Dear Sir

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 - INFORMATION REQUEST

Your request for information has now been considered and the information is now enclosed.

A redacted version of the information requested is enclosed. Names and private addresses of individuals and sole traders have been removed.

Disclosure of the names and addresses would breach the first data protection principle. Under Section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the information is exemption from disclosure and your request is refused.

Whilst considering the exemption I assessed the public interest.

I accept that there is a public interest in favour of disclosure and acknowledge that there is a public interest in knowing whether authorities are collecting taxes effectively and that public authorities are acting transparently and in an open manner, however, I have concluded that these legitimate interests cannot be met without disclosure of personal data. As stated earlier, this disclosure would be unfair for the purposes of the first data protection principle. The assessment of fairness included looking at whether the third party would expect that his/her information might be disclosed to others and/or whether the third party would expect that his/her information would be kept private. In this case there is an assumed expectation among the account holders that information relating to their accounts would not be disclosed to the public at large.

Please note: Where the account is in the name of an individual but the address is clearly a business address this record has not been removed only the individuals' name.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on HMSOnline at: http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/licences/click-use-home.htm

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues to be protected by the copyright of the person or organisation from which the information originated. Applications for re-use must be made in writing and state the purpose for which the information will be reused. Under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations we may choose to allow re-use under licence, imposing conditions on the re-use of the information to ensure it is not used in a manner inconsistent with our copyright and we may also decide to charge a re-use fee.

If you have any queries, concerns or if you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact me as above.

If the complaint still cannot be resolved you may contact the Council's Assistant Director (Personnel & Performance) at the address given above.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow. Cheshire SK9 5AF 

Yours faithfully

Jane Holden

Corporate Services Officer

Date:

Tel No:

Contact Name:

Your Ref:

Our Ref:

Barrow Borough Council

Corporate Services Division

Legal Department

TOWN HALL · DUKE STREET

BARROW-IN-FURNESS · CUMBRIA LA14 2LD

FAX: (01229) 876515

DX No: 63917 BARROW-IN-FURNESS

www.barrowbc.gov.uk

Borough Treasurer

Mohamad Saleh

Director of Corporate Services

Ola Oduwole

Chief Executive

Tom Campbell

Director of Regeneration & Community Services

Phil Huck