Part III Community Charges

102 Transitory enforcement provisions for England and Wales.

1

Schedule 4 to the M1 1988 Act (community charges: enforcement) shall be amended as follows.

2

In paragraph 7 (distress), after sub-paragraph (3) there shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph—

3A

The regulations may include provision that—

a

no person shall make a distress unless he is an officer of the authority concerned, or he is a person of a prescribed description and any prescribed conditions are fulfilled;

b

no person making a distress shall seize goods of a prescribed description.

3

In paragraph 8 (commitment to prison), in sub-paragraph (1)(a), for the words “it appears to the authority that no (or insufficient) goods of the debtor can be found" there shall be substituted the words “ the person making the distress reports to the authority that he was unable (for whatever reason) to find any or sufficient goods of the debtor ”.

4

After paragraph 13 there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

13A Admissibility of evidence

1

Regulations under this Schedule may include provision that, in any proceedings before a magistrates’ court under any provision included by virtue of the preceding provisions of this Part of this Schedule—

a

a statement contained in a document of record shall be admissible as evidence of any fact stated in it of which direct oral evidence would be admissible; and

b

a certificate which is made with respect to a document of record produced by a computer and purports to be signed by a responsible person shall be admissible as evidence of anything which is stated in it to the best of his information and belief.

2

In this paragraph—

  • “document of record” means a document constituting or forming part of a record compiled by the authority concerned;

  • “responsible person” means a person occupying a responsible position in relation to the operation of the computer;

  • “statement” includes any representation of fact, whether made in words or otherwise.

5

In paragraph 15 (joint and several liability), in sub-paragraph (3), for the words “it appears to the authority concerned that no (or insufficient) goods of that person can be found" there shall be substituted the words “ the person making the distress reports to the authority that he was unable (for whatever reason) to find any or sufficient goods of the chargeable person ”.