Details of Empty Commercial Properties

Dear Miss Davis

Thank you for your email. I have sent your request to the relevant
officer and you should receive a reply within 20 working days.

Kind regards

Ellie

Regards
Ellie Hogston
Democratic and Member Services Officer
Winchester City Council
Tel: 01962 848155

show quoted sections

<<RV under 15000.xls>> <<RVRelief.xls>>

Dear Ms Davis

Re: Freedom of Information request - Empty Commercial Properties with
rateable values

I refer to your request made under the Freedom of Information Act,
received on 16 April. You asked for addresses of long term empty
commercial properties within the area of Winchester City Council, together
with the rateable value and the name of the owner of each.

You have not defined "long term" so I am treating your request as relating
to properties that have been empty for more than 6 months.

The attachments include a list of those empty properties that are not
owned by individuals with the appropriate rateable values and the name of
the owner where they are not an individual. The Council considers that
addresses of properties that are owned by individuals are exempt from
disclosure for the reasons set out below.

The Information Tribunal, helpfully considered this issue in May 2007 in
a case where the London Borough of Bexley (LBB) appealed against a
decision of the Information Commissioner who had decided that lists of
empty properties, and the owners details should be released. The
Tribunal's 40 page decision can be viewed at:
[1]www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/Documents/decisions/MrCPEnglandandLonBorough
ofBexleyvInfoComm10May2007.pdf

Although this decision deals with empty residential properties, I consider
that the same principles apply.

The Tribunal considered two issues: firstly whether disclosure of a list
of empty properties would be likely to prejudice crime prevention and
detection (the s31 exemption) and secondly whether disclosure of names and
addresses of owners and addresses of empty properties amounted to
disclosure of personal data and would be caught by the data protection
exemption (the s40 exemption).

1. In considering the s31 exemption, the Tribunal decided that the
Information Commissioner had been wrong and that disclosure of the list
would be likely to have a significant negative impact on the prevention of
crime. This exemption is subject to the public interest test set out in
section 2(2)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act ("the FOIA"). The
Tribunal concluded on this point that there is an inherent strong public
interest in avoiding likely prejudice to the prevention of crime and
therefore insofar as properties are owned by individuals, the public
interest favours maintaining the exemption (i.e. withholding the
information). However for those properties owned by those other than
individuals, the public interest is in favour of disclosure - this is
because the impact of crime on an individual is not present.

2. The s40 exemption was also considered. One of the issues was whether
addresses of empty properties, where owned by individuals, could amount to
personal data. The Tribunal concluded that the addresses were personal
data because of the likelihood of identification of the owner and
processing of such data would be unfair and unlawful.

The Council is effectively bound to follow the above decision and
therefore, this letter acts as a partial Refusal Notice under section 17
of the Freedom of Information Act. I consider the addresses of all empty
properties owned by individuals to be exempt from disclosure under
sections 31 and 40 of the Act. In applying the public interest test to the
section 31 exemption, I consider that the balance falls in favour of
maintaining the exemption as disclosure would be likely to prejudice crime
prevention. For similar reasons, the names of the owners of empty
properties, where they are individuals will be exempt under s40.

I am obliged to draw to your attention your rights, should you be
dissatisfied with the way in which this request has been handled or with
the outcome. You can make a complaint to the Council (through our
complaints procedure), details of which can be found on our web-site
[2]www.winchester.gov.uk . If you remain dissatisfied with the way in
which your request has been handled, you can make a complaint to the
Information Commissioner who is responsible for ensuring compliance with
the Freedom of Information Act by public authorities. Details can be found
on [3]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk or the Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Fiona Sutherland
Planning and Information Solicitor
Winchester City Council
City Offices
Colebrook Street
Winchester SO23 9LJ
Tel: 01962 848 513

E-mails and any attachments from Winchester City Council are confidential.

If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender
immediately by replying to the e-mail, and then delete it without making
copies or using it in any way.Although any attachments to the message will
have been checked for viruses before transmission, you are urged to carry
out your own virus check before opening attachments, since the City
Council accepts no responsibility for loss or damage caused by software
viruses.

Senders and recipients of e-mail should be aware that under UK Data
Protection and Freedom of Information legislation these contents may have
to be disclosed in response to a request.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/Do...
2. http://www.winchester.gov.uk/
3. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/