9.—(1) A local authority may charge interest on an adult’s required amount provided that, before entering into the deferred payment agreement, it informs the adult that it proposes to do so and of the rate at which interest will be charged.
(2) The interest may be treated in the same way as the adult’s required amount, unless the adult requests to pay the interest separately.
(3) The interest rate is a rate that does not exceed the relevant rate for the relevant period plus 0.15%.
(4) The relevant rate is the weighted average interest rate on conventional gilts specified for the financial year in which the relevant period starts in the most recent report published before the start of the relevant period by the Office of Budget Responsibility(1) under section 4(3) of the 2011 Act(2).
(5) The relevant period is the period starting on—
(a)1 January and ending on 30 June in any year; or
(b)1 July and ending on 31 December in any year.
(6) “Financial year” (“blwyddyn ariannol”) has the meaning given in section 25(2) of the 2011 Act.
The Office of Budget Responsibility is established by section 3 of the 2011 Act.
A copy of the report is available at http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/.