In England and Wales the poor rate was a tax on property levied in each parish, which was used to provide poor relief. It was collected under both the Old Poor Law and the New Poor Law. It was absorbed into 'general rate' local taxation in the 1920s, and has continuity with the currently existing Council Tax.

Introduction

The

Poor Relief Act 1601 The Poor Relief Act 1601 (43 Eliz 1 c 2) was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act for the Relief of the Poor 1601, popularly known as the Elizabethan Poor Law, "43rd Elizabeth" or the Old Poor Law was passed in 1601 and created a poor la ...

consolidated earlier poor relief legislation and introduced a system of rating property. The introduction of the poor rate required the authorities, known as a vestry, in each parish to meet once a year to set the poor rate and to appoint an

overseer of the poor An overseer of the poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England such as the United States. England In England, overseers of the poo ...

to collect the rate. The justices of the peace at the quarter sessions had a role in checking the accounts of the poor rate.

Reform

The system of rating was subject to reform, such as excluding property outside of the parish in which a rate was paid. Because the poor rate was collected and spent locally within a single parish the notion of settlement was confirmed by the Poor Relief Act 1662 to exclude the poor from other parishes. The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 removed responsibility for collection of the poor rate from the parish vestries. The collection of poor rate continued to be organised by parish, now collected by the poor law guardians for the parish. Although parishes were often grouped into unions, each parish could be set a different rate depending on the expenditure. During the 19th century a number of anomalies in the parish system were corrected, for example where parishes were divided into chapelries each acting much like a distinct parish. The criteria used by the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income< ...

for areas that should form civil parishes was that they set their own poor rate.

London

The Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 established a metropolitan poor rate to be collected across the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The

London (Equalisation of Rates) Act 1894 London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

provided that richer parishes in what was now the County of London would subsidise the poor rate of the less wealthy that had higher expenditure.

Abolition

The system of rating for the poor rate was used as the basis of other rates, such as the general county rate from 1738. The separate poor rate was amalgamated with the local district or borough general rate by the

Rating and Valuation Act 1925 A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

. The role of parishes and guardians in the setting and collection of rates was abolished by 1930. The districts and boroughs became the

rating authorities A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of quality, quantity, or some combination of both. Rating or ratings may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness of an individual, c ...

for setting and collecting rates and this has continuity with the current

billing authorities Billing may refer to: Invoicing *The process of sending an invoice (a bill) to customers for goods or services **Electronic billing **Medical billing, a payment practice within the United States health system **Telecommunications billing, systems ...

that set and collect Council Tax.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poor Rate English Poor Laws Welsh Poor Laws Local taxation in England Rates in the United Kingdom Local taxation in Wales