits, weirs, side ponds, ditches and drains);

ii. Aqueducts, basins, bridges, embankments, reservoirs and tunnels;

iii. Lighthouses, beacons, buoys, breakwaters, boatlifts and other structures designed to aid navigation;

iv. docks, wharves, piers, jetties, pontoons, moorings, slipways, land and buildings used for the building, maintenance or floating storage of craft, or for the provision, maintenance or servicing of inland waterways and plant or machinery used in connection therewith;

v. clay pits, dredging and other waste disposal tips;

vi other land, buildings or structures or parts of buildings or structures used for the provision or servicing of facilities for traffic by, public access to, or enjoyment of, inland waterways, or for ancillary purposes; and

c) is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

1. The hereditaments described above shall be treated as occupied by the British Waterways Board and are relevant hereditaments by virtue of Part 1 of the Schedule to the Central Rating List Regulations 2000.

Changes from the 1995 list

None.

3.2 The electricity industry

Relevant hereditaments comprise:

i) In the case of the National Grid Company plc;

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the transformation or transmission of electrical power, or for ancillary purposes.

ii) In the case of:

• Powergen Energy plc
• Eastern Electricity plc
• London Electricity plc
• Manweb plc
• Midlands Electricity plc
• Northern Electric plc
• NORWEB plc
• Scottish Power UK plc
• SEEBOARD plc
• South Wales Electricity plc
• South Western Electricity plc
• Southern Electric plc
• Yorkshire Electricity Group plc

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the functions of a public electricity supplier or for ancillary purposes.

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly-

a. as a shop or other place for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of electricity (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of electricity being disregarded);

b. as office premises of a designated person, where those premises are not situated on operational land of that person; or

c. for both of the foregoing purposes; and

“public electricity supplier” has the same meaning as in section 6(9) of the Electricity Act 1989.

Note also that the definition of public electricity supplier referred to above does not extend to generating activity. Accordingly, where any of the above-named undertakings generates electricity, by whatever method, the hereditaments occupied for that purpose will not fall within the definition of relevant hereditaments and must be shown in the local list. See (RM5:350).

At present only Midlands Electricity plc and South Western Electricity plc are known to have generating capacity. Other suppliers involved in activity in this field have done so by forming separate joint venture companies.

Any warehouse occupied by any of the electricity undertakings is a central list hereditament.

Changes since the 1995 List

All electricity generation hereditaments have now been transferred to local rating lists. Those which incorporate generating capacity continue to be assessed by statutory formula. Their assessment for rating is dealt with at RM 5: 350. Those hereditaments occupied by former designated generation companies and used for ancillary purposes such as stores and depots are now to be valued conventionally by GVOs.

All central list hereditaments continue to be assessed by statutory formula.

3.3 Transco plc

Relevant hereditaments comprise hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of Transco plc acting as a public gas transporter.

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly:-

a. for the manufacture of plant or gas fittings;

b. as storage facilities, being underground storage cavities, liquefied natural gas storage facilities and facilities used or available for use in connection with offshore storage;

c. as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of BG Transco plc; or

d. for more than one of the foregoing purposes; and

“public gas transporter” has the same meaning as in Part I of the Gas Act 1986.

Any warehouse occupied by BG Transco plc is a central list hereditament.

Changes since the 1995 list

Following the Gas Act 1995, the industry was re-organised and Transco plc succeeded British Gas as occupier of the central list hereditaments. As a result of this a number of hereditaments, such as gas processing and storage installations, as well as a number of LPG domestic fuel undertakings, passed into local lists and became valued on a conventional basis. These changes became effective on 3rd March 1997 and GVOs affected received advice on an individual basis at that time. The amended definition consolidates those changes. Transco does not occupy any retail premises, so these have been excluded from the definition of excepted hereditaments.

3.4 Railways

The hereditaments occupied by Railtrack PLC and London Underground Limited are now defined directly in the Central Rating List (England) Regulations 2000 (CRLER) and also, in the case of Railtrack, by the Central Rating List (Wales) Regulations 2000 (CRLWR). The hereditaments occupied by Docklands Light Railway Limited and The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive are defined indirectly by reference to their definitions in The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways, Telecommunications and Canals) Regulations 1994 (as amended by the Central Rating Lists (England) Regulations 2000) (RTCR). 1. Interpretation (CRLER)

“1993 Act” means the Railways Act 1993

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising:-

(a) premises used as a shop, hotel, museum, or place of public refreshment;

(b) premises used wholly or mainly as office premises which are not situated on operational land of:-

(i) any person designated by regulation 3 [of] and named in Part 4 of the Schedule [to the Central Rating List Regulations 2000] or

(ii) a licence exempt operator or a licence holder;

(c) premises or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment (other than those falling within paragraph (1)(b) of the definitions of the Railtrack PLC and LUL hereditaments;

(d) premises (other than premises used in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail) used wholly or in part for purposes concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport or with harbours, or for purposes incidental to such purposes;

“licence exempt operator” and “licence holder” have the meanings given by section 10(6) and section 83(1) of the 1993 Act; and

“railway services“ has the meaning given in section 82(1) of the 1993 Act; 1. Definition of Hereditaments (CRLER)

Relevant hereditaments comprise:

I In the case of Railtrack PLC, (Regulation 7, CRLER): 1. Anything which would (apart from [the Central Rating List] Regulations [2000]) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if it is:-

(a) occupied by Railtrack PLC, or, if unoccupied, owned Railtrack PLC; or

(b) let or licensed by Railtrack PLC to a licence exempt operator or a licence holder; and in either case is:-

(i) used wholly or mainly for railway purposes, and

(ii) not comprised in an excepted hereditament. 1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by Railtrack PLC. 2. In this regulation “railway purposes” means the purposes of providing railway services, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements).

II In the case of London Underground Limited, (Regulation 8, CRLER): 1. Any hereditament which would (apart from [the Central Rating List] Regulations [2000]) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if it is-

(a) occupied, or, if unoccupied, owned by London Underground Limited (“LUL”); or

(b) let or licensed by LUL (whether to Railtrack PLC, a subsidiary of LUL or any other person);

and in either case is:-

(i) used wholly or mainly for LUL purposes, and

(ii) not comprised in an excepted hereditament. 1. The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by LUL. 2. In this regulation “LUL purposes” means the purposes of the parts of LUL’s undertaking which are concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements).

iii) In the case of Docklands Light Railway Limited and The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive:

The hereditament situated in England … described in the relevant paragraph of regulation 3 of The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways, Telecommunications and Canals) Regulations 1994 (see (3) below).

(3) Definition of Hereditaments in Regulation 3 RTCR

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising. a. premises used as a shop, hotel, museum, or place of public refreshment; b. premises used wholly or mainly as office premises -

(i) where paragraph (5) or (6) applies, which are occupied by the person named in that paragraph and which are not situated on operational land of that person or of another person designated by regulation 3 of, and named in Part 4 of the Schedule to, the Central Rating List Regulations 2000; or

(ii) [not applicable]; a. premises or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment; and premises (other than premises used in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail) used wholly or in part for purposes concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport or with harbours, or for purposes incidental to such purposes;

(a) Docklands Light Railway Limited (Paragraph 5)

Anything situated in England which would (apart from these Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if:- a. it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by Docklands Light Railway Limited; and

(ii) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the parts of its undertaking which are concerned with carriage of goods or passengers by rail, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and a. it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

(b) Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Railway (Paragraph 6)

Anything situated in England which would (apart from these Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if:- a. it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive; and

(ii) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Railway, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and a. it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

The hereditaments described in paragraph (5) shall be treated as occupied by Docklands Light Railway Limited and that described in paragraph (6) shall be treated as occupied by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive.

Note that in the case of railway undertakings, unlike those of gas, water or electricity undertakings, offices are included in the central list assessments if they are situated on the operational land of any of the designated railway undertakers, of a licence holder or of a licence-exempt operator. Thus offices occupied by Railtrack fall within the cumulo not only if they are built on top of a main line station, but also if they are built on top of a London Underground station. See Practice Note 3 for a fuller treatment of the subject of operational land.

Any warehouse used wholly or mainly for the purpose of storing parcels, goods or merchandise in connection with their transportation by road or by sea and where there has not also been, or is not to be, conveyance by rail by any designated undertaking should appear in the appropriate local list, but any warehouse occupied used wholly or mainly for other purposes (e.g. the storage of spares for locomotives or track) will fall within the class of central list hereditaments. Where a single building is used for both purposes, the paramount use should decide the issue, but where separate buildings within a single curtilage are used for different storage purposes, those satisfying the definition of an excepted hereditament should be made the subject of a local list entry.

Advertisement sites

In relation to the railway undertakings designated and listed in this section, the Central Rating List Regulations state that the purpose of exhibiting advertisements is to be regarded as a purpose ancillary to the purposes of the parts of the designated person’s undertaking concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail.

Accordingly, hereditaments occupied for this purpose fall within the central list unless they come within the definition of excepted hereditaments, which in this context means advertisement sites or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment.

The position, in relation to advertisement rights owned by designated railway undertakings may therefore be summarised as:

Occupier rating list

Designated person central lists

Any other person local lists

At the time of writing, it is understood that no advertisement rights owned by the undertakings are let out so as to be capable of separate assessment, since the terms of the contracts between the various designated railway undertakings and their advertising contractors leave the undertakers in rateable occupation. The situation is reviewed periodically and GVOs will be notified of any change by CVO.

No such special provisions are made in respect of advertisement rights owned or occupied by any other designated persons, and these, where they occur, should be entered in local rating lists.

“Licence holders” and “Licence-exempt operators”

These are defined in the Railways Act 1993. The definition is complicated, and covers a multitude of companies providing railway services, including train operating companies, infrastructure maintenance companies and many others. In past versions of these instructions, attempts were made to give a list of names, but because of frequent name changes and transfers of licences this proved to be impractical.

If any person or company claims that a hereditament should be deleted from a local list on the grounds that it is let by Railtrack to a licence holder or licence exempt operator and all the other qualifying conditions are satisfied, they should be requested to provide documentary evidence to that effect. Legal advice has been received to the effect that where a hereditament is let by Railtrack to a licence holder or licence exempt operator, then it will still qualify to be treated as part of the Railtrack central list hereditament, even if the actual occupier is not a licence holder or licence exempt operator, so long as the hereditament is used wholly or mainly for railway purposes, and is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

Changes since the 1995 list

The British Railways Board (BRB) has ceased to be a designated person for the purposes of the 2000 Lists. All hereditaments still occupied, or if unoccupied, owned by BRB should appear in local rating lists with effect from 1 April 2000. GVOs have been advised individually by Circular of the action to be taken, together with details of the hereditaments affected. This change also affects hereditaments let by BRB to licence holders and licence-exempt operators, and advertisement sites owned by BRB.

The definitions of Railtrack PLC and London Underground Limited have been re-drafted to take account of the change in BRB’s status and also to remove the anomaly, referred to in Practice Note 1 (1995), affecting office premises occupied by licence holders and licence-exempt operators.

A further change on 1 March 2001 affected the treatment of British Transport Police occupations. This is dealt with in detail below.

A Summary of the position regarding offices post 1 April 2000

• Office premises used for railway, DLR, Tyne & Wear Metro or LUL purposes and not situated on operational land should always be shown in a local rating list, regardless of the identity of the occupier. 1
• Office premises which are situated on operational land and used for railway, DLR, Tyne & Wear Metro or LUL purposes should be regarded as falling within the relevant central list assessment if, and only if, they satisfy one of the following sets of conditions: 2

a. Occupied by Railtrack plc, or unoccupied but owned by them, or owned by them and let or licensed by them to any licence holder or licence-exempt operator.

b. Occupied by Docklands Light Railway Limited, or unoccupied but owned by them.

c. Occupied by Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive, or unoccupied but owned by them.

d. Occupied by London Underground Limited, or unoccupied but owned by them, or owned by them and let or licensed to any other person.

In all the above cases, unoccupied offices will only qualify if it appears that when next occupied it will be for railway, DLR, Tyne & Wear Metro or LUL purposes as appropriate.

Note that British Transport Police (BTP) are part of British Railways Board, which is no longer a designated person. Generally offices occupied by them, whatever their location, should be shown in the appropriate local rating list. The single exception to this rule is the case where BTP are a tenant or licence of LUL, and the offices are on the operational land of any of the designated persons named in Part 4 of the Schedule to the CRLER. In this case only, such offices will form part of LUL’s central list hereditament.

British Transport Police

Until 31 January 2001 British Transport Police (BTP) were part of British Railways Board, which is no longer a designated person. On 1 February 2001 they were transferred to the Strategic Rail Authority. On 1 March 2001 the Strategic Rail Authority (including BTP) was made a licence exempt operator on the coming into force of the Strategic Rail Authority (Licence Exemption) Order 2001 [SI 2001 No. 218]. These provisions have an effect on the way BTP occupations are treated for rating purposes. These instructions replace those contained in Rating Circular 187.

a. BTP Offices located at stations occupied by Railtrack

These are (in England) Charing Cross, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Euston, Paddington, Victoria, Kings Cross, Waterloo, Birmingham New Street, Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Gatwick Airport. There are no Railtrack station occupations in Wales.

BTP occupied offices located at these stations will be let to them by Railtrack. They should therefore remain in local lists (following Circ. 187) up until the 28 February 2001. With effect from 1 March 2001 they will form part of the Railtrack central list hereditament and should therefore be deleted from local lists with effect from that date.

a. BTP Offices located at stations occupied by other train operating companies.

These are the remaining main line stations in England and all stations in Wales.

BTP occupied offices located at these stations will be sub-let to them by the occupying train operating company (TOC). All TOCs are licence holders and/or licence-exempt operators who will occupy the station on lease or licence from Railtrack. Following the receipt of the legal advice referred to above, these hereditaments are considered to have formed part of the Railtrack central list hereditament since 1 April 2000 and should therefore be deleted from local lists immediately, and with effect from that date wherever the circumstances permit the GVO to do so (e.g. where there is an outstanding IPP).

a. BTP Offices located in other places

Subject to the exception mentioned below, BTP offices located elsewhere will, on the assumption that they are not situated on the operational land of any of the designated persons named in Part 4 of the Schedule to the CRLER, continue to be shown in local lists, as will BTP offices, regardless of location, where Railtrack plc have no superior interest of any kind.

Where BTP are a tenant or licencee of LUL, and the offices are on the operational land of any of the designated persons named in Part 4 of the Schedule to the CRLER. In this case only, such offices will form part of LUL’s central list hereditament.

3.5 Telecommunications

British Telecommunications plc central list hereditaments are defined as follows:-

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if it is:-

a. occupied by, or if unoccupied, owned by British Telecommunications plc; and

b. occupied by posts, wires, underground cables and ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switching equipment, or other equipment, or easements or wayleaves, being property used for the monitoring, processing or transmission of communications signals for the provision of telecommunications services.

Each hereditament described in the above paragraph shall be treated as occupied by British Telecommunications plc.

Exactly similar provisions are made in respect of Cable & Wireless Communications (Mercury) Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Racal Telecommunications Limited (now Global Crossing (UK) Telecommunications Limited) and AT & T Communications (UK) Limited (now Viatel Global Communications Limited).

Changes since the 1995 list

None.

3.6 Water supply

The relevant hereditaments are hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a water undertaker under Part III of the Water Industry Act 1991 or for ancillary purposes.

Note that hereditaments occupied wholly or mainly for the purposes of a Water Undertaker under Part I (provision of recreation facilities) or Part IV (sewage disposal) of that Act a local list entry will be appropriate. The water undertakings which constitute designated persons are as follows:

• Anglian Water Services Limited
• Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water plc
• Bristol Waterworks plc
• Cambridge Water Company
• Cholderton & District Water Company Limited
• Dee Valley Water plc
• Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig
• Essex and Suffolk Water plc (now merged with Northumbrian Water Limited)
• Folkestone & Dover Water Services Limited
• Hartlepools Company (now merged with Anglian Water Services Limited)
• Mid Kent Water plc
• North Surrey Water Company (now merged with Three Valleys Water plc)
• North West Water Limited
• Northumbrian Water Limited
• Portsmouth Water plc
• Severn Trent Water Limited
• South East Water plc
• South Staffordshire Water PLC
• South West Water Services Limited
• Southern Water Services Limited
• Tendring Hundred Water Services Limited
• Thames Water Utilities Limited
• Three Valleys Water plc
• Wessex Water Services Limited
• Wrexham Water plc
• The York Waterworks plc (now merged with Yorkshire Water Services Limited)
• Yorkshire Water Services Limited

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly:-

a. for the manufacture, storage, sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of water (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of water or sewerage services being disregarded); or

b. as office premises of a designated person, where those premises are not situated on operational land of that person; or

c. for both of the foregoing purposes;

Any warehouse used wholly or mainly for the purpose of storing apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of water and occupied by any water undertaking should appear in the appropriate local list, but any warehouse occupied used wholly or mainly for other purposes will fall within the class of central list hereditaments. Where a single building is used for both purposes, the paramount use should decide the issue, but where separate buildings within a single curtilage are used for different storage purposes, those satisfying the definition of an excepted hereditament should be made the subject of a local list entry.

Changes since the 1995 list

The Schedule has been updated to reflect the changes in the water industry since 1995, but no material changes in the extent of the central lists coverage have been made. All central list water undertakings are valued by statutory formula.

3.7 Long distance pipelines

The relevant hereditaments are cross-country pipelines (within the meaning of the Pipe-lines Act 1962) situated within the area of more than one charging authority. A cross-country pipeline is one which exceeds 10 miles in length.

The designated persons whose relevant hereditaments appear in the central lists are as follows:

• Barking Power Limited
• The BOC Group plc
• BP Chemicals Limited
• BP Exploration Operating Company Limited
• BP Oil UK Limited
• Conoco Limited
• Conoco (UK) Limited
• Esso Petroleum Company Limited
• Esso UK plc
• Fina plc
• Huntsman ICI Petrochemicals (UK) Limited
• Imperial Chemical Industries plc
• Kinetica Limited
• Manchester Jetline Limited
• Mainline Pipelines Limited
• North West Water Limited
• PowerGen Gas Limited
• The Secretary of State for Defence
• The Rugby Group plc
• Shell Chemicals UK Limited
• Shell UK Limited
• United Kingdom Oil Pipelines Limited

• Walton - Gatwick Pipeline Company Limited

• With effect from 1 January 2001, Imperial Chemical Industries plc ceased to be a designated person, and Ineos Chlor Limited, who acquired ICI’s pipelines on that date, became a designated person in substitution.

Changes since the 1995 List

The list of designated persons has been expanded to include the occupiers of all known qualifying pipelines. Central list pipelines continue to be assessed by conventional valuation methods. Valuation work is undertaken by SVU on behalf of the CVO.

3.8 Independent gas transporters

This is a new category of designated person, introduced into the central rating lists for England with effect from 1 April 2001 by amendments made to the Central Rating List (England) Regulations by the Central Rating Lists (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2001. There is at present no equivalent provision in Wales.

As a consequence of the passing of the Gas Act 1995, companies other than Transco have been able to apply for licences as public gas transporters (PGTs). Any PGT may compete to construct and operate a local gas distribution system. These systems typically consist of a network of low-pressure gas mains providing the link between the Transco national distribution system and the premises of the consumers within the area covered by the licence, and at present include the gas meters on the premises so supplied. Such systems will be found on post-1995 residential developments or, more rarely, on small business parks. The customers of such systems are not the consumers of the gas, but the gas supply companies.

Prior to 1 April 2001 such systems have been, in law, liable to be the subject of individual entries in local rating lists, but because of their nature, identification of their existence and extent by BAs and GVOs has raised insuperable difficulties. The amendment to the Regulations permits all the systems in the occupation of a designated person to be treated as a single hereditament and shown in the central rating list.

The Regulations define the hereditaments in the following way:

1. “Where a company which is a designated person by virtue of being listed in Part 8 of the Schedule occupies or, in the case of unoccupied hereditaments, owns what would, apart from these Regulations, be more than one hereditament (each of which is called in this regulation “the separate premises”) and each of those separate premises satisfies the conditions set out in paragraph (2), those separate premises shall be treated as one hereditament.

2. The conditions are that each of the separate premises is used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the designated person acting as a public gas transporter and are not excepted premises.

3. In paragraph (2):-

(a) “excepted premises” means premises used wholly or mainly as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of the designated person; and

(b) “public gas transporter” has the same meaning as in Part I of the Gas Act 1986 1. (4) The hereditament described in paragraph (1) shall be treated as occupied by the designated person.”

The designated persons whose relevant hereditaments appear in the central lists are as follows:

• British Gas Connections Limited
• TotalFinaElf Pipelines Limited
• The Gas Transportation Company Limited
• SSE Pipelines Limited
• ScottishPower Gas Limited
• East Midlands Pipelines Limited
• GTC Pipelines Limited
• Energi Link Limited
• Hyder Gas Networks Limited
• E.S. Pipelines Limited

Telecommunications apparatus

Telecommunications apparatus, as defined in The Non-Domestic Rating (Telecommunications Apparatus) (England) Regulations 2000, in the occupation of any person whose name is shown, for the time being, in a central rating list may fall within the definition of “excepted apparatus” under those Regulations, or their Welsh equivalent. Such apparatus should be left out of account in determining the extent and rateable value of any hereditament to which those regulations apply.

Part 2: Practice note 1: Formula-rated hereditament: Valued by the Central Valuation Officer

Part 2 - Practice Note 1 : 1995 : Revaluation 1995 : Formula-Rated Hereditament : Valued by The Central Valuation Officer - Matters Specific To 1995 Lists

1. Statutory provisions

1.1 Outline

The secondary legislation consists of a series of Statutory Instruments made under the powers referred to at Para. 4.1. of the main section. The function of the first group of Regulations is to designate the persons (in practice they are all companies) whose hereditaments are to be shown in the lists, describe the classes of hereditaments to be shown and lay down the information to be shown in the lists.

The second group of Regulations deal with miscellaneous matters concerning the administration of the lists, including special provisions for the conduct of Appeals, the issue of transitional certificates, and the determination of the unit of assessment in certain cases.

The final group consists of Orders which lay down the method of calculation of Rateable Values for those classes of hereditament which are to be valued by statutory formula.

1.2 The Statutory Instruments

Group 1

The Central Rating Lists Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/3121)

The Central Rating Lists (Amendment) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/620)

Group 2

The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/291)

Parts III & IV of these Regulations govern the manner in which alterations to the central lists are made, The conduct of appeals is dealt with by part VI, in common with local rating lists

The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways, Telecommunications and Canals) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/3123)

Group 3

*The British Waterways Board and Telecommunications Industry (Rateable Values) Revocation Order 1994 (SI 1994/3281) *The Electricity Supply Industry (Rateable Values) Order 1994 (SI 1994/3282) *The British Gas PLC (Rateable Values) Order 1994 (SI 1994/3283) *The Railways (Rateable Values) Order 1994 (SI 1994/3284) *The Water Undertakers (Rateable Values) Order 1994 (SI 1994/3285) *The Electricity Supply Industry (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1995 (SI 1995/962) *The Electricity Supply Industry and Water Undertakers (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1996 (SI 1996/912) *The Gas Act (Rateable Values) (Modification) Order 1997 (SI 1997/224) *The British Gas plc (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1997 (SI 1997/961)

2. Layout of the Central Rating Lists for 1995

A typical page from the central list for England for 1995 is shown as Appendix 2. It will be noticed that the style and content differ from a local list entry and also the 1990 central list entry. The most significant of these, for the purposes of this section, are as follows: a. There is only one entry per page, and the entry essentially relates to the Designated Person, rather than to the hereditaments. This has importance in relation to the way Notices of Alteration and Proposals are expressed. b. Hereditaments are described in a general way, and are not individually identified. At first sight, this would appear to be contrary to the requirement of Regulation 6(1)(b) of SI 1994/ 3121. As long as the class of hereditaments is described in the list however, that requirement is satisfied by virtue of s67(9) & (9A) of the Act.

3. Central list hereditaments in detail

3.1 British Waterways

The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways, Telecommunications and Canals) Regulations 1994 provide that: 1. (a)“excepted hereditament” means any hereditament-

i. consisting of or including a dock or harbour undertaking carried on under authority conferred by or under any enactment; (i.e. any statutory dock or harbour, not merely those to which the Docks and Harbours (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2473) applies - see RM 5:350)

ii. consisting of premises so let out as to be capable of separate assessment;

iii. consisting of office premises or consisting of a car park used wholly or mainly in connection with office premises; and 1. Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if -

(a) it is occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by the British Waterways Board;

(b) it comprises -

i. Waterways (including cuts and culverts, locks, gates, sluices, pumps, flood let-off valves, feeders, conduits, weirs, side ponds, ditches and drains);

ii. Aqueducts, basins, bridges, embankments, reservoirs and tunnels;

iii. Lighthouses, beacons, buoys, breakwaters, boatlifts and other structures designed to aid navigation;

iv. docks, wharves, piers, jetties, pontoons, moorings, slipways, land and buildings used for the building, maintenance or floating storage of craft, or for the provision, maintenance or servicing of inland waterways and plant or machinery used in connection therewith;

v. clay pits, dredging and other waste disposal tips;

vi. other land, buildings or structures or parts of buildings or structures used for the provision or servicing of facilities for traffic by, public access to, or enjoyment of, inland waterways, or for ancillary purposes; and

(c) is not comprised in an excepted hereditament. 1. The hereditaments described above shall be treated as occupied by the British Waterways Board and are relevant hereditaments by virtue of Part 1 of the Schedule to the Central Rating List Regulations 1994.

Changes from the 1990 List

a. The British Waterways central list property now comprises a single hereditament rather than a class of hereditaments. b. The central list entry has expanded to contain some hereditaments which were shown in local lists in 1990. c. The central list assessment is now valued conventionally, and not calculated by formula.

3.2 The Electricity Industry

Relevant hereditaments comprise:

I In the case of National Power plc, Powergen plc and Magnox plc

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the generation of electrical power or for ancillary purposes

II In the case of Nuclear Electric Limited;

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the generation of electrical power from nuclear fuel or for ancillary purposes.

III In the case of the National Grid Company plc;

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the transformation or transmission of electrical power, or for ancillary purposes.

IV In the case of:

*Eastern Group plc *East Midlands Electricity plc *London Electricity plc *Northern Electricity plc *NORWEB plc *MANWEB plc *Midlands Electricity plc *Scottish Power plc *Southern Electric plc *South Wales Electricity plc *South Western Electricity plc *Yorkshire Electricity Group plc

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the functions of a public electricity supplier or for ancillary purposes.

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly:

a. as a shop or other place for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of electricity (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of electricity being disregarded);

b. as office premises of a designated person, where those premises are not situated on operational land of that person; or

c. for both of the foregoing purposes; or

d. for the generation of electricity primarily by means of wind or tidal power; and “public electricity supplier” has the same meaning as in section 6(9) of the Electricity Act 1989.

Note that hereditaments excepted under d) above fall to be valued by formula and shown in local lists under the provisions of Part II of The Electricity Generators (Rateable Values) Order 1994 (as amended). These are dealt with at RM5:530.

Note also that the definition of public electricity supplier referred to above does not extend to generating activity. Accordingly, where any of the undertakings in group III or IV above generates electricity, by whatever method, the hereditaments occupied for that purpose will not fall within the definition of relevant hereditaments and must be shown in the local list. See (RM5:350).

At present only Midlands Electricity plc and South Western Electricity plc are known to have generating capacity. Other suppliers involved in activity in this field have done so by forming separate joint venture companies.

Any warehouse occupied by any of the electricity undertakings is a central list hereditament.

Changes since the 1990 List a. Only the nuclear powered generation of Nuclear Electricity Limited (previously known as AGR & PWR Limited) falls within the class of relevant hereditaments. Any non-nuclear powered generation capacity that they might eventually occupy will be shown in local lists, and assessed in accordance with Part II of The Electricity Generators (Rateable Values) Order 1994 (as amended). b. The central list entry for National Grid plc no longer covers that company’s generation activities. These have now been disposed of and are shown in the appropriate local rating list. c. All central list hereditaments continue to be assessed by statutory formula.

3.3 British Gas

Relevant hereditaments comprise hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly- a. for the purposes of British Gas plc acting as a public gas supplier; or b. for the purposes of the supply, installation or maintenance of gas appliances, or for ancillary purposes; or c. for more than one of the foregoing purposes.

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly- a. for the manufacture of plant or gas fittings; b. as a shop or other place for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of gas (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of gas being disregarded); c. as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of British Gas plc; or d. for more than one of the foregoing purposes; and “public gas supplier” has the same meaning as in Part I of the Gas Act 1986.

Any warehouse occupied by British Gas is a central list hereditament.

Changes since the 1990 List

None as at 1st April 1995. British Gas continued to be assessed by statutory formula. Following the Gas Act 1995, the industry was re-organised and British Gas Transco succeeded as occupier of the central list hereditaments. As a result of this a number of hereditaments, such as gas processing and storage installations, as well as a number of LPG domestic fuel undertakings, passed into local lists and became valued on a conventional basis. These changes became effective on 3rd March 1997. Local VOs affected received advice on an individual basis.

3.4 Railways

Relevant hereditaments comprise:

I In the case of London Underground Limited:

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly for the purpose of the parts of London Underground Limited’s undertaking which are concerned with carriage of goods or passengers by rail, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements).

II in the case of The British Railways Board, Railtrack PLC, Docklands Light Railway Limited and The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive:

The hereditament situated in England (or in Wales where appropriate) described in the relevant regulation of The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways, Telecommunications and Canals) Regulations 1994 (see below). 1. Interpretation

“1993 Act” means the Railways Act 1993

“the Board” means the British Railways Board

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising:

a. premises used as a shop, hotel, museum, or place of public refreshment;

b. premises used wholly or mainly as office premises occupied by a person designated by regulation 5(1) of, and named in Part 4 of the Schedule to, the Central Rating List Regulations 1994 and which are not situated on operational land of that person or of another person so designated and named;

c. premises or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment (other than those falling within paragraph (a)(ii) of the definitions of the British Railways Board and Railtrack PLC hereditaments;

d. premises (other than premises used in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail) used wholly or in part for purposes concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport or with harbours, or for purposes incidental to such purposes.

“heavy maintenance services” means the carrying out on locomotives and other rolling stock of maintenance services (including the detection and rectification of faults) other than light maintenance services (within the meaning given by section 82 of the 1993 Act);

“licence exempt operator” has the meaning given in section 10(6) of the 1993 Act;

“licence holder” has the meaning given in section 83(1) of the 1993 Act;

“railway services“ has the meaning given in section 82(1) of the 1993 Act;

A list of BR subsidiary businesses, indicating the dates sold and whether they were sold to licence holders, licence exempt operators or otherwise is provided at Appendix 3 to this section.

Note: Whether intentionally or otherwise, the effect of the above provisions upon offices not situated on the operational land of a designated person is unexpected.

Broadly, such offices, if occupied by one of the designated persons, will be excepted hereditaments, as has always been the case, and should be shown in the local rating list.

If, however, they are owned by one of the designated persons but let to a licence holder or licence exempt operator they will not be excepted hereditaments and should not appear in local lists.

If VOs are asked to remove offices from local lists on the above grounds the circumstances should be reported to CVO immediately, and no further action taken until advised by CVO.

1. Definition of Hereditaments

(a) British Railways Board

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if -

(a) it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by the Board; or

(ii) let or licensed by the Board to a licence exempt operator or a licence holder (other than Railtrack PLC),

wholly or mainly for the purposes of providing railway services or heavy maintenance services, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and

(b) it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

(b) Railtrack PLC

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if -

(a) it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by Railtrack PLC; or

(ii) let or licensed by Railtrack PLC to a licence exempt operator or a licence holder (other than the Board),

wholly or mainly for the purposes of providing railway services or heavy maintenance services, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and

(b) it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

(c) Docklands Light Railway Limited

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if -

(a) it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by Docklands Light Railway Limited; and

(ii) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the parts of its undertaking which are concerned with carriage of goods or passengers by rail, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and

(b) it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament

(d) Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Railway

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if -

(a) it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive; and

(ii) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Railway, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and

(b) it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

The hereditaments described at (a) above shall be treated as occupied by the Board, those described at (b) above shall be treated as occupied by Railtrack PLC, that described at (c) above shall be treated as occupied by Docklands Light Railway Limited and that described at (d) above shall be treated as occupied by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive.

Note that in the case of railway undertakings, unlike those of gas, water or electricity undertakings, offices are included in the central list assessments if they are situated on the operational land of any of the designated railway undertakers. Thus offices occupied by British Rail fall within the cumulo not only if they are built on top of a BR station, but also if they are built on top of a London Underground station. See Practice Note 2 for a fuller treatment of the subject of operational land.

Any warehouse used wholly or mainly for the purpose of storing parcels, goods or merchandise in connection with their transportation by road or by sea and where there has not also been, or is not to be, conveyance by rail by any designated undertaking should appear in the appropriate local list, but any warehouse occupied used wholly or mainly for other purposes (e.g. the storage of spares for locomotives or track) will fall within the class of central list hereditaments. Where a single building is used for both purposes, the paramount use should decide the issue, but where separate buildings within a single curtilage are used for different storage purposes, those satisfying the definition of an excepted hereditament should be made the subject of a local list entry.

Advertisement sites

In relation to the railway undertakings designated and listed in this section, the Central Rating List Regulations state that the purpose of exhibiting advertisements is to be regarded as a purpose ancillary to the purposes of the parts of the designated person’s undertaking concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail.

Accordingly, hereditaments occupied for this purpose fall within the central list unless they come within the definition of excepted hereditaments, which in this context means advertisement sites or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment.

The position, in relation to advertisement rights owned by designated railway undertakings may therefore be summarised as:

OCCUPIER RATING LIST

Designated person central lists

Any other person local lists

At the time of writing, it is understood that no advertisement rights owned by the undertakings are let out so as to be capable of separate assessment, since the terms of the contracts between the various designated railway undertakings and their advertising contractors leave the undertakers in rateable occupation. The situation is reviewed periodically and VOs will be notified of any change by CVO.

No such special provisions are made in respect of advertisement rights owned or occupied by any other designated persons, and these, where they occur, should be entered in local rating lists.

Changes since the 1990 List

The comprehensive changes in drafting made by The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways) and Central Rating Lists (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/834) have been adopted with only one change for the 1995 lists. This change reverts to the pre 1st April 1994 definition of “the Board”, removing the words “or any of its subsidiaries”. It involves VO’s because it affects the demarcation between central and local rating lists.

Those hereditaments, occupied by subsidiaries of BRB, which were shown in local lists prior to 1st April 1994 and were removed as a consequence of the amendment introduced by SI 1994/834, revert to local lists with effect from 1st April 1995 and remain there until occupied by a licence holder or licence exempt operator following completion of the franchising process, when they will once more return to the central list. Appendix 3 contains the names of all known licence holders and licence exempt operators, and the dates upon which they took over occupation of former BRB property.

The only circumstances in which the above chain of events will not proceed as set out above are:

1. When the franchise took effect prior to 1st April 1995, or

2. where it is claimed that the BRB subsidiary in occupation on 1st April 1995 was itself a licence holder or licence exempt operator.

In neither of the above cases will a 1995 local list entry be appropriate. Where circumstance 1 above is the case VOs may delete hereditaments from the local list on the basis of this instruction, but should consult with the CVO where circumstance 2 is claimed.

British Railways Board, Railtrack and London Underground Limited continue to be assessed by statutory formula, but Docklands Light Railway and Tyne and Wear Metro are now valued conventionally.

3.5 Telecommunications

British Telecommunications plc central list hereditaments are defined as follows -

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if it is- a. occupied by, or if unoccupied, owned by British Telecommunications plc; and b. occupied by posts, wires, underground cables and ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switching equipment, or other equipment, or easements or wayleaves, being property used for the monitoring, processing or transmission of communications signals for the provision of telecommunications services.

Each hereditament described in the above paragraph shall be treated as occupied by British Telecommunications plc.

Exactly similar provisions are made in respect of Mercury Communications Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Racal BRT Limited (formerly BR Telecommunications Limited) and AT & T (UK) Limited.

Changes since the1990 List

a. Three new national network operators have been designated for central list purposes.

b. A common definition of hereditament now applies to all the undertakings. This has the effect of transferring a substantial number of BT hereditaments from local to central rating. Principal categories are towers, masts and telephone exchanges. Where a local list hereditament comprised both a telephone exchange and accommodation occupied for other purposes, not ancillary to the exchange and lying outside the scope of the above definition, the necessity for a division arises, with the non-exchange part of the former hereditament remaining in the local list. For valuation considerations refer to para. 10 of the main section. For transitional certificate considerations refer to Practice Note 4.

c. The extent of the Mercury central list hereditament remains unchanged.

d. Both BT and Mercury are now subject to conventional valuation methods, as are also the three new designated hereditaments.

3.6 Water Supply

The relevant hereditaments are hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a water undertaker under Part III of the Water Industry Act 1991 or for ancillary purposes. Note that where hereditaments are occupied wholly or mainly for the purposes of a Water Undertaker under Part I (provision of recreation facilities) or Part II (sewage disposal) of that Act a local list entry will be appropriate The water undertakings which constitute designated persons are as follows:

• Anglian Water Services Limited
• Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water plc
• Bristol Waterworks plc
• Cambridge Water Company
• Cholderton & District Water Company Limited
• Dee Valley Water plc
• Dwr Cymru Cyfyngedig
• Eastbourne Water plc
• East Surrey & Sutton Water plc
• Essex and Suffolk Water plc
• Folkestone & Dover Water Services Limited
• Hartlepools Water Company
• Mid Kent Water plc
• Mid Southern Water plc
• Mid Sussex Water plc
• North Surrey Water Company
• North West Water Limited
• Northumbrian Water Limited
• Portsmouth Water plc
• Severn Trent Water Limited
• South Staffordshire Water PLC
• South West Water Services Limited
• Southern Water Services Limited
• Tendring Hundred Water Services Limited
• Thames Water Utilities Limited
• Three Valleys Water plc
• Wessex Water Services Limited
• West Kent Water plc
• The York Waterworks plc
• Yorkshire Water Services Limited

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly- a. for the manufacture, storage, sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of water (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of water or sewerage services being disregarded); or b. as office premises of a designated person, where those premises are not situated on operational land of that person; or c. for both of the foregoing purposes;

Any warehouse used wholly or mainly for the purpose of storing apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of water and occupied by any water undertaking should appear in the appropriate local list, but any warehouse occupied used wholly or mainly for other purposes will fall within the class of central list hereditaments. Where a single building is used for both purposes, the paramount use should decide the issue, but where separate buildings within a single curtilage are used for different storage purposes, those satisfying the definition of an excepted hereditament should be made the subject of a local list entry.

Changes since the 1990 List

The Schedule has been updated to reflect the changes in the water industry since 1990, but no material changes in the extent of the central lists coverage have been made. All central list water undertakings are valued by statutory formula.

3.7 Long Distance Pipelines

The relevant hereditaments are cross-country pipelines (within the meaning of the Pipe-lines Act 1962) situated within the area of more than one charging authority. A cross-country pipeline is one which exceeds 10 miles in length.

The designated persons whose relevant hereditaments appear in the central lists are as follows:

• Barking Power Limited
• The BOC Group plc
• BP Chemicals Limited
• BP Oil UK Limited
• Conoco Limited
• Conoco (UK) Limited
• Esso Petroleum Company Limited
• Esso UK plc
• Fina plc
• ICI Chemicals and Polymers Limited
• Kelt UK Limited
• Kinetica Limited
• Manchester Jetline Limited
• Mainline Pipelines Limited
• North West Water Limited
• The Rugby Group plc
• Shell Chemicals UK Limited
• Shell UK Limited
• United Kingdom Oil Pipelines Limited
• Walton - Gatwick Pipeline Company Limited

Changes since the 1990 List

The list of designated persons has been expanded to include the occupiers of all known qualifying pipelines. Central list pipelines continue to be assessed by conventional valuation methods. Valuation work is undertaken by SVU on behalf of the CVO.

Part 2: Practice note 1: Formula-rated hereditament: Valued by the Central Valuation Officer

Part 2 - Practice Note 1 : 1990 : Revaluation 1990: Formula-Rated Hereditament: Valued by The Central Valuation Officer - Matters Specific to 1990 Lists

1. Statutory provisions

1.1 Outline

The secondary legislation consists of a series of Statutory Instruments made under the powers referred to at Para. 4.1. of the main section. The function of the first group of Regulations is to designate the persons (in practice they are all companies) whose hereditaments are to be shown in the lists, describe the classes of hereditaments to be shown and lay down the information to be shown in the lists.

The second group of Regulations deal with miscellaneous matters concerning the administration of the lists, including special provisions for the conduct of Appeals, the issue of transitional certificates, and the determination of the unit of assessment in certain cases.

The final group consists of Orders which lay down the method of calculation of Rateable Values for those classes of hereditament which are to be valued by statutory formula.

1.2 The statutory instruments

Group 1

• The Central Rating Lists Regulations 1989 (SI 1989/2263)
• The Central Rating Lists (Amendment) Regulations 1990 (SI 1990/ 502)
• The Central Rating Lists (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 1990 (SI 1990/1566)
• The Central Rating Lists (Amendment) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/ 166)
• The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways) and Central Rating Lists (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/834)

Group 2

The Non-Domestic Rating (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) Regulations 1993 (SI 1993/291) Parts III & IV of these Regulations govern the manner in which alterations to the central lists are made. The conduct of appeals is dealt with by part VI, in common with local rating lists

Group 3

• The British Gas PLC (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2471)
• The British Waterways Board (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2472)
• The Electricity Supply Industry (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2475)
• The Railways (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2477)
• The Telecommunications Industry (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2478)
• The Water Undertakers (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2479)
• The Gas and Electricity Industries (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1990 (SI 1990/804)
• The Electricity Supply Industry (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1991 (SI 1991/959)
• The Water Undertakers (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1993 (SI 1993/772)
• The Railways (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1994 (SI 1994/999)

2. Layout of the central rating lists for 1990

A typical page from the central list for England for 1990 is shown as Appendix 1. It will be noticed that the style and content differ from a local list entry. The most significant of these, for the purposes of this section, are as follows:

a. There is only one entry per page, and the entry essentially relates to the Designated Person, rather than to the hereditaments. This has importance in relation to the way Notices of Alteration and Proposals are expressed.

b. Hereditaments are described in a general way, and are not individually identified. At first sight, this would appear to be contrary to the requirement of Regulation 3(1)(b) of SI 1989/ 2263. As long as the class of hereditaments is described in the list however, that requirement is satisfied by virtue of s67(9) & (9A) of the Act.

c. Two different RVs are shown. The column headed “RV” contains the figure required by statute. This RV, in the early years of the list, contains in many cases an adjustment for transitional relief because of the operation of the formulae. The second column, which is extra to the statutory requirement, shows what the RV would be if the transitional relief element in the formulae were not operative. It thus shows the underlying changes in RV attributable to alterations to the hereditaments and also provides figures on a basis which is statistically comparable to the RVs in local lists.

3. Central list hereditaments in detail

3.1 British Waterways

Relevant hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) comprise:

a. Waterways (including cuts and culverts, locks, gates, sluices, pumps, feeder conduits and weirs);

b. Aqueducts, basins, bridges, embankments, reservoirs and tunnels;

c. Lighthouses, beacons, buoys, breakwaters, boatlifts and other structures designed to aid navigation;

d. docks, wharves, piers, jetties, pontoons, moorings, slipways and buildings used for the floating storage of craft;

e. dredging and other waste disposal tips;

f. other land, buildings or parts of buildings and structures used for the provision of facilities for traffic by inland waterways or in harbours, or for ancillary purposes;

“excepted hereditament” means any hereditament-

a. consisting of or including a dock or harbour undertaking carried on under authority conferred by or under any enactment; (i.e. any statutory dock or harbour, not merely those to which the Docks and Harbours (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2473) applies - see RM 5:350);

b. consisting of premises so let out as to be capable of separate assessment;

c. consisting of premises used as a shop, museum, car park, warehouse, place of public refreshment or as a workshop or premises for maintenance or repair or for the hiring or storage of craft; or

d. consisting of office premises; and

“inland waterway” includes any such waterway, whether natural or artificial.

3.2 The electricity industry

Relevant hereditaments comprise:

i) In the case of National Power plc, Powergen plc and Nuclear Electric plc;

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the generation of electrical power or for ancillary purposes.

ii) In the case of the National Grid Company plc;

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the generation, transformation and transmission of electrical power or for ancillary purposes.

iii) In the case of:

• Eastern Electricity plc
• East Midlands Electricity plc
• London Electricity plc
• Northern Electricity plc
• NORWEB plc
• MANWEB plc
• Midlands Electricity plc
• Scottish Power plc
• Southern Electric plc
• South Wales Electricity plc
• South Western Electricity plc
• Yorkshire Electricity Group plc

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) wholly or mainly used for the purposes of the functions of a public electricity supplier or for ancillary purposes.

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly-

a. as a shop or other place for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of electricity (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of electricity being disregarded);

b. as office premises of a designated person, where those premises are not situated on operational land of that person; or

c. for both of the foregoing purposes; or

d. for the generation of electricity primarily by means of wind or tidal power; and

“public electricity supplier” has the same meaning as in section 6(9) of the Electricity Act 1989.

Note that hereditaments excepted under (d) above fall to be valued by formula under the provisions of The Electricity Generators (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (as amended). These are dealt with at RM5:530.

Note also that the definition of public electricity supplier referred to above does not extend to generating activity. Accordingly, where any of the undertakings in group III above generates electricity, by whatever method, the hereditaments occupied for that purpose will not fall within the definition of relevant hereditaments and must be shown in the local list. See (RM5:350). Only Midlands Electricity plc and South Western Electricity plc are known to have had generating capacity during the life of the 1990 List.

Any warehouse occupied by any of the electricity undertakings is a central list hereditament.

3.3 British Gas

Relevant hereditaments comprise hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly-

a. for the purposes of British Gas plc acting as a public gas supplier; or b. for the purposes of the supply, installation or maintenance of gas appliances, or for ancillary purposes; or c. for more than one of the foregoing purposes;

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly-

a. for the manufacture of plant or gas fittings; b. as a shop or other place for the sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of gas (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of gas being disregarded); c. as office premises, where those premises are not situated on operational land of British Gas plc; or d. for more than one of the foregoing purposes; and

“public gas supplier” has the same meaning as in Part I of the Gas Act 1986.

Any warehouse occupied by British Gas is a central list hereditament.

3.4 Railways

Relevant hereditaments comprise, for the period 1st April 1990 to 31st March 1994:

I In the case of The British Railways Board, London Underground Limited and Docklands Light Railway Limited:

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly for the purpose of the parts of the designated person’s undertaking which are concerned with carriage of goods or passengers by rail, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements).

II In the case of The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive:

Hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of the Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Railway, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements)

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising-

a. premises used as a shop, hotel, museum, or place of public refreshment; b. premises used wholly or mainly as office premises occupied by a designated person which are not situated on operational land of that person or of another person designated by virtue of [Part 4 of the Regulations]; c. premises or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment; d. premises (other than premises used in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail) used wholly or in part for purposes concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport or with harbours, or for purposes incidental to such purposes.

Note that in the case of railway undertakings, unlike those of gas, water or electricity undertakings, offices are included in the central list assessments if they are situated on the operational land of any of the designated railway undertakers. Thus offices occupied by British Rail fall within the cumulo not only if they are built on top of a BR station, but also if they are built on top of a London Underground station. See Practice Note 2 for a fuller treatment of the subject of operational land.

Any warehouse used wholly or mainly for the purpose of storing parcels, goods or merchandise in connection with their transportation by road or by sea and where there has not also been, or is not to be, conveyance by rail by any designated undertaking should appear in the appropriate local list, but any warehouse occupied used wholly or mainly for other purposes (e.g. the storage of spares for locomotives or track) will fall within the class of central list hereditaments. Where a single building is used for both purposes, the paramount use should decide the issue, but where separate buildings within a single curtilage are used for different storage purposes, those satisfying the definition of an excepted hereditament should be made the subject of a local list entry.

Advertisement sites

In relation to the railway undertakings designated and listed in this section, the Central Rating List Regulations state that the purpose of exhibiting advertisements is to be regarded as a purpose ancillary to the purposes of the parts of the designated person’s concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by rail.

Accordingly, hereditaments occupied for this purpose fall within the central list unless they come within the definition of excepted hereditaments, which in this context means advertisement sites or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment.

The position, in relation to advertisement rights owned by designated railway undertakings may therefore be summarised as:

Occupier rating list

Designated person central lists Any other person local lists

It is understood that, for the duration of the 1990 Lists, no advertisement rights owned by the undertakings were let out so as to be capable of separate assessment, since the terms of the contracts between the various designated railway undertakings and their advertising contractors left BR in rateable occupation.

No such special provisions are made in respect of advertisement rights owned or occupied by any other designated persons, and these, where they occur, should be entered in local rating lists.

Changes taking effect on 1st April 1994

The Railways Act 1993 prepared for the privatisation of the British Railways Board (BRB) by the creation of a new company, Railtrack PLC, in which was vested the track and stations of BRB, which retained only a small proportion of its former property. The alterations to the Central List Regulations have been designed to enable the privatisation of British Rail to proceed without creating the necessity for a series of amending SI s to cope with the creation of new companies occupying former BR hereditaments.

The principal change reflects the transfer of the bulk of hereditaments from the ownership of BR to Railtrack PLC. As hereditaments remaining in BR’s occupation are transferred to the physical occupation of franchisees, who are either licence holders or licence exempt operators, the rateable occupation of those hereditaments will transfer from BR to Railtrack. The only hereditaments in the occupation of franchisees which GVOs will need to ensure are entered in local rating lists are those which are owner-occupied, leased from landlords other than BR or Railtrack PLC, or consist of excepted hereditaments. None of these categories will have previously been the subject of central list assessment.

In the event of former BR or Railtrack hereditaments being sold off for purposes unconnected with the provision of railway services, or to persons who are neither licence exempt operators or licence holders, GVOs will need to enter these in local rating lists.

To reflect this change, The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways) and Central Rating Lists (Amendment) Regulations 1994 (SI 1994/834) were made. They amended The Central Rating List Regulations 1989 in three particulars:

1. They designated the newly created Railtrack PLC.
2. They introduced a new definition of a single hereditament for BRB, replacing the former class of hereditaments and defined a hereditament for Railtrack PLC in similar terms.
3. They expanded the definition of “the Board” to include the subsidiaries of BRB.

The last of these is significant for local GVOs because it had the effect of incorporating a number of local list hereditaments, occupied by BRB subsidiaries, into the central rating list assessment of BRB with effect from 1st April 1994.

With effect from the same date, The Railways (Rateable Values) (Amendment) Order 1994 (SI 1994/999) amended The Railways (Rateable Values) Order 1989 (SI 1989/2477), by prescribing fixed RVs for both BRB and Railtrack PLC for the year 1994/1995 and suspending the application of the formula in the Order for that year.

The amended Regulation prescribed, in the case of The British Railways Board and Railtrack PLC.

“The hereditament situated in England (or in Wales where appropriate) described in the relevant regulation of The Non-Domestic Rating (Railways).

(1) Interpretation

“1993 Act” means the Railways Act 1993

“the Board” means the British Railways Board or any of its subsidiaries

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising-

a. premises used as a shop, hotel, museum, or place of public refreshment; b. premises used wholly or mainly as office premises occupied by a person designated by regulation 5(1) of, and named in Part 4 of the Schedule to, the Central Rating List Regulations 1994 and which are not situated on operational land of that person or of another person so designated and named; c. premises or rights so let out as to be capable of separate assessment (other than those falling within paragraph (a)(ii) of the definitions of the British Railways Board and Railtrack PLC hereditaments; d. premises (other than premises used in connection with the collection and delivery of parcels, goods or merchandise conveyed or to be conveyed by rail) used wholly or in part for purposes concerned with the carriage of goods or passengers by road transport or sea transport or with harbours, or for purposes incidental to such purposes;

“heavy maintenance services” means the carrying out on locomotives and other rolling stock of maintenance services (including the detection and rectification of faults) other than light maintenance services (within the meaning given by section 82 of the 1993 Act);

“licence exempt operator” has the meaning given in section 10(6) of the 1993 Act;

“licence holder” has the meaning given in section 83(1) of the 1993 Act;

“railway services“ has the meaning given in section 82(1) of the 1993 Act;

A list of BR subsidiary businesses, indicating the dates sold and whether they were sold to licence holders, licence exempt operators or otherwise is provided at Appendix 3 to this section.

(2) Definition of Hereditaments

(a) British Railways Board

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if -

(a) it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by the Board; or

(ii) let or licensed by the Board to a licence exempt operator or a licence holder (other than Railtrack PLC),

wholly or mainly for the purposes of providing railway services or heavy maintenance services, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and

(b) it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

(b) Railtrack PLC

Anything situated in England which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament and anything situated in Wales which would (apart from [the relevant] Regulations) be more than one hereditament shall be treated as one hereditament if -

(a) it is

(i) occupied by or, if unoccupied, owned by Railtrack PLC; or

(ii) let or licensed by Railtrack PLC to a licence exempt operator or a licence holder (other than the Board),

wholly or mainly for the purposes of providing railway services or heavy maintenance services, or for purposes ancillary to those purposes (including the purpose of exhibiting advertisements); and

(b) it is not comprised in an excepted hereditament.

3.5 Telecommunications

Relevant hereditaments comprise, for British Telecommunications plc-

All hereditaments occupied by posts, wires, underground cables and ducts, telephone kiosks, switchgear and other equipment not within a building, or by easements or wayleaves, being property used for the purposes of telecommunications services and for Mercury Communications Limited-

All hereditaments occupied by posts, wires, underground cables and ducts, telephone kiosks, towers, masts, switchgear and other equipment, or by easements or wayleaves, being property used for the purposes of telecommunications services.

Note the italicised differences between the two definitions, which reflect the different technology used in the two systems. The use of the words “not within a building” in the case of BT means that their telephone exchanges are not relevant hereditaments, and accordingly appear in local lists.

The absence of such words from the Mercury definition means that their trunk access nodes (TANs), which perform an equivalent function but consist of computer equipment located in an office environment where other tasks are also undertaken, are relevant hereditaments, along with the office accommodation forming part of the same hereditament.

Any warehouse occupied by either undertaking should be shown in the appropriate local list.

3.6 Water supply

The relevant hereditaments are hereditaments (other than excepted hereditaments) used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a water undertaker under Part III of the Water Industry Act 1991 or for ancillary purposes. Note that where hereditaments are occupied wholly or mainly for the purposes of a Water Undertaker under Part I (provision of recreation facilities) or Part IV (sewage disposal) of that Act a local list entry will be appropriate. The water undertakings which constitute designated persons are as follows:

Anglian Water Services Limited Bournemouth & District Water Company Bristol Waterworks Company Cambridge Water Company Chester Waterworks Company Cholderton & District Water Company Limited Colne Valley Water Company East Worcestershire Waterworks Company

• Eastbourne Water Company Essex Water plc
• Folkestone & District Water Company
• Hartlepools Water Company
• Lee Valley Water plc
• Mid Kent Water Company
• Mid Southern Water Company
• Mid Sussex Water Company
• North East Water plc
• North Surrey Water Company
• North West Water Limited
• Northumbrian Water Limited
• Portsmouth Water plc
• Rickmansworth Water plc
• Severn Trent Water Limited
• South Staffordshire Water Company
• South West Water Services Limited
• Southern Water Services Limited
• Suffolk Water Company plc
• Sutton District Water plc
• Tendring Hundred Water Company
• Thames Water Utilities Limited
• Wessex Water Services Limited
• West Hampshire Water Company
• West Kent Water Company
• Wrexham & East Denbighshire Water Company
• The York Waterworks plc
• Yorkshire Water Services Limited

Note that the acquisition of a number of these undertakings by other holding companies took place during the currency of the 1990 list. In most cases this did not constitute a merger of any of the designated persons, each of which retained its individual legal identity. The exceptions to this, which were catered for by amending legislation, were the absorption of East Worcestershire Waterworks Company by Severn Trent Water Limited and the merger of Colne Valley Water Company, Rickmansworth Water plc and Lee Valley Water plc into Three Valleys Water plc

“excepted hereditament” means a hereditament consisting of or comprising premises used wholly or mainly-

a. for the manufacture, storage, sale, display or demonstration of apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of water (any use for the receipt of payments for the use of water or sewerage services being disregarded); or b. as office premises of a designated person, where those premises are not situated on operational land of that person; or c. for both of the foregoing purposes.

Any warehouse used wholly or mainly for the purpose of storing apparatus or accessories for use by consumers of water and occupied by any water undertaking should appear in the appropriate local list, but any warehouse occupied used wholly or mainly for other purposes will fall within the class of central list hereditaments. Where a single building is used for both purposes, the paramount use should decide the issue, but where separate buildings within a single curtilage are used for different storage purposes, those satisfying the definition of an excepted hereditament should be made the subject of a local list entry.

3.7 Long distance pipelines

The relevant hereditaments are cross-country pipelines (within the meaning of the Pipe-lines Act 1962) situated within the area of more than one charging authority. A cross-country pipeline is one which exceeds 10 miles in length.

The designated persons whose relevant hereditaments appear in the central lists are as follows:

• The BOC Group plc
• BP Chemicals Limited
• BP Oil UK Limited
• British Steel plc
• Conoco Limited
• Conoco (UK) Limited
• Esso UK plc
• Imperial Chemical Industries plc
• Mainline Pipelines Limited
• The Rugby Group plc
• Shell Chemicals UK Limited
• Shell UK Limited
• United Kingdom Oil Pipelines Limited 13
• Walton - Gatwick Pipeline Company Limited 14

Note that these hereditaments, although shown in the central lists, are valued by conventional methods. Detailed instructions for the valuation and office procedures concerning this class will be found at RM5:780.