Business Rates

The request was successful.

Dear Middlesbrough Council,

Please can you provide me with the following information under the
Freedom Of Information Act 2000 in an excel format:-

(a) List all non-domestic properties and their addresses.
(b) The names of the Rate payers referred to above for each
property (excluding all the personal information).
(c) The billing authority reference number for each property (Not
the account number).
(d) The date the rate payer became liable for the bill
(e) Details of what reliefs, if any, the rate payer receives (Mandatory, Discretionary, Exempt)

Can you also please make sure this information is as up-to-date as possible at the time of receiving the request

Yours faithfully,

Gareth Elton

foi, Middlesbrough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Elton

REF NO:  010001

Thank you for your recent enquiry, received on 22/08/2016, in relation to
Business Rates.  I can confirm that your enquiry is receiving attention
and a response will be provided within 20 working days following receipt
of your enquiry as allowed under the Freedom of Information Act
legislation.

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

Please do not hesitate to contact me direct on (01642) 729696/729698 or
email [Middlesbrough Council request email] should you require any further
advice or assistance with this or any other matter.

Yours sincerely

Nathan Oxnard

Information Governance Assistant

Middlesbrough Council

Democratic Services

Organisation and Governance

PO Box 503

Town Hall

Middlesbrough

TS1 9FX (for directions please use TS1 2RT)

Telephone: (01642) 729812

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foi, Middlesbrough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Elton

REF NO: 010001

I am writing to confirm that Middlesbrough Council has now completed its
search for the information you requested on 22 August 2016.

In your request you asked for the following information:

Please can you provide me with the following information under the Freedom
Of Information Act 2000 in an excel format:-

(a) List all non-domestic properties and their addresses.

(b) The names of the Rate payers referred to above for each property
(excluding all the personal information).

(c) The billing authority reference number for each property (Not the
account number).

(d) The date the rate payer became liable for the bill

(e) Details of what reliefs, if any, the rate payer receives (Mandatory,
Discretionary, Exempt)

Can you also please make sure this information is as up-to-date as
possible at the time of receiving the request

Response: A copy of the information is attached in the spreadsheet. 

The information you have requested in respect of reliefs relating to empty
properties is exempt under Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information
Act, and is therefore being withheld.

Having considered the public interest test, the Councils decision is that
the release of the information into the public domain would be likely to
prejudice the prevention of detection of crime.

Section 31 is a qualified exemption and therefore the “public interest
test” was applied.

Whilst the Council accepts there are indeed some advantages in the release
of the information to the public at large, I am not satisfied that this
outweighs the public interest in withholding the information for the
following reasons:

· The risk that publication would prejudice the prevention of crime, as it
could lead to the likely targeting of those empty properties by those
engaged vandalism, theft or other anti-social behaviour.

· The risk that publication would lead to increased anxiety and fear of
crime amongst occupants or adjacent residential and commercial properties,
as a result of the likely targeting of the empty properties by those
engaged in criminal and anti-social behaviour.

· The risk that publication could undermine efforts by the Council and
commercial property owners to bring empty properties back into use, in
order to improve local communities and reduce crime and vandalism in the
area around empty properties.

If you have any queries about this response, please do not hesitate to
contact me direct on (01642) 729696/729698 or email [Middlesbrough Council
request email]   Please remember to quote the reference number shown above
in any future communications.

If you are unhappy with the way your request has been handled you may ask
for an internal review within 40 days of receipt of the response. You
should write to:-

Sylvia Reynolds,

Information Governance Manager,

P.O. Box 503,
Ground Floor,
Town Hall,
Middlesbrough,
TS1 9FX

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for an
independent review.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: -

Information Commissioner’s Office,

Wycliffe House,

Water Lane,

Wilmslow,

Cheshire,

SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Steph Robson

Freedom of Information Officer

Democratic Services

Organisation and Governance

P.O. Box 503
Ground Floor
Town Hall
Middlesbrough
TS1 9FX

Tel.  01642 729696

FAX. 01642 729882

Email:   [1][Middlesbrough Council request email]

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