Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data (Data Quality, Q2 2018)

The request was successful.

Dear South Oxfordshire District 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)

I am aware that you already publish data http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/services-and... which mostly answers this request, however the occupation status (void/occupied), is not included.

Please could you update this and provide an updated version of your data.

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

FOI South, South Oxfordshire District Council

Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, which was received by
South Oxfordshire District Council on 27 May 2018
Please accept this email as confirmation that your request has been
received and forwarded to the relevant department and that a response will
be sent to you within 20 working days.
The deadline for this will be 26 June 2018. 
The reference number for this request is South 18/182
I trust that this email is sufficient to assure you that your request is
being dealt with. However, should you have an queries in the meantime,
please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team at [South Oxfordshire District Council request email]
Regards
FOI Team
 
Customer Engagement
South Oxfordshire District Council
 
Direct line: 01235 422371
[1]www.southoxon.gov.uk 

You are being asked for your name and address or email address so we can
respond to your request for information under the Freedom of Information
Act and/or the Environmental Information Regulations.

South Oxfordshire District Council have a statutory duty to process
Freedom of Information and Environmental Information requests under the
current data protection legislation. We are also legally required to keep
these records for two years.

You have the right to request at any time:

 1. details of what data we hold about you; please read our webpage on
data subject access requests
[2]http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/about-us/con...
 2. that incorrect or out of date information about you be corrected.

If you would like to exercise these rights, please contact us on 01235
422371 or by email on  [3][South Oxfordshire District Council request email]

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If you would like to know more about how we use and store your data,
please see our webpage
[4]http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/about-us/con...

If you believe we have not handled your personal data as we have described
here, please either call 01235 422485 or contact us by email to
[5][email address] and your concerns will be fully
investigated.  If, after we have investigated your concerns, you are not
satisfied with our conclusion, you have the right to refer the matter to
the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).  You can reach them
[6]through this link to their website or call them on 0303 123 1113. 
Their mailing address is:

 

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

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From: Gavin Chait <[FOI #487608 email]>
Sent: 27 May 2018 00:15
To: FOI South
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Complete Non-Residential /
Business Property Rates Data (Data Quality, Q2 2018)
 
Dear South Oxfordshire District 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)

I am aware that you already publish data
[7]http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/services-and...
which mostly answers this request, however the occupation status
(void/occupied), is not included.

Please could you update this and provide an updated version of your data.

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

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Johnson, Vicky,

Dear Mr Chait

 

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, which was logged under
FOI 18/182 South and passed to me to respond accordingly.

 

Under Section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 2000 Act) you
are entitled to be informed in writing whether the council holds the
information specified in your request and, if that is the case, to have
that information communicated to you unless any of the statutory
exemptions apply.  I have considered your request and can confirm that
although we do hold the information asked, I believe it would be a breach
of data protection if all information requested within your email was
released to you.

 

You have expressed a requirement to have details of all business rate
properties in the council's area including details of the name of each
liable party, whether the property is empty or occupied and the annual
rates payable. However, I would not be able to disclose this data for
non-domestic accounts where personal information, i.e. individual names,
was held as being the liable party.  In addition the council does not
provided details on empty properties and therefore I am unable to provide
this and the annual rates payable as from this information it would be
possible to identify which properties were empty.

 

The council publishes a list of all to business rates properties (stripped
of personal information) on the business rates freedom of information page
on its website below.   

 

[1]http://www.southoxon.gov.uk

 

The list is updated every quarter. 

 

Please treat this as the council's formal response under the 2000 Act. If
you are not satisfied with the decision I have made in response to your
request, you may complain under the council's complaints procedure. If you
remain dissatisfied after following that procedure, you have the right
under Section 50 of the 2000 Act to complain to the Information
Commissioner if you feel the council has not dealt with your request
properly. You can contact the Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (telephone number: 01625 545745). You can also
find further information at [2]www.ico.gov.uk .

 

Kind Regards

 

 

Vicky Johnson
Revenues & Benefits Client Officer

 

Finance

Vale of White Horse District Council &
South Oxfordshire District Council

Direct Line: 01235 422481 (Abingdon - VWHDC) Text phone users add 18001
before you dial

[mobile number]
Email : [3][email address]

      
Visit us at:

[4]www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk

[5]www.southoxon.gov.uk

 

References

Visible links
1. http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/
2. http://www.ico.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/
5. http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/

Dear Ms Johnson,

I understand from your response to my request that South Oxfordshire has taken the decision not to provide data indicating vacant properties in your quarterly business rates updates.

I would assume this is a recent decision, since I have been able to access these data for at least the last two years. I am curious as to why you have changed your policy?

For the last two years I have been pursuing refusals to publish data in response to my requests before the Information Commissioner. To date, I have received fifteen decisions in my favour:

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 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.

I would appreciate it if you could reverse your decision and make the data available.

This is not a request for an internal review and, should I not hear from you, I will refer this matter to ICO for a decision.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin Chait

Johnson, Vicky,

Dear Mr Chait

Thank you for your email.

I have passed your email to the relevant officer to review the council's policy not to provide empty data and will reply to you in due course with the outcome.

Kind Regards

Vicky Johnson
Revenues & Benefits Client Officer

Finance
Vale of White Horse District Council &
South Oxfordshire District Council

Direct Line: 01235 422481 (Abingdon - VWHDC) Text phone users add 18001 before you dial
[mobile number]
Email : [email address]
      
Visit us at:
www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk
www.southoxon.gov.uk

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Johnson, Vicky,

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Chait

Thank you for your email below.

Please find attached the information provided on the council's website now with empty properties.

Kind Regards

Vicky Johnson
Revenues & Benefits Client Officer

Finance
Vale of White Horse District Council &
South Oxfordshire District Council

Direct Line: 01235 422481 (Abingdon - VWHDC) Text phone users add 18001 before you dial
[mobile number]
Email : [email address]
      
Visit us at:
www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk
www.southoxon.gov.uk

show quoted sections