accurate NNDR SBR relief infiormation NELC

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 (FOIA) REQUEST
ACCURATE NNDR SBR RELIEF INFORMATION NELC

Thank you for your request for information, which has been passed to me as the Customer
Service Manager covering North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) area in the context that
you have made earlier requests to NELC regarding the number of businesses that are
eligible for small business rate relief.

I note NELC have advised you that, “The total number of businesses under the £18,000
rateable value threshold that may qualify is 3,535”. Of these “1,423 currently receive relief.”
They have also said, “In response to your second question, I am pleased to confirm that the
rateable value of business properties for North East Lincolnshire Council is held on both the
Business Rate processing system and in physical list provided by the Valuation Office”

Background
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), which is an executive agency of HM Revenue and
Customs (HMRC), is responsible for assessing all business and non-domestic property in
England and Wales, giving each one a rateable value and publishes these in the rating lists
which are available on our website www.voa.gov.uk. If you use the “Agent mode” you can
use a mixture of address details and rateable value (from – to) to identify the properties
under £18,000 rateable value in a specific area.

Also in our FOIA Publication Scheme which is published on our website, we state under
“Lists and registers” (Information held in registers required by law and other lists and
registers relating to the functions of the authority.)
“The Agency publishes and maintains the council tax and rating lists for England and
Wales which are available on our website. These, together with further advice and
information are also available through the Council Tax or Business Rates homepages.
Access and use of this information as published on the website is free. If paper copies
are requested then a charge may be made but we will advise you of those charges
before providing the information.

Information from the rating list can also be provided in electronic format on request but
charges will apply – for further information please contact
[email address]. The council tax lists / information are not available in

electronic format.” Therefore you are free to use the website application and if say you
want a copy of the 2010 rating list for NELC in electronic format you should contact our
Data Strategy team and there will be a charge.

As you are aware Billing Authorities such as NELC are responsible for using the
rateable value to work out the rates bill, applying any discounts or reliefs and collect
the money. As part of this process the Authority can hold the name of the ratepayer
including the application of SBR.

Your requests:

Question (1) “Is there any way of listing the number of all business in the NELC with a
rateable value less than £ 18,000, or 2 with a total rateable value less than £ 18,000
(qualifying nndr regs http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/2004331... , (This is a link to The
Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) Order 2004)
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/... (This is a link to
The Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief) (England) (Amendment) (No 2)
Order 2009.), and then subtracting those accounts that have business elsewhere. (therefore
getting an accurate number of potentially qualifying business for my council for this relief)”

Reply to (1) I can confirm that we hold the rating list information. Also, as part of our function
of assessing and maintaining the non-domestic rating lists, we hold the names of the
respective ratepayers for properties (hereditaments) in NELC in a number of different forms,
via proposals, forms of return, following ratepayer contacts and via / from other parties (like
billing authorities) sharing this information with us to enable us to meet this statutory function.

That said, when another law prevents disclosure of information, it is exempt from disclosure
because of section 44(1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). Furthermore, if
confirming or denying information is held would itself reveal information which is exempt
under section 44(1)(a), the duty to confirm or deny that information is held does not arise;
section 44(2) FOIA refers.

Section 18(1) of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA) provides
that the VOA as HMRC Officials may not disclose information which is held in connection
with a function of the Revenue and Customs. The information you are seeking, if held, would
be held in connection with our function to maintain the NELC rating list.

Section 23(1) CRCA further provides that where information falling in section 18(1) relates to
a ‘person’ (person being much wider than but can include ratepayer) who is identified or who
could be identified, the exemption in section 44(1) (a) FOIA applies. ‘Person’ includes both
living persons and legal entities such as companies, trusts and charities (see paragraph 110
of the explanatory notes to the CRCA).

Therefore, to engage the section 44 FOIA exemption we consider ‘Is the information held by
us for one of our functions?’ and ‘Does it relate to an identifiable person?’ If the answer to
both the questions is ‘yes’ the information is exempt from the right to information under FOIA.
And that applies no matter whether the applicant is a third party, the individual/organisation
or someone acting with the individual’s/organisation’s permission.

Taken together, the above removes information about ratepayers from the right of access
under FOIA. Section 44 is an absolute exemption and therefore does not require a
consideration of the public interest.

Question (2). “If there is, can I have the numbers for NELC for 2005-2010 each year (best
approximation would suffice if easier)” You go onto qualify this question by saying: “Feel
free to adjust any of the parameters that I have suggested to enable you to successfully
produce this”.

2

Reply Because information about who the ratepayer is / was (2005-2010) can be held in
paper and electronic forms (on different databases) sometimes with limited knowledge of the
financial year to assign it to, so I believe the cost of complying with your request as it stands
would exceed the appropriate limit of £600. The appropriate limit has been specified in
regulations and for central Government it is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost
of one person spending 3½ working days in determining whether the Agency holds the
information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12 of the
FOIA the VOA is not obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing your
request further. As the fees regulations provide that where, as here, the cost of providing the
information will exceed £600 it is at the discretion of the public authority to either decline to
deal with the request as too expensive or charge the full costs. Our policy, in line with
HMRC, is not to deal with requests where the cost exceeds £600.

However if we are to look at the raw data held (the building blocks) that is easily accessible
to us for this financial year. I can confirm we also hold a list of ratepayers that was supplied
by NELC which identifies ratepayers’ names for over 5000 non domestic rating assessments
in their area. Also the VOA will shortly be publishing the total number of “hereditaments” in a
Billing Authority. Hereditaments includes ‘properties’ but is the correct word for a rating
occupation / rating assessment. For example an Advertising Hoarding is rateable occupation
or rating assessment rather than a ‘property’.

NELC having had regard to similar data sets namely the rating list and their information on
who the ratepayers are (at an earlier date?) have identified that there are 3,535 possible
properties by rateable value in their area and 1,423 claiming relief. Accordingly as the
information is reasonably accessible to you it is exempt information under section 21 (1) of
the FOIA. Also if you want to replicate their searches I hope I have clearly explained that the
rating list is in the public domain (how you can purchase a copy) and why I am barred by
statute from disclosing ratepayer’s names to you.

Question (3). “Have you been asked since 2004 by any council tax manager of exec (or any
council officer) to produce any lists similar to allow them to accurately asses qualifiedly nndr
accounts. Just like I am above. I am interested if any council has attempted to get better
figures to manage there systems better I understand this last question may be a bit difficult to
answer and may require a manual search of the records.

I don't wish to tie up your time to much so if this last question is not easily answerable, I will
accept you leaving it out. I ask this because my research with a few councils show that this
rate is less than 50% of the potential accounts get this. I am just a member of the public that
has been on the vicious end of this system and am interested if any of the substantial well
paid managers at my council”

Reply You have intimated this request is very wide in nature and I believe the cost of
complying with your request as it stands which would require a search through paper and
electronic records throughout the VOA to establish whether it was held would exceed the
appropriate limit of £600. The appropriate limit has been specified in regulations and for
central Government it is set at £600. This represents the estimated cost of one person
spending 3½ working days in determining whether the Agency holds the information, and
locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Under section 12 of the FOIA the VOA is
not obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing your request further.
As the fees regulations provide that where, as here, the cost of providing the information will
exceed £600 it is at the discretion of the public authority to either decline to deal with the
request as too expensive or charge the full costs. Our policy, in line with HMRC, is not to
deal with requests where the cost exceeds £600.

3

Pragmatically and outside of the FOIA if say an official from NELC approached me or
someone in the VOA with a similar worded request we would suggest that they have the data
themselves and to contact the relevant official within their authority.

If you are not happy with my reply you may request a review by writing to The Chief
Executive's Office: Customer Service Team, Valuation Office Agency, Wingate House,
93/107 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5BU. email: [email address] .
You must request a review within 2 months of the date of this letter. It would assist the
review if you set out which aspects of the reply concern you and why you are dissatisfied.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply
directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot
make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the
Valuation Office Agency. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me. Please remember to quote the
reference number 11738642.2/CEO in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Paul Hendry

Paul Hendry MBE
Customer Service Manager
Valuation Office Agency