Policy Statement regarding Continuations
This statement updates and replaces the Panel’s previously promulgated policy regarding continuation requests. This version takes effect with respect to all rating cases, relating to entries in the Valuation Roll prepared following the 2017 Revaluation, cited for hearing after 30 September 2017.
Context
This Statement has been agreed in order to provide guidance to individual Committee Chairmen and Secretaries who may have to handle requests for continuations before future Committee hearings and also to the parties cited to present cases before those hearings.
This Statement relates solely to rating valuation cases being handled, for the appellant, by professional agents (including corporate ratepayers’ “in-house” surveyors) and to requests by either party for continuations from the hearing for which a case is cited. It does not relate to council tax cases or to cases taken personally by lay ratepayers. Applications for continuations in Appeals in these cases are dealt with below.
All parties are reminded of the provisions of Regulation 11 of the Valuation Appeal Panels and Committees (Scotland) Regulations 1996 which provide that the valuation appeal committee shall sit at such place and such times
“…. as the chairman of that panel shall decide, having consulted with the appropriate authority (i.e. the Valuation Joint Board) …. and having had due regard to the convenience of panel members and the parties who are to appear before the committee”.
We believe it is important to avoid abortive hearings which place unnecessary burdens on panel members, who are all unpaid volunteers, and thereby place unnecessary costs on the valuation authority which is obliged to meet the Panel’s expenses. We also believe that where timing difficulties arise for one party, as much notice as possible should be given to the other party so as to allow their other work to continue or be re-scheduled with as little disruption as possible. In considering the possibility of continuing a case to a later date, a committee must also take into account the fact that all cases must be disposed of by statutory deadlines and such a continuation could therefore, at times, reduce the time available for the committee or the assessor to deal even-handedly with all other cases that are outstanding.
The Valuation Appeal Committee (Procedure in Appeals under the Valuation Acts) (Scotland) Regulations 1995, as amended, provide, inter alia, a timetable for the citation of cases, exchange of information and other actions which may precede a hearing. (All subsequent references in this Policy to Regulations are to those of the 1995 Regulations, as amended.) If all parties are attempting to conduct the preparation of cases within this framework, then we believe it should be clear to them at least 14 days prior to a hearing date if there is any substantive problem in having a case proceed as cited.
If, by that date, the exchange of information required by Regs. 10 & 12 has taken place, there should not be a need for a further period for exchange of information prior to a new hearing date. Similarly, if no application has been made under Reg. 4(1) for referral to the Lands Tribunal for Scotland, then the opportunity to make such an application need not be repeated.
Consideration of Applications for Continuation prior to a Hearing
Without prejudice to the rights conferred upon the parties by the terms of Reg. 9, in particular paragraph (4) thereof, if, more than 14 days prior to the date a case is cited for hearing, either party, or both parties jointly,
(a) waive the right to 105 days notice of a revised hearing date (Reg 8(4)),
(b) waive the right to make an application under Reg. 4(1),
(c) request a continuation to a later date, and
(d) provide good reasons for that request,
then the Chairman and Secretary, acting together, may consider the request on behalf of the Committee. Where the request is made by one of the parties only, the application and the reason(s) for it will be intimated to the other parties whose comments on it will be invited for consideration by the Chairman and Secretary when they consider the request. If they agree to a request they may grant a continuation either
(i) to a future date already fixed for a sitting,
(ii) to another date on which they believe it will be practicable to arrange a sitting, or
(iii) to a date to be determined later if, for example, the availability of particular persons has still to be ascertained.
If they do not agree a request it will be referred to the original Committee for consideration and the parties will be advised to be present or represented as the case may be called to proceed if the continuation request is not granted by the Committee and may be dismissed if no-one is present to present the case when it is called.
Good reasons for agreeing to an application for a continuation might include any of the following. (This list is illustrative, not exhaustive.)
(a) A conflicting requirement to appear before a Higher Court or Tribunal or a prior citation to appear before another Committee.
(b) The fact that either party wishes to be represented by particular Counsel who would not be available but would be available soon thereafter. (In such an event it would be helpful to indicate the dates of Counsel’s availability and to ascertain whether the other party could be appropriately represented on these dates.)
(c) The parties agree that the case (or a group of related cases) might take more than one day to hear and it would be preferable to allocate particular dates for that case or group.
(d) The parties agree that particular further information needs to be ingathered and analysed and give an agreed forecast of how long that process is expected to take.
When parties suggest alternative dates (when, for example, Counsel might be available) or are seeking any continuation that might imply an increase in the number of hearings to be scheduled as the statutory deadline for disposal of cases by the Committee is approaching, it will be particularly important for the Chairman and Secretary to consider whether the dates suggested or apparently available are ones on which it appears practicable to assemble a Committee, taking account of the burden of other hearings already arranged in order to hear other cases. At all times, they will need to consider the convenience of Panel members and the interests of the other party in the event that a continuation is granted.
Consideration of Applications at a Committee Hearing
Applications for continuations lodged within 14 days of the date on which they are cited for hearing will be considered by the Committee on the day of the hearing. Parties lodging such applications should remain aware that in the event they are not granted then the case may be called for hearing and, if no-one is present to present the case, may be dismissed.
Without prejudice to the terms of Reg. 10, in particular paragraph (3) thereof, if an agent requests a continuation at a late date, especially if he has not engaged in timeous exchange of information with the assessor, it will normally be appropriate for the agent to appear at the hearing to explain why he is requesting a continuation and to allow both parties to make submissions as to when it should be heard. If an agent does not appear in these circumstances, it should be the normal assumption that the case will be dismissed on grounds of non-appearance if the assessor so requests or the Committee considers this appropriate.
Last Minute Indisposition
It can always be the case that someone cannot attend a hearing (or any other business) because of illness, transport disruption or a number of other reasons such as those personal emergencies for which insurers underwriting travel insurance would cover cancellation of foreign travel. In such cases it will generally be appropriate for the committee to agree to a continuation to a date when it is reasonable to assume the emergency will have passed. Such reasons may also cause someone who intends to attend a hearing to fail to do so and have their case dismissed for non-appearance. It would be entirely appropriate for a committee to recall such a dismissal if details of the relevant personal emergency are communicated to the Secretary with a request for the case to be heard at a later date.
Applications for Continuations by Lay Appellants
In Appeals where the appellants do not have professional representation and applications for continuations are made, such applications will be dealt with on a case by case basis on their individual merits. These applications may be considered at any time in advance of the due date for the Hearing by the Chairman and Secretary using their delegated authority.