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Dear Mr Brooke

Re: Freedom of Information Request - Eiger Capital Ltd

Your original request for information regarding Eiger Capital Ltd was not received by the Council. However, based on your subsequent emails I have contacted the relevant department which would hold the information you requested.

They have advised that they are unable to provide any information relating to your request. The remainder of this letter constitutes a refusal notice in accordance with Section 17 of the Act.

It is the Council's view that we are unable to provide any details regarding a company's payments of business rates and as such any information is exempt from disclosure under Section 43(2) of the Act [Commercial Interests]. We are also unable to confirm or deny whether or not we hold any information relating to specific companies including Eiger Ltd under Section 43 (3) of the Act.

Sections 43 (2) and (3) of the Act state that:

(2) Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).

(3) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that, compliance with section 1(1) (a) would, or would be likely to, prejudice the interests mentioned in subsection (2).

Our systems are such that where a credit exists the Council writes to the specific company to notify them of their position. We also send a refund application form so that they can claim the money. If we were to reveal a companies account position to any third party we would potentially be opening ourselves up to fraud as any other person could attempt to claim the refund. Therefore we do not reveal the specific details of payments made or not made on account. Where a company is struggling to meet its debts disclosure of this fact by the Council could add to their problems by revealing that they were behind in their payments. The Council therefore will not reveal the payment history on any account.

It is our opinion that the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the factors in favour of disclosure. Whilst we recognise that the arguments in favour of disclosure relate to transparency of the Council processes, disclosure of account details for any company would reveal the state of their accounts and potentially leave the Council open to fraud regarding credits which may or may not exist. As the Council has a duty to protect the public purse disclosure of this information would not be in the public interest. It is also not in the public interest for the Council to divulge details regarding companies which may affect their ability to conduct business by reducing confidence in their ability to function in a competitive market.

I am sorry we could not meet you request on this occasion. Should you be dissatisfied with the response, please set out your grounds in writing to the address below.

You also have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner under Section 50 of the Act. For your convenience, his contact details are:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Tel: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Fax: 01625 524510

Web: www.ico.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

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Under the Data Protection Act 1998, Data Subjects have rights to challenge, alter or erase the inaccurate and unlawful processing of their information. In the first instance please contact The Freedom of Information Officer, Information Services, 101 Orchardson Street, London NW8 8EA. If you are not satisfied with our response you may contact The Information Commissioner: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire Sk9 5AF