Who Are We ?

Orkney and Shetland Valuation Joint Board was established in 1996, under The Valuation Joint Boards (Scotland) Order 1996, and its primary purpose is to discharge all the functions of its two constituent authorities, Orkney Islands Council and Shetland Islands Council, as valuation authorities under the Valuation Acts.

The Board is a separate public body from the two constituent authorities but draws its membership from them, each nominating 5 councillors to serve on the Board. The Board is responsible for appointing the Assessor for Orkney and Shetland, an independent statutory official responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the Valuation Roll and the Council Tax Valuation List. The Assessor has also been appointed as Electoral Registration Officer for both Orkney and Shetland and is, therefore, also responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the Register of Electors.

The Assessor and his Staff

The current Assessor is Duncan M Leslie IRRV FRICS who was appointed in 1997. The Assessor is based in the Board's Orkney office in Kirkwall. His Assistant Assessor is Michael A Forbes BSc IRRV FRICS who is based in the Shetland Office in Lerwick.

 

The total number of staff is 12, divided between the two offices. Day-to-day business is sub-divided between the two offices on a geographic basis, with Orkney matters dealt with in the Kirkwall office and Shetland matters in Lerwick.

Duties of the Assessor

There are currently 14 assessors in Scotland, of which 4 are appointed by single local authorities (Scottish Borders; Dumfries and Galloway; Fife; and Glasgow City) and 10 are appointed by combinations of local authorities known as valuation joint boards (Orkney and Shetland; Highland and Western Isles; Grampian; Tayside; Central Scotland; Lothian; Lanarkshire; Renfrewshire; Dunbartonshire, Argyll and Bute; and Ayrshire). Although all assessors are therefore employees of local authorities or joint boards, assessors are independent officials rather than officers of the authorities which appointed them. The purpose of this independent status is to ensure that valuations are seen to be free from political influence or interference and is essential to the performance of the assessor's statutory duties which can involve situations where the interests of the local authority and the ratepayer may conflict.

The three main documents produced by the Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer are as follows -

 

The Valuation Roll sets out the rateable values of all non-domestic properties. The valuations are used by the local authorities as the base for collecting non-domestic rates.

 

The Council Tax Valuation List shows the council tax valuation band of every dwelling and is used by the local authorities as a base for determining and collecting Council Tax.

 

The Electoral Register lists the names of all persons entitled to vote at the various parliamentary and local elections.

All three of these documents are available for public inspection at the Assessor's offices, at the main offices of the two constituent authorities and at public libraries.

How to find us

The Board's Orkney office is at 8 Broad Street, Kirkwall,Orkney, KW15 1NX ,adjacent to the cathedral.

Tel No 01856 876222; Fax No 01856 870949

e-mail assessor@orkney.gov.uk and ero@orkney.gov.uk

The Shetland office is at Charlotte House, Commercial Road, Lerwick,Shetland, ZE1 0LX, adjacent to the town's main bus station.

Tel No 01595 745700; Fax No 01595 745710

e-mail assessor@shetland.gov.uk  and ero@shetland.gov.uk

THIS SITE WAS LAST UPDATED ON : 10th January, 2008