Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data (Q2 2018)
Dear Neath Port Talbot County 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 Property 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 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).
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 responding and managing these FOIs must be costly for you. Could I request that - as 65% of local authorities now 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.
Yours faithfully,
Gavin Chait
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received today, 5th April 2018. We are generally required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to provide you with a response within 20 working days, which will be on or before 3rd May 2018 . If we require any clarification or further details we will contact you as soon as possible, if this is the case then the timescale for response specified above may be subject to change. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact this team.
FOI Team
[Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council request email]
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and will deal with Welsh and English correspondence to the same standards and timescales.
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a byddwn yn ymdrin â gohebiaeth Gymraeg a Saesneg i’r un safonau ac amserlenni
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Please note also that there is no guarantee that this email or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted or amended.
Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac at ddefnydd yr unigolyn neu'r corff y cyfeiriwyd hwy atynt yn unig. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn mewn camgymeriad, dylech hysbysu'r person a anfonodd yr e-bost ar unwaith. Hefyd, sylwer nad oes unrhyw sicrwydd nad yw'r e-bost hwn neu unrhyw ymgysylltiad yn rhydd o firws ac nad yw chwaith wedi'i ryng-gipio na'i newid.
Dear Mr. Chait,
Further to your Freedom of Information request of 5th April, please see attached Neath Port Talbot's response.
If you are dissatisfied with the response to your request, under the Authority’s FOI Policy, you may appeal in writing setting out the reasons why you think the decision is erroneous, to the Authority’s Monitoring Officer at the following address:-
Head of Legal Services & Monitoring Officer Civic Centre Port Talbot
SA13 1PJ
Please be advised that in the event that you decide to appeal to the Monitoring Officer and are dissatisfied with his response, you are entitled under the FOI legislation to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner, whose address is:-
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF
Website: www.ico.gov.uk
Yours sincerely,
David Rees
Head of Financial Services
[Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council request email]
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and will deal with Welsh and English correspondence to the same standards and timescales.
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a byddwn yn ymdrin â gohebiaeth Gymraeg a Saesneg i’r un safonau ac amserlenni
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Please note also that there is no guarantee that this email or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted or amended.
Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac at ddefnydd yr unigolyn neu'r corff y cyfeiriwyd hwy atynt yn unig. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn mewn camgymeriad, dylech hysbysu'r person a anfonodd yr e-bost ar unwaith. Hefyd, sylwer nad oes unrhyw sicrwydd nad yw'r e-bost hwn neu unrhyw ymgysylltiad yn rhydd o firws ac nad yw chwaith wedi'i ryng-gipio na'i newid.
Dear FOI Team,
Thank you so much for the data provided, however the billing authority reference number, which I use to match your data to the VOA master list, has data quality issues. It appears that the significant digits have been lost for multiple properties.
Please could you correct this and provide an updated version of your data.
Yours sincerely,
Gavin Chait
Dear Mr. Chait,
Thank you for your email which I confirm has been forwarded to the relevant directorate for their attention.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
[email address]
Linda White
Gwasanaethau Cymorth / Support Services
Cyfarwyddiaeth Gwasanaethau Corfforaethol & Cyllid / Finance & Corporate Services Directorate
Rhif Ffôn / Tel No. 01639 763932
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and will deal with Welsh and English correspondence to the same standards and timescales.
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a byddwn yn ymdrin â gohebiaeth Gymraeg a Saesneg i’r un safonau ac amserlenni
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Please note also that there is no guarantee that this email or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted or amended.
Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac at ddefnydd yr unigolyn neu'r corff y cyfeiriwyd hwy atynt yn unig. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn mewn camgymeriad, dylech hysbysu'r person a anfonodd yr e-bost ar unwaith. Hefyd, sylwer nad oes unrhyw sicrwydd nad yw'r e-bost hwn neu unrhyw ymgysylltiad yn rhydd o firws ac nad yw chwaith wedi'i ryng-gipio na'i newid.
Dear Mr. Chait,
I refer to your email of the 11th April 2018 and would inform you that the properties you have queried do not hold the data on our system therefore we are unable to extract the information you have requested. Not all our accounts hold that reference.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
[Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council request email]
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and will deal with Welsh and English correspondence to the same standards and timescales.
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a byddwn yn ymdrin â gohebiaeth Gymraeg a Saesneg i’r un safonau ac amserlenni
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Please note also that there is no guarantee that this email or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted or amended.
Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac at ddefnydd yr unigolyn neu'r corff y cyfeiriwyd hwy atynt yn unig. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn mewn camgymeriad, dylech hysbysu'r person a anfonodd yr e-bost ar unwaith. Hefyd, sylwer nad oes unrhyw sicrwydd nad yw'r e-bost hwn neu unrhyw ymgysylltiad yn rhydd o firws ac nad yw chwaith wedi'i ryng-gipio na'i newid.
Dear FOI Team,
Could you advise as to whether, and when, you intend to correct this error in your records? Without it, you're unable to correspond with the VOA and update them on changes in your property record.
Yours sincerely,
Gavin Chait
Dear Mr. Chait,
Thank you for your email which I confirm has been forwarded to the relevant directorate.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
[Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council request email]
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and will deal with Welsh and English correspondence to the same standards and timescales.
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a byddwn yn ymdrin â gohebiaeth Gymraeg a Saesneg i’r un safonau ac amserlenni
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Please note also that there is no guarantee that this email or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted or amended.
Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac at ddefnydd yr unigolyn neu'r corff y cyfeiriwyd hwy atynt yn unig. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn mewn camgymeriad, dylech hysbysu'r person a anfonodd yr e-bost ar unwaith. Hefyd, sylwer nad oes unrhyw sicrwydd nad yw'r e-bost hwn neu unrhyw ymgysylltiad yn rhydd o firws ac nad yw chwaith wedi'i ryng-gipio na'i newid.
Mr. Chait,
Further to your additional request in relation to your FOI, please note that the VOA use our property reference and not the UPRN, the fact we do not hold all UPRN's does not affect our ability to correspond with the VOA.
FOI Team
Dear FOI Team,
For clarity, there are two reference systems used by the VOA. The one is your property reference, the other is the UPRN. I am not asking for the UPRN, but for the reference you use to integrate your systems with the VOA. Are you able to provide that? In the VOA definitions, that is known as the "billing authority reference".
Yours sincerely,
Gavin Chait
Dear Mr. Chait,
Thank you for your email which I confirm has been forwarded to the directorate who will provide the response, once this is received I will return to you directly.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
[Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council request email]
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and will deal with Welsh and English correspondence to the same standards and timescales.
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a byddwn yn ymdrin â gohebiaeth Gymraeg a Saesneg i’r un safonau ac amserlenni
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Please note also that there is no guarantee that this email or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted or amended.
Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac at ddefnydd yr unigolyn neu'r corff y cyfeiriwyd hwy atynt yn unig. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn mewn camgymeriad, dylech hysbysu'r person a anfonodd yr e-bost ar unwaith. Hefyd, sylwer nad oes unrhyw sicrwydd nad yw'r e-bost hwn neu unrhyw ymgysylltiad yn rhydd o firws ac nad yw chwaith wedi'i ryng-gipio na'i newid.
Dear Mr. Chait,
I refer to your email of the 2nd May 2018 and attach a copy of information requested
If you are dissatisfied with the response to your request, under the Authority's FOI Policy, you may appeal in writing setting out the reasons why you think the decision is erroneous, to the Authority's Monitoring Officer at the following address:-
Head of Legal Services & Monitoring Officer
Civic Centre
Port Talbot
SA13 1PJ
FOI Team
[Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council request email]
In the event that you appeal and are dissatisfied with that response, you may then appeal direct to the Information Commissioner, whose address is:
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF.
Yours faithfully
FOI Team
[Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council request email]
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and will deal with Welsh and English correspondence to the same standards and timescales.
Croesewir gohebiaeth yn y Gymraeg a byddwn yn ymdrin â gohebiaeth Gymraeg a Saesneg i’r un safonau ac amserlenni
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Please note also that there is no guarantee that this email or any attachment is virus free or has not been intercepted or amended.
Mae'r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw ffeiliau a drosglwyddir gydag ef yn gyfrinachol ac at ddefnydd yr unigolyn neu'r corff y cyfeiriwyd hwy atynt yn unig. Os ydych wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn mewn camgymeriad, dylech hysbysu'r person a anfonodd yr e-bost ar unwaith. Hefyd, sylwer nad oes unrhyw sicrwydd nad yw'r e-bost hwn neu unrhyw ymgysylltiad yn rhydd o firws ac nad yw chwaith wedi'i ryng-gipio na'i newid.
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