Current Business Rates Information

The request was successful.

Dear Northumberland County Council,

In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and subject to section 40(2) on personal data, could you provide me with the following current business rates account data for your local authority.

Please note that I do not require any personal data or data in respect of sole traders or partnerships. This is a request for information in respect of companies, charities, councils and other organisations only.

This request is only in respect of businesses that are deemed to be occupied for business rates purposes. Do not provide any information is respect of properties that are considered to be empty for business rates purposes.

The provision of this information is in the public interest as your authority is currently awarding grants and discounts worth tens of millions of pounds to ratepayers. Nationally, councils are awarding grants and discounts worth tens of billions of pounds to companies and organisations, some of which have turnovers of billions of pounds. Some of these ratepayers may previously have been reported as engaging in activities that aim to reduce the amount of tax that they are liable to pay. As such, I believe that the provision of this information is in the interest of taxpayers and the wider public.

• Property Reference
• Liable Party Name
• Property Address
• Rateable Value
• Property Description
• Billing or Correspondence address
• Liability Start Date
• Current entitlement to any Reliefs or Discounts (do not include details of any empty property reliefs)
• Start date of the entitlement to any current reliefs or discounts

Please provide these data as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel file.

Yours faithfully,

Jane Coates

Northumberland County Council

1 Attachment

Our Ref: 8540  

Dear Enquirer,

INFORMATION REQUEST

Thank you for your request for information which will be dealt with under
the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know the likely charges before proceeding.

If you have any queries about this matter please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Please note, that due to the recent outbreak of Covid-19, there may be a
delay in responding to your request. We appreciate your patience at this
busy period.

Kind regards

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk

Northumberland County Council

4 Attachments

Our Ref: 8540

5 February 2021

Dear Enquirer,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

I refer to your Freedom of Information request for details of business
rate properties.  Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding
to your request.

Right of Access

Section 1(1) of the Act provides any person making a request for
information to a public authority is entitled.

(a) to be informed in writing by the public authority whether it holds
information of the description specified in the request (which Section
1(6) of the Act designates as the "duty to confirm or deny"), and

(b) if that is the case, to have that information communicated to him.

The right is to obtain access to the information itself and not to the
document or record which contains it.

The Act creates a general right of access to information held by public
authorities subject to various exemptions.

Duty to confirm or deny

The public interest test requires Northumberland County Council to confirm
that we hold information in relation to business rates.

Exemptions

The Freedom of Information Act sets out various exemptions to the right of
access.

In the present case the County Council takes the view that the information
relating to your request is exempt under the following provisions;

Section 21 of the Act states that a public Authority does not need to
provide information under section 1 of the Act if that information is
reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means.

The information is normally available by accessing the following link:
http://opendata.northumberland.gov.uk/da...
 
Unfortunately our latest datasets have not been uploaded onto the website,
therefore I have attached them to this email.

Notice of Refusal

Please treat this letter as a Notice of Refusal as regards the information
covered by the Section 21 Exemption.

Advice and Assistance

The County Council recognises its statutory duty to provide advice and
assistance under Section 16 of the Act.

Subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, the Council
is seeking to be transparent and open in its response.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been
handled, you can request an internal review by writing within 2 months
from the date of this response to the Information Governance Office:

Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
NE61 2EF

Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]

Information Commissioner

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint,
you have a right by Section 50 of the Act to apply to the Information
Commissioner for a decision as to whether your request has been dealt with
in accordance with the requirements of the Act at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113
Email: [email address]

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours faithfully

FOI Coordinator - Revenues & Benefits
Information Governance Office
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF

Tel: 0345 600 6400
Email: [Northumberland County Council request email]
Web: http://www.northumberland.gov.uk