Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data

The request was refused by Swindon Borough Council.

Dear Swindon Borough Council,

In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, and subject to section 40(2) on personal data, could you please provide me with a complete and up-to-date list of all business (non-residential) property rates data for your local authority, and including the following fields:

- Billing Authority Reference Code (linking the property to the VOA database reference)
- Firm's Trading Name (i.e. property occupant)
- Full Property Address (Number, Street, Postal Code, Town)
- Occupied / Vacant
- Date of Occupation / Vacancy
- Actual annual rates charged (in Pounds)

If you are unable to provide an absolute “Occupation / Vacancy” status, please provide the Exemptions and / or Reliefs that a particular property may be receiving.

Please provide this as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the Open Government Licence.

I last requested this data three months ago, and this is a request for an updated and current dataset.

I'm sure you get many requests for business rates and I intend to update this national series every three months. Could I request that - as more than 51% of local authorities already do - you update and release this dataset via a dedicated page on your local authority website or on an open data service. I can recommend approaches for you to consider, and you should find that this reduces the time and cost of this request process.

Thank you and kind regards

Gavin Chait

Customer Services, Swindon Borough Council

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to the relevant department for them to respond to you directly.

Kind regards

Customer Services
Swindon Borough Council
Wat Tyler House
Swindon SN1 2JG
Phone: 01793 445500

E-mail: [Swindon Borough Council request email]
Website: www.swindon.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Newman, Martin (LGS),

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Chait,

 

Thank you for your request below to Swindon Borough Council for
information under the Freedom of Information Act.  I have prepared the
data for you; it is contained in the attached spreadsheet.  Please note
that the Council will not provide details of the empty/occupied status of
non-domestic properties, nor details of empty property reliefs which would
indicate the status, for the reasons given in the attached document.

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to request a review you should contact:

 

Customer Services

Civic Offices

Euclid Street

Swindon

Website: [1]www.swindon.gov.uk

 

The complaints/review procedure involves a full review by the Council's
Monitoring Officer. 

 

If you are not content with the outcome of our conclusion, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision before
contacting the Council. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the Council's own complaints procedure.

 

The Information Officer can be contacted at :

 

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

If you require any further information concerning this matter please
contact [2][Swindon Borough Council request email] by return of email.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Martin Newman

Revenues Manager

 

Capita Local Government Business Services 

Capita, Civic Offices, Euclid Street, Swindon SN1 2JH

 

Tel 01793 464660 Fax 01793 537262

Email [email address] [3]www.capita.co.uk/localgov

 

[4]cid:image001.png@01D15A81.868529D0

 

Capita’s local government business is part of Capita plc, the UK’s leading
professional and support services organisation. We provide local
authorities with specialist support covering: revenues and benefits
administration, customer services, financial services, training, IT, land
charges, licensing, trading standards, environmental health and
administration support. To find out more about our business and the full
range of services we offer, visit our website:
[5]www.capita.co.uk/localgov

 

From: Gavin Chait [[6]mailto:[FOI #417837 email]]

Sent: 12 July 2017 04:29

To: Customer Services <[7][email address]>

Subject: Freedom of Information request - Complete Non-Residential /
Business Property Rates Data

 

Dear Swindon Borough Council,

 

In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, and subject to section
40(2) on personal data, could you please provide me with a complete and
up-to-date list of all business (non-residential) property rates data for
your local authority, and including the following fields:

 

- Billing Authority Reference Code (linking the property to the VOA
database reference)

- Firm's Trading Name (i.e. property occupant)

- Full Property Address (Number, Street, Postal Code, Town)

- Occupied / Vacant

- Date of Occupation / Vacancy

- Actual annual rates charged (in Pounds)

 

If you are unable to provide an absolute “Occupation / Vacancy” status,
please provide the Exemptions and / or Reliefs that a particular property
may be receiving.

 

Please provide this as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel
file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the Open Government Licence.

 

I last requested this data three months ago, and this is a request for an
updated and current dataset.

 

I'm sure you get many requests for business rates and I intend to update
this national series every three months. Could I request that - as more
than 51% of local authorities already do - you update and release this
dataset via a dedicated page on your local authority website or on an open
data service. I can recommend approaches for you to consider, and you
should find that this reduces the time and cost of this request process.

 

Thank you and kind regards

 

Gavin Chait

 

This email is security checked and subject to the disclaimer on web-page:
[8]http://www.capita.co.uk/email-disclaimer...

References

Visible links
1. http://www.swindon.gov.uk/
2. mailto:[Swindon Borough Council request email]
3. http://www.capita.co.uk/localgov
5. http://www.capita.co.uk/localgov
6. mailto:[FOI #417837 email]
7. mailto:[email address]
8. http://www.capita.co.uk/email-disclaimer...

Dear Martin Newman,

I'm afraid your refusal under Section 31(1)(a) is completely unacceptable. Not only have you on three previous occasions provided the requested data without incident (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/swin...) but you are also refusing to comply with an ICO ruling on exactly this matter.

In November 2016, I appealed this class of refusal - specifically as it relates to this request - to the Information Commissioner’s Office and they issued a Decision Notice (FS50628943 - https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak..., and FS50628978 - https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...) on 28 February 2017 finding that “it is not correct to withhold this information under Regulation 31(1)(a)”, and that “the public interest in the information being disclosed outweighs that in the exemption being maintained”.

And choosing to support your refusal with claims of terrorism is absurd.

Please could you save us both a great deal of time and effort and provide the data as requested, and as you have done in the past, or I shall refer this to ICO.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin Chait

Newman, Martin (LGS),

Thank you for your e-mail.  I am now out of the office and won't be back
until Tuesday 15/8/2017.  If your e-mail is urgent and can't wait until
I'm back for a reply, please contact my team on 01793 464664 and they will
try to help or refer you to someone else who can.  Thanks.  Martin.

 

 

 

This email is security checked and subject to the disclaimer on web-page:
[1]http://www.capita.co.uk/email-disclaimer...

References

Visible links
1. http://www.capita.co.uk/email-disclaimer...

Sharon Druett, Swindon Borough Council

Dear Mr Chait,

 

Ref FOI101003194644 Freedom of Information Request Complaint, Request for a
review

 

Thank you for your email, received in our office on 11^th August, 2017,
that has been forwarded to me by  Mr Newman.

 

Since a qualified exemption applies to the requested information and the
public interest test is also engaged, the Council has a duty to issue a
Refusal Notice that outlines all our arguments on why we consider under
Section 31(1)(a) does apply, and our decision on where we consider the
balance of the public interest lies. Therefore we plan to let you have our
conclusions by no later than 1^st September, 2017.  

 

In the meantime I understand all unaffected information has already been
released to you.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of our conclusion, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision, before
we have completed this process.

 

If you wish to write to  The Information Officer, they can be contacted
at:

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Email: [1][email address]

Tel: 01625 545700 (ask for Freedom of Information)

 

Generally, they will not deal with matters directly unless it has
completed this process first.

If I can be of any further assistance at this stage, please get back to
me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Sharon Druett

 

 

Sharon Druett ([email address])

Freedom of Information Officer

Law and Democratic Services

Swindon Borough Council

Tel: 01793 463377

Fax: 01793 463405

Web: [2]www.swindon.gov.uk

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

Dear Swindon Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing with respect to the internal review of Swindon Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data'.

I did not actually request that internal review, simply pointing out that not only have you on three previous occasions provided the requested data without incident (https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/body/swin...) but you are also refusing to comply with an ICO ruling on exactly this matter.

In November 2016, I appealed this class of refusal - specifically as it relates to this request - to the Information Commissioner’s Office and they issued a Decision Notice (FS50628943 - https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak..., and FS50628978 - https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...) on 28 February 2017 finding that “it is not correct to withhold this information under Regulation 31(1)(a)”, and that “the public interest in the information being disclosed outweighs that in the exemption being maintained”.

And choosing to support your refusal with claims of terrorism is absurd. Incidents of terrorism are exceedingly rare and most terrorists are well integrated within their communities, so able to plan any attacks from their homes (cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_te... for a list of the nine attacks since 2010, and some indication that prevented attacks are in the low double digits). Given that some 10% of commercial properties are vacant (about 200,000 properties across England and Wales) any link between property vacancy and terrorism is spurious to say the least. It's as ridiculous as suggesting that the state should ban vehicle hire services since terrorism is often committed in rented vans.

Since I find your refusal absurd, and inconsistent - and given the existing ruling by ICO - I am referring this matter to them in parallel with your 'internal review'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

Customer Services, Swindon Borough Council

Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to the FOI office for response.

Kind regards

Customer Services
Swindon Borough Council
Wat Tyler House
Swindon SN1 2JG
Phone: 01793 445500

E-mail: [Swindon Borough Council request email]
Website: www.swindon.gov.uk

Sharon Druett, Swindon Borough Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Chait,

 

Ref FOI101003194644 Freedom of Information Request Complaint, Request for a
review

 

Further to my acknowledgement below, please find the attached Refusal
Notice.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to request a review you should contact:

 

Customer Services

Civic Offices

Euclid Street

Swindon

Website: www.[Swindon Borough Council request email]

 

The complaints/review procedure involves a full review by the Council's
Monitoring Officer. 

 

If you are not content with the outcome of our conclusion, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision before
contacting the Council. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the Council's own complaints procedure.

 

The Information Officer can be contacted at :

 

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

If you require any further information concerning this matter please
contact me quoting the reference number at the top of the letter.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Sharon Druett

 

 

Sharon Druett ([1][email address])

Freedom of Information Officer

Law and Democratic Services

Swindon Borough Council

Tel: 01793 463377

Fax: 01793 463405

Web: [2]www.swindon.gov.uk

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

From: Sharon Druett
Sent: 23 August 2017 19:01
To: '[FOI #417837 email]'
<[FOI #417837 email]>
Cc: 'Newman, Martin (LGS)' <[email address]>
Subject: RE:FOI101003194644 Freedom of Information request to Swindon
Borough Council

 

Dear Mr Chait,

 

Ref FOI101003194644 Freedom of Information Request Complaint, Request for a
review

 

Thank you for your email, received in our office on 11^th August, 2017,
that has been forwarded to me by  Mr Newman.

 

Since a qualified exemption applies to the requested information and the
public interest test is also engaged, the Council has a duty to issue a
Refusal Notice that outlines all our arguments on why we consider under
Section 31(1)(a) does apply, and our decision on where we consider the
balance of the public interest lies. Therefore we plan to let you have our
conclusions by no later than 1^st September, 2017.  

 

In the meantime I understand all unaffected information has already been
released to you.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of our conclusion, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision, before
we have completed this process.

 

If you wish to write to  The Information Officer, they can be contacted
at:

The Information Commissioner's Office,

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Email: [3][email address]

Tel: 01625 545700 (ask for Freedom of Information)

 

Generally, they will not deal with matters directly unless it has
completed this process first.

If I can be of any further assistance at this stage, please get back to
me.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Sharon Druett

 

 

Sharon Druett ([4][email address])

Freedom of Information Officer

Law and Democratic Services

Swindon Borough Council

Tel: 01793 463377

Fax: 01793 463405

Web: [5]www.swindon.gov.uk

Please consider the environment before printing this email.