Business Rates

The request was successful.

Dear Haringey Borough 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

Gunn Claire1, Haringey Borough Council

Dear Mr Elton

 

Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations Request:
Reference LBH/5855716

 

I acknowledge your request for information received on 30 November 2016.

This information request will be dealt with in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations and we
will send the response by 30 December 2016.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Claire Gunn

Feedback Review Officer

Shared Service Centre | Central Team

 

Haringey Council

6th Floor River Park House, 225 High Road, London N22 8HQ

 

T. 020 8489 2576

E. [email address]

 

www.haringey.gov.uk

twitter@haringeycouncil

facebook.com/haringeycouncil

 

 

 Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

 

 

 

 

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Hart Steve (NNDR), Haringey Borough Council

2 Attachments

 

Dear Mr Elton,

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request ref: LBH/5855716

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 30 November 2016,
in which you asked for the following information:

 

‘(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)’

 

My response is as follows:

 

Please find attached a spreadsheet containing the data in respect of your
request. Note that personal data has been omitted and the list does not
therefore provide names of sole traders etc.

 

I have also removed any indicator as to whether a property is empty.
Having reviewed your request we consider this information to be exempt
from release under section 31(1) (a) - Law Enforcement.

 

Section 31(1) (a) states that:

 

“Information … is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act
would or would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of
crime…”

 

We consider that if a list of the addresses of empty properties were to be
disclosed, it is possible that these properties would become more
vulnerable to potential squatters and associated crime resulting from
this, such as fires, criminal damage and anti-social behaviour.  Empty
properties are also associated with criminal activity such as organised
“stripping” of empty properties, whereby any items of value (such as pipes
and floor boards, electric wiring, copper water tanks) are removed,
leaving an empty and uninhabitable shell property.

                                                                                        
 

As the exemption under section 31(1)(a) is a qualified exemption, it is
subject to the public interest test whereby we need to consider both the
arguments for and against the release of this information.

 

We can see there is some public interest in disclosure of this
information.  Releasing the information would assist the public debate
concerning the number of empty or void properties within the borough of
Haringey, and is in the general spirit of the FOI Act.

 

The argument against the release of the information is that there is an
inherently strong public interest in avoiding crime.  This information
would make it possible for crimes to be committed, as entry would need to
be forced to gain access to the property.   Also, we consider that the
residents that are in the properties in close proximity would also be
under threat due to the fact that a crime is being committed so close to
them and they have an expectation to feel secure in the environment that
they live in.

 

If a property were to be stripped or otherwise vandalised as a result of
squatting, for example, then that would cost additional council funds to
rectify so that the property could be made ready for let. There may also
be court costs associated with the eviction of squatters.  These issues
would have an adverse impact on the Council’s funds. 

 

In respect to residential properties, if someone has a genuine interest in
the time taken to re-let properties, then this is monitored under a
performance indicator, and information about how the Council is performing
in this respect is published on Haringey’s website.

 

Our view in this case is that the public interest in avoiding prejudice to
the prevention of crime outweighs the public interest in disclosure of the
information, and the exemption is therefore applicable.

 

I trust that this is satisfactory. If however you are unhappy with how we
have responded to your request you can ask us to conduct an Internal
Review. If so, please contact the Feedback and Information Team as below.
(Please note you should do this within two months of receiving this
response.)   

 

Feedback and Information Governance Team

River Park House

225 High Road

N22 8HQ

E [1][email address]

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Steve Hart

Service Manager (NNDR)

 

Shared Services

 

 

Alexandra House, 10 Station Road, Wood Green, N22 7TR

 

T. 020 8489 3581

[2][email address]  

 

www.haringey.gov.uk 

 

 

From: Gunn Claire1
Sent: 01 December 2016 13:29
To: '[FOI #374415 email]'
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Reference LBH/5855716

 

Dear Mr Elton

 

Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations Request:
Reference LBH/5855716

 

I acknowledge your request for information received on 30 November 2016.

This information request will be dealt with in accordance with the Freedom
of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Information Regulations and we
will send the response by 30 December 2016.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Claire Gunn

Feedback Review Officer

Shared Service Centre | Central Team

 

Haringey Council

6th Floor River Park House, 225 High Road, London N22 8HQ

 

T. 020 8489 2576

E. [3][email address]

 

[4]www.haringey.gov.uk

twitter@haringeycouncil

facebook.com/haringeycouncil

 

 

 Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

 

 

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