Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your enquiry. The enquiry has been logged on our FOI tracking system and is being dealt with.

The case number is shown in the subject line of the e-mail.

Should you have any further queries please quote this reference number.

Please use [email address] for any further correspondence.

Thank You

Halton Direct Link.

Sent By UserID: 70

Important Notice:
This message is intended for the indicated addressees only and may be confidential. If this message has come to you in error you must take no action based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone; Please inform us immediately.
** Please note that this message has been created in the knowledge that Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communication medium. We strongly advise that you bear this in mind and act on it when sending or receiving e-mail.
** This communication does not, unless expressly indicated by the sender in the body of the message, create or modify any contract
** Although this e-mail and its attachments are believed to be clear of any virus, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that the message does not carry any virus.
**Halton Borough Council does not accept liability for any statements made which are clearly the senders own personal views and are not expressly made on behalf of Halton Borough Council.
** The information contained in this email may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or other legal duty. Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the confidentiality of this email AND YOUR REPLY cannot be guaranteed.

Dear Mr Dooley

 

NON-DOMESTIC RATES

REQUEST UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 

 

Thank you for your e-mail of 4^th December 2013, requesting information in
respect of non-domestic rate accounts with Halton.

 

Halton Borough Council will attempt to satisfy any eligible request under
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 but the information requested
regarding the details of the liable parties responsible for any premises
within the rating list, is being denied under the exemptions contained in
sections 40 and 41 of this Act.

 

As you may be aware, section 40 provides an exemption in relation to
personal data, where the disclosure of such personal data would contravene
the Data Protection principles. Any accounts relating to particular
individuals would need to be excluded from any information supplied, as
this section of the Act applies in such instances. These principles are
identified in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 1998. Disclosure of
this information would be contrary to the first Data Protection principle,
which confirms that personal data should be processed fairly and lawfully.

 

Under section 41 of the Act, it is permitted to withhold from disclosure
any information which has been provided to the Authority in confidence.
The details that you have requested have been obtained from ratepayers for
the specific purposes of the determination of the liability for
non-domestic rates and the associated administration of such accounts.
There is an inherent and legitimate expectation that any information
supplied for these reasons, will not be made available to a wider audience
on an indiscriminate basis and it is considered that any such disclosure
would constitute an actionable breach of confidence.

 

Whilst section 41 of the Act offers an absolute exemption, it is accepted
that any duty of confidence is still subject to a public interest test and
attention must be given to disclosure on such grounds. Having given due
consideration to this matter, it is believed that there is no overriding
public interest in disclosing this information. Ratepayers have provided
information under a statutory obligation and, justifiably, expect that it
will be used for the purposes for which it was collected, treated
confidentially and not be released into the public domain without their
prior permission.

 

It is further considered that any disclosure, or use for purposes other
than which it was obtained, will increase reticence from liable parties in
the future provision of such information to Halton Borough Council. Such
resistance from ratepayers would be likely to have a detrimental impact on
the collection of non-domestic rates within the Borough in forthcoming
years.

 

The information requested regarding the property address, rateable value
and property reference number is available from the Valuation Office
Agency, 72 Church Street, Liverpool, L1 3AY or via the website at
[1]www.voa.gov.uk

 

I trust that this clarifies the situation but please do not hesitate to
contact me, should you need to discuss the matter further.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Phil Murphy

Business Rates Manager

Halton Borough Council

( 0151 511 8932

 

It's all happening IN HALTON

[2]Description: Description: Halton

[3]www.MerseyGateway.co.uk

[4]www.halton.gov.uk

 

: [5]Customer Email Survey

 

 

Customer Details
Title :
Forename : Mark
Surname : Dooley
Home Phone :
Work Phone :
Mobile Phone :
Email : [6][FOI #187999 email]

Address
Property Name :
Property Number :
Street :
Area :
Town :
County :
Postcode :

Details of Information Request

Request Topic(s) :
Requestor Category : Public
Business Name :
Job Title :
Information Requested : Dear Halton Borough Council,

I would like to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act for
the following-

A list of all Non Domestic Rates Assessments within your Billing
Authority, detailing the property address, Rateable value, Billing
Authority Reference and liable party for each.

Yours faithfully,

Important Notice:
This message is intended for the indicated addressees only and may be
confidential. If this message has come to you in error you must  take no
action based on it, nor must you copy or show it to anyone; Please inform
us immediately.
** Please note that this message has been created in the knowledge that
Internet e-mail is not a 100% secure communication medium. We strongly
advise that you bear this in mind and act on it when sending or receiving
e-mail.
** This communication does not, unless expressly indicated by the sender
in the body of the message, create or modify any contract
** Although this e-mail and its attachments are believed to be clear of
any virus, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that the
message does not carry any virus.
**Halton Borough Council does not accept liability for any statements made
which are clearly the senders own personal views and are not expressly
made on behalf of Halton Borough Council.
** The information contained in this email may be subject to public
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or other legal duty.
Unless the information is legally exempt from disclosure, the
confidentiality of this email AND YOUR REPLY cannot be guaranteed.

References

Visible links
1. http://www.voa.gov.uk/
3. http://www.merseygateway.co.uk/
http://www.merseygateway.co.uk/
4. http://www.halton.gov.uk/
5. http://www.halton.gov.uk/questionnaires/...
http://www.halton.gov.uk/questionnaires/...
6. mailto:[FOI #187999 email]