Ayrshire

AVJB Home
- Foreword
- - Introduction
  - Equality Duties
  - Consultation
  - Functions
  - Appendices
AVJB website

Introduction

1.1 Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board

Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board (“the Board”) has been established since 1996 and discharges jointly the responsibilities which North, South and East Ayrshire Councils hold as Valuation Authorities.

The members of the Board comprise 16 elected councillors who are appointed by the constituent authorities as follows:

East Ayrshire Council 5 members

North Ayrshire Council 6 members

South Ayrshire Council 5 members

The Board has appointed an Assessor who is responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the Valuation Roll and Council Tax List, which are the base documents required for the three Ayrshire Councils to ingather Non-Domestic Rates and Council Tax.

The three Councils have also appointed Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board to discharge jointly their functions with regard to Electoral Registration. The Board has therefore appointed the Assessor to be the Electoral Registration Officer and be responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the Register of Electors, which is essential for all European, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections.

The Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer currently has a full time equivalent staff of 46 persons to assist in carrying out these Statutory Functions. In view of the relatively small size of the organisation the Board has adopted South Ayrshire Council as a lead authority. That is to say that support is provided to the Board in the areas of Human Resources, Financial Management, Procurement, Facilities Management and Communications & Information Technology by South Ayrshire Council.

1.2 The Service Mission,Aims and Objectives of the Board

The Service Mission of the Board is “to provide equitable, customer focussed, best value, high quality, professional valuation and electoral services for all its stakeholders”.

The aims and objectives of the Board are to:

Ensure that our services are delivered in accordance with all statutory requirements.
Plan service development and delivery in accordance with the principles of Best Value and continuous improvement.
Consult our stakeholders about their needs and expectations.
Recognise our employees as both stakeholders and our most important asset.
Take individual and collective responsibility for the services provided by AVJB.
Encourage innovation and recognise achievement within the organisation.
Monitor and report performance levels to stakeholders.
Integrate equalities issues into all aspects of our service provision.
Build upon our achievements to date.

1.3 The Scope of the Board's Functions

The functions of Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board are of a limited nature. They are also heavily prescribed by legislation.

With regard to Council Tax the Assessor's staff inspect and survey each new domestic property as required in order to assess the appropriate valuation band at which it should be entered on the Valuation List. Once the appropriate band is determined the details are passed to the relevant Council in order that the Council may levy Council Tax.

Therefore, the Assessor's engagement with members of the public for Council Tax is generally in order to make an appointment to inspect a property, to issue a Valuation Notice giving details of the valuation band determined and to deal with appeals and enquiries which relate to the valuation band.

With regard to Non Domestic Rates, the Assessor's staff inspect and survey new or altered properties as required in order to assess the rateable value which should be entered in the Valuation Roll. The Assessor's staff will also re-assess the rateable value of every non-domestic property as part of each general revaluation, which takes place every 5 years. Once determined the details of new and revised rateable values are passed to the relevant Council in order that the non-domestic rates may be levied.

Therefore, the Assessor's engagement with members of the public for Non Domestic Rates is generally in order to make an appointment to inspect a property, to issue a Valuation Notice giving details of the rateable value determined and to deal with appeals and enquiries which relate to the rateable value.

With regard to Electoral Registration, the Assessor's staff undertake a canvass by issuing a canvass form by post to each household annually. In conjunction with other forms of checks a number of door to door enquiries will also be undertaken to supplement this information. The information gathered will be used to compile the Electoral Register. In addition to the annual canvass, individuals who are qualified to do so may apply to be added to the Electoral Register throughout the year.

Therefore, the Assessor's engagement with members of the public for Electoral Registration is generally to issue canvass forms and gather the information returned, together with dealing with general enquiries and applications to be added to the Electoral Register.

cont'd