FAQ 45

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• What is the Valuation Tribunal?

  The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals about council tax and non-domestic (business) rates. Appeals arise when the Valuation Office Agency or the council do not agree with a ratepayer or council taxpayer’s contention and the taxpayer or ratepayer is not satisfied. The Valuation Tribunal also deals with a small number of appeals against drainage boards’ assessments of drainage rates.

  The Valuation Tribunal is independent of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), whose staff value homes and business properties for council tax and business rates. It is also independent of the billing authorities (local councils), which send out council tax and rates bills.

  The Valuation Tribunal is resourced from public funds (allocated from Parliament’s Public Spending Review). It is an independent appeals body for citizens to use freely, allowing them to challenge decisions of the VOA, councils and drainage boards in matters of valuation and liability. The Valuation Tribunal provides a free service and it cannot award costs. However, appellants have to meet their own costs in going to the tribunal hearing. They can represent themselves or have someone to speak for them, or can submit their case and evidence in writing.

  The Valuation Tribunal is the name that includes the judicial and administrative parts of the service. The judicial part is a statutory body called the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE), which is supported by the administrative part, also a statutory body, the Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS).

FAQ 46

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• What is the VTE?

  The Valuation Tribunal for England is the judicial arm of the Valuation Tribunal. It came into being on 1 October 2009, replacing the 56 valuation tribunals that existed previously in England, and was established by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007.

  In January 2009, Professor Graham Zellick CBE, QC was appointed as the first President. There are also four Vice-Presidents. The President and the Vice-Presidents have all been appointed by the Lord Chancellor and receive remuneration for the work they do.

  The panel of chairmen and members are all volunteers who receive training and are experienced in hearing appeals. They come from a wide cross section of society. They are not paid but they may make claims to cover travel, meals and, where necessary, earnings lost due to their tribunal duties.

FAQ 47

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• What is the VTS?

  The Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) was created as a corporate body by the Local Government Act 2003 and formally established as a non-departmental public body on 1 April 2004. It is sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG).

  The VTS Board comprises a Chairman and members appointed by the Secretary of State. The majority of Board members must be members of the panel of persons who act as Chairmen of the Valuation Tribunal for England. The Board also includes the President of the Valuation Tribunal for England, Professor Graham Zellick QC.

  The Chairman of the VTS is Anne Galbraith CBE, who was appointed in 2004 and re-appointed to serve until March 2012. The Deputy Chairman is Peter Lawton, who is also a Chairman of the Valuation Tribunal for England.

  The other current Board members are Margaret May, John O'Shea, Ian Tighe and Ronald Barham.

  The VTS appoints a Chief Executive with the consent of the Secretary of State. Tony Masella has been Chief Executive since 1 February 2010.

  The VTS has the following functions in providing or arranging the services required for the operation of the Valuation Tribunal for England: accommodation; staff (including clerks to panels); information technology; equipment; training for members and staff of tribunals; and provision of general advice about procedures relating to proceedings before tribunals.

  Tribunal clerks are paid employees of the VTS and attend hearings to welcome the parties who are present and to advise the panel on points of procedure and law. However, they play no part in making the decisions.They and the other tribunal staff act as contact points with the parties to appeals; they can give general advice about the process and send out guidance.

  The VTS works in accordance with a corporate governance framework and requirements laid down by its sponsoring department.

FAQ 01

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• What is an appeal?

   

  An appeal is when you think a decision is wrong and you have a right in law to ask an independent tribunal to look at it.

  By law, the Valuation Tribunal can look at appeals about

  • the council tax band of a residential property
  • whether you should be paying council tax
  • how much council tax you pay (your entitlement to a reduction, but not including benefits)
  • whether the date shown on a completion notice for your property is correct
  • the rateable value on your business premises
  • an invalidity notice issued by a valuation or listing officer
  • a penalty notice you have received for failing to provide certain information
  • land drainage rates.

  There are time limits for making some types of appeals.

FAQ 27

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• Can I contact you to ask for advice?

  
  Yes. We will reply to any reasonable requests for help or advice. You are welcome to visit any of our offices or to contact us by phone, fax or e-mail. Details of how you can contact us are shown on our notices, or you can click here. As the Valuation Tribunal has to remain independent we can only advise you about general matters and we cannot tell you what evidence you have to present or whether you have a good case for appeal. You may get advice from:

  • Citizens’ Advice Bureau (www.adviceguide.org.uk);
  • A solicitor, for example through the Community Legal Service (www.legalservices.gov.uk);
  • A commercial rating surveyor, for example a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (www.rics.org) or the Rating Surveyors’ Association (www.ratingsurveyorsassociation.org). The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (phone: 020 7222 7000) will provide you with the name of your nearest recognised rating surveying firm, who will give you up to 30 minutes of free advice.

FAQ 58

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• How is a Valuation Tribunal decision made?

  The panel will make its decision based on the evidence and argument presented to it, bearing in mind what the law (legislation and case law) allows. The members of the panel may ask the parties questions to find the information they need. The panel will retire at the end of the hearing to deliberate and will call the clerk in to provide legal advice and to help draft the reasons for the decision. However, the clerk takes no part in the making of the decision.

FAQ 29

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• How can I make a complaint about your staff?

  If you have a complaint about the way the staff from our offices have handled your case (not the panel members or their decision), you can do the following.

  • You should first write to the office whose administration you are complaining about. They will try to resolve the matter for you and may pass your complaint to the Operations Manager.
  • At any time, you can ask a Member of Parliament (MP) to take up your complaint, either with the Operations Manager or the Chief Executive of the Valuation Tribunal Service. Or, you can ask an MP to pass the matter to the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman.

  Click here to see our Customer Charter and Complaints Policy.

FAQ 50

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• How can I make a complaint about the panel members at the hearing?

  If you have a complaint about the way any of the panel members handled the hearing (but not the decision), you should first write to the President at the

  Valuation Tribunal
  2nd Floor, Black Lion House
  45 Whitechapel Road
  London
  E1 1DU

  Telephone: 020 7426 3900
  Email: vte@vto.gsx.gov.uk

FAQ 30

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• What is your equal opportunities policy?

  
  We aim to treat everyone fairly. No-one making an appeal should receive less favourable treatment because of their race, colour, nationality, age, religion, ethnic origin, sex, sexuality, marital status or disability.

  We produce our leaflets in large print, in Braille and on audio CD.

  We can translate our leaflets into Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Gujarati, Polish, Punjabi, Urdu and Vietnamese.

  If you are coming to a hearing to present your case and you have problems communicating or understanding English, we can provide assistance, for example a signer or an interpreter. Please tell us which language you speak. We will pay the costs of providing this assistance. Please let us know in good time if you have any extra needs.

FAQ 31

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• How do I make a request under the Freedom of Information Act?

  
  Please check whether we already publish what you need, under our publication scheme. Much of the information listed in our publication scheme is available on this website. If it is not, or if you require information that you think we hold and that is not within our publication scheme, please email your request to foi@vto.gsx.gov.uk

FAQ 49

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• What is your publication scheme?

  
  Click here to see our publication scheme.

FAQ 53

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• My question is not here how can I find out what I want to know?

  We may not deal with what you want to know. Click here to see what we don’t do in connection with council tax and rating.  Alternatively click on the Contact Us link to email your question to us.