August FOI Requests
Dear Warwick District Council,
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000.
In accordance with the provisions specified within the above Act I hereby request the following information.
All information requested relates to Business Rates.
This request for information falls within the parameters of the Act but if you require clarification on any of the points above or should you wish to discuss this further then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Required Information;- A list of all live business rates accounts with a 2017 list Rateable Value.
• Property Reference Number (also known as Billing Authority Reference Number) of the property on which the charge is made. Please note that this is not the Rate Demand or Rate Account Number.
• Current rateable value
• Account holder name
• Property address
• The billing address (where different to the property address), the contact telephone number and email address
• The date the current ratepayer became liable for the business rates – we do not require any historical account liability dates only the current ratepayers liability start date
• whether a property is empty or occupied
• Where a property is currently empty please provide the date the ratepayer became liable for empty rates
• Where there is an exemption on the account please provide the start and end date and type of exemption applied (e.g. listed building)
• Where there is a relief on the account please provide the date it was applied and the type of relief (e.g. Retail Discount)
• We do not require any personal information or sole traders.
Please provide the information in an electronic, spreadsheet format ideally excel. The Act requires that a response be provided within a period of 20 working days from the date hereof.
Yours faithfully,
Richard roberts
Dear Richard Roberts
Thank you for your request for information which I acknowledge was received by the District Council on 11 August 2020.
Your request is currently being considered. If the District Council is able to provide you with the information you have requested, then under the Freedom of Information Act you are entitled to receive it within 20 working days. However, at present, Warwick District Council’s priority is responding to coronavirus and supporting local communities across Warwick district, providing the help and services needed during this difficult time, therefore the response to your request may take longer, but it will be sent to you in due course.
For your information, the FOI Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of some or all of the information you have requested. The District Council will assess your information request in light of the exemptions. If exemptions do apply, then the District Council may decide not to release all, or part, of the information you have requested. You will be informed if this is the case.
If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken by the District Council as to whether to release the information to you. You will be kept informed if this is the case.
The District Council will not charge a fee to provide you with the information you have requested, provided the cost of dealing with your request is less than £450. If it appears likely that your request will cost more than £450 to deal with then I will write to you again asking if you are willing to pay the fees incurred, and setting out clearly what those fees will be, in accordance with the FOI Act.
If you have any queries or should you wish to make a complaint about the manner in which your request is being dealt with then please do not hesitate to contact me at the above address in the first instance. Any complaints will be dealt with under the Council’s corporate complaints procedure.
Further information about your rights under the Freedom of Information Act, is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (0303 123 1113) or on their website www.ico.org.uk, and on the District Council’s website.
Yours sincerely
Julia Wyncoll
Corporate Support Assistant
Chief Executive’s Office
Corporate Support Team
Warwick District Council
Riverside House
Milverton Hill
Royal Leamington Spa
CV32 5HZ
Good Afternoon
Thank you for your recent request under the freedom of information act.
Based on case law set during the Westminster v Chait case in October 2019 Warwick District Council will only release the information attached.
Information regarding empty premises, reliefs, exemptions are all withheld under section 31 the prevention or detection of crime on the basis that empty properties can be used for criminal activity and also business details including liability start dates and names can be used fraudulently to obtain government funding and reliefs.
Warwick District Council now considers that it has complied with your request. However, you have a right to appeal if you are dissatisfied with our response. Requests for an internal review must be made in writing, and within 40 calendar days of this response being issued to you. When requesting an internal review, please include your reference number, the date of your original request and your contact details. Please also include an explanation of why you are dissatisfied with our response. Requests for an internal review should be sent to:
Information Governance
Warwick District Council
Riverside House
Milverton Hill
Leamington Spa
CV32 5RU
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF.
Phone: 0303 123 1113 Website: https://Ico.org.uk
Kind Regards
Caroline Walton
Revenues & Recovery Manager
Revenues | Finance
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now