England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is En ...

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 Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge, which in turn re ...

Introduction

The Poor Relief Act 1601 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 A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, 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 ...

to collect the rate. The

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...

at the

quarter sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

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 The Poor Relief Act 1662 (14 Car 2 c 12) was an Act of the Cavalier Parliament of England. It was ''an Act for the Better Relief of the Poor of this Kingdom'' and is also known as the Settlement Act or the Settlement and Removal Act. The purpose ...

to exclude the poor from other parishes. The

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...

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 In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority. ...

was that they set their own poor rate.

London

The

Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 The Metropolitan Poor Act 1867 was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, the first in a series of major reforms that led to the gradual separation of the Poor Law's medical functions from its poor relief functions. It also led to the creati ...

established a metropolitan poor rate to be collected across the area of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Coun ...

. The

London (Equalisation of Rates) Act 1894 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

provided that richer parishes in what was now the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

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

References

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