asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the fact that places of worship belonging to the Exclusive Brethren are now being valued for rates assessments, he will set out the guidelines for such valuations adopted by valuation officers working for the Inland Revenue.
The Lands Tribunal ruled in 1980 that two meeting halls occupied by the Exclusive Brethen could not be said to be places of public religious worship, and were therefore rateable. In those cases and in the cases of other halls where the facts are broadly analogous the valuation officer is applying the normal principles of rating valuation to assess the rateable values.
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the criteria by which valuation officers determine whether premises certified as places of religious worship are used as places of public worship.
Where a property is certified as a place of religious worship it is a question of fact whether it is used for public worship. However, in considering that question the valuation officer has regard to decisions of the courts.