Business Rates

The request was partially successful.

Dear Halton Borough Council,

What estimated financial loss to HBC is associated to empty commercial properties and where are they located in the Borough.

Is Runcorn Shopping City charged business rates for its gross sq. Ft or its current rented space.

Can you supply a list of commercial properties that have a negative financial effect on HBC?

Yours faithfully,

James A Owen

Halton Borough Council

Dear James

Thank you for your Freedom of Information enquiry. The enquiry has been logged on our 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 [Halton Borough Council request email] for any further correspondence.

Thank You

Halton Direct Link.

Sent By UserID: 96

Louise Bate, Halton Borough Council

Dear James

 

Thank you for your freedom on information request received on 23^rd March
2018, please see below response.

 

What estimated financial loss to HBC is associated to empty commercial
properties and where are they located in the Borough.
The loss of income associated with empty commercial properties in 2017/18
financial year was £1.6 million

 

 

Is Runcorn Shopping City charged business rates for its gross sq. Ft or
its current rented space.
Runcorn Shopping Centre is assessed individually and each shop within the
centre is liable for their rate bills.  The mall is assessed and bill
separately to the shops and billed accordingly.

 

 

Can you supply a list of commercial properties that have a negative
financial effect on HBC?

 

The council considers that disclosing information relating to empty
properties may prejudice the prevention and detection of crime as the
properties might be more vulnerable to criminal and anti-social
activities, in particular squatting, physical damage and theft of
fixtures, contents and fittings. Consequently the information is refused
under section 31(1)(a)

 

I trust this clarifies the authorities position. However, if you wish to
object to our decision in the first instance you may approach the
Council's Complaints Officer in writing at Halton Borough Council,
Municipal Building, Kingsway, Widnes, Cheshire WA8 7QF. Should you remain
dissatisfied you can appeal against the decision by contacting the
Information Commissioner, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire
SK9 5AF.

 

Regards

 

Louise Bate

Business Rates Manager

 

Halton Borough Council

Business Rates Department
Revenues & Benefits, PO BOX 223, Widnes, Cheshire, WA8 2DA
0151 511 6926 (direct line)

Tel: 0151 511 8932

 

 

 

Request Id : 6309

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Forename : James
Surname : Owen
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Information Requested : Dear Halton Borough Council,

What estimated financial loss to HBC is associated to empty commercial
properties and where are they located in the Borough.

Is Runcorn Shopping City charged business rates for its gross sq. Ft or
its current rented space.

Can you supply a list of commercial properties that have a negative
financial effect on HBC?

Yours faithfully,

James A Owen

Date Received : 23/03/2018

show quoted sections

Dear Louise Bate,

I thank you for your response and the information of the loss of £1.6m in business rates.

To address my previous request (Request ID 6309) for information as to business rates details and received revenue, I clarify as follows.
In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, and subject to section 40(2) on excluding personal data, could you please provide me with a complete and up-to-date list of all business (non-residential) property rates data for Halton Borough Council, the following fields included.

- Billing Authority Property Reference Code.
- Firm's Trading Name if any.
- Full Property Address
- Occupied / Vacant
- Date of Occupation / Vacancy
- Actual annual rates charged.

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.

The following decisions on the release of this data for other authorities have been made in the interest of the council tax payers’ freedom of information.

FS50628943 vs Cornwall Council; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50628978 vs London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50681246 vs London Borough of Camden; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50681250 vs London Borough of Greenwich; citing Section 31(1)(a) and Section 38(1)(b);
FS50681266 vs Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames Borough; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50681283 vs Westminster City Council who cited Section 31(1)(a);
FS50681292 vs London Borough of Wandsworth; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50681297 vs Knowsley Metropolitan Borough; citing Section 31(1)(a), 40(2), and 41;
FS50681322 vs West Berkshire Council; citing Section 31(1)(d);
FS50681326 vs Vale of Glamorgan; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50681332 vs Doncaster Metropolitan Borough; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50681336 vs Sheffield City Council; citing Section 31(1)(a), 31(1)(d), and 41;
FS50685343 vs London Borough of Ealing; citing Section 31(1)(a), 31(1)(d), and 31(2);
FS50685350 vs Liverpool City Council; citing Section 31(1)(a);
FS50685375 vs West Lancashire Borough Council; citing 31(1)(a);

In each of these decisions, the Commissioner (ICO) either dismissed the application of the exemptions cited, or declared that “the public interest in the information being disclosed outweighs that in the exemption being maintained”.

92% of local authorities now publish commercial vacancy data. 65% publish these as regular updates to their authority websites or open data services.

Please provide these data as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the Open Government Licence (meaning reuse for any and all purposes, including commercial).

Yours sincerely,

James A Owen