(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, a rating authority may, in respect of a rebate period beginning on or after 16th May 1975, with the consent of the Secretary of State, vary for their area the provisions of the standard scheme; and, where a rating authority have varied the standard scheme under this section, the standard scheme as so varied shall have effect, subject to subsection (6) below, for the purpose of the grant of rate rebates under this Part of this Act by that authority.
(2)Any variation of the standard scheme by a rating authority under subsection (1) above shall be so made as to secure that, on the best estimate which the rating authority can make—
(a)no person shall be granted less rate rebate in respect of any rebate period than he would have been granted under the standard scheme ; and
(b)the total of the rate rebates which will be granted under the standard scheme as so varied for any financial year will not exceed 110 per cent. of the total of the rate rebates which would have been granted for that year under the standard scheme.
(3)Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1) above, a variation under that subsection of the standard scheme may provide that, in ascertaining for the purposes of a rate rebate the income of a person to whom section 112 of this Act applies and his spouse (if any), there is a total disregard of war disablement pension and special widow's pension and of payments accepted by the Secretary of State as being analogous to such pensions.
(4)The Secretary of State may accept a payment as being analogous to such a pension as is mentioned in subsection (3) above—
(a)by directing rating authorities in general to regard payments of that description as analogous for the purposes of that subsection, or
(b)by notifying a rating authority that he accepts such a payment as analogous for those purposes.
(5)The Secretary of State's consent under subsection (1) above may be given generally or in a particular case and shall be subject to such conditions (if any) as may be specified in the consent.
(6)Where a rating authority has varied the provisions of the standard scheme under subsection (1) above and any person shows to the satisfaction of that authority that the standard scheme as so varied does not in his case fulfil the condition mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above, that person may apply for a rate rebate under the standard scheme, and in relation to that application the standard scheme shall have effect in place of the standard scheme as so varied, and the authority may grant a rate rebate under the standard scheme to that person.
(7)In this section—
" war disablement pension " means war disablement pension within the meaning of any regulations for the time being in force under the [1970 c. 55.] Family Income Supplements Act 1970;
" special widow's pension " means—
any widow's pension or allowance granted in respect of a death due to service or war injury under powers conferred by or under the [1916 c. 65.] Ministry of Pensions Act 1916, the [1917 c. 51.] Air Force (Constitution) Act 1917, the [1939 c. 82.] Personal Injuries (Emergency Provisions) Act 1939, the [1939 c. 83.] Pensions (Navy, Army, Air Force and Mercantile Marine) Act 1939, the [1947 c. 19.] Polish Resettlement Act 1947, the [1951 c. 8.] Home Guard Act 1951 or the [1969 c. 65.] Ulster Defence Regiment Act 1969;
a pension or allowance for a widow granted under any scheme under the Injuries in [1914 c. 30.] War (Compensation) Act 1914, the [1914 c. 18.] Injuries in War Compensation Act 1914 (Session 2), or the [1915 c. 24.] Injuries in War (Compensation) Act 1915 or under any War Risk Compensation Scheme for the Mercantile Marine.