Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data

The request was refused by Woking Borough Council.

Dear Woking Borough Council,

In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, 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 Code
- 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)

While such data series are often published by local authorities, I have undertaken a thorough search of your website and have not found these. If they are available, as requested, then please - in terms of Section 21 of the act - could you provide a link to the page where the data are published, as well as guidance on the update frequency.

I appreciate that properties owned / rented by individuals are personal information and such personal data (i.e. the Firm's Trading Name) would be excluded from my request in terms of Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In such cases, please provide the remaining information with the Firm's Trading Name either blank or listed as 'individual'.

Please provide this as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the Open Government Licence.

I am compiling a comprehensive time-series database of business activity across the UK and will require the dataset updated on a quarterly basis. Some 20% of local authorities already provide this dataset (and a total of 30% of local authorities provide a subset of these data) on a monthly to quarterly basis on a dedicated page on their websites or on an open data service. I would appreciate it if you could do the same.

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

Comments, Woking Borough Council

Thank you for your email.

E-mails will be replied to as soon as possible but within a maximum of 14 days of their receipt. If a reply cannot be sent within this timescale, an e-mail will be sent specifying a target date for the response.

Kind regards,

Customer Services
_____________________________________________________________________________
Woking Borough Council, Civic Office, Gloucester Square, Woking, Surrey GU21 6YL
Phone: 01483 755855 | Fax: 01483 768746 | Web: www.woking.gov.uk

[X]

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Comments, Woking Borough Council

We acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information Request. Your request has been forwarded to the Policy department for action.
Kind regards
Customer Services
______________________________________________
Woking Borough Council, Civic Offices, Gloucester Square, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6YL
Phone: 01483 755855 | Fax: 01483 768746 | Web: www.woking.gov.uk

________________________________________
From: Gavin Chait [[FOI #322137 email]]
Sent: 14 March 2016 12:46
To: Comments
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data

Dear Woking Borough Council,

In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, 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 Code
- 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)

While such data series are often published by local authorities, I
have undertaken a thorough search of your website and have not
found these. If they are available, as requested, then please - in
terms of Section 21 of the act - could you provide a link to the
page where the data are published, as well as guidance on the
update frequency.

I appreciate that properties owned / rented by individuals are
personal information and such personal data (i.e. the Firm's
Trading Name) would be excluded from my request in terms of Section
40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In such cases, please
provide the remaining information with the Firm's Trading Name
either blank or listed as 'individual'.

Please provide this as machine-readable as either a CSV or
Microsoft Excel file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the
Open Government Licence.

I am compiling a comprehensive time-series database of business
activity across the UK and will require the dataset updated on a
quarterly basis. Some 20% of local authorities already provide this
dataset (and a total of 30% of local authorities provide a subset
of these data) on a monthly to quarterly basis on a dedicated page
on their websites or on an open data service. I would appreciate it
if you could do the same.

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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[FOI #322137 email]

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web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

**********************************************************************
This transmission is intended for the named addressee
only and may contain sensitive or protectively marked
material up to RESTRICTED and should be handled
accordingly. Unless you are the named addressee (or
authorised to receive it for the addressee), you may not copy
or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you have received
this transmission in error, please notify the sender
immediately. All GCSx traffic may be subject to recording
and/or monitoring in accordance with relevant legislation.
**********************************************************************.

Dear Woking Borough Council,

My Freedom of Information request of 14 March 2016, and your subsequent acknowledgement of that request, remains unanswered and it is now well past the period for response. Please could you, as a matter of urgency, direct your attention towards a response.

For clarity, I repeat my request as follows:

In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, 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 Code
- 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)

While such data series are often published by local authorities, I have undertaken a thorough search of your website and have not found these. If they are available, as requested, then please - in terms of Section 21 of the act - could you provide a link to the page where the data are published, as well as guidance on the update frequency.

I appreciate that properties owned / rented by individuals are personal information and such personal data (i.e. the Firm's Trading Name) would be excluded from my request in terms of Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In such cases, please provide the remaining information with the Firm's Trading Name either blank or listed as 'individual'.

Please provide this as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the Open Government Licence.

I am compiling a comprehensive time-series database of business activity across the UK and will require the dataset updated on a quarterly basis. Some 20% of local authorities already provide this dataset (and a total of 30% of local authorities provide a subset of these data) on a monthly to quarterly basis on a dedicated page on their websites or on an open data service. I would appreciate it if you could do the same.

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

Comments, Woking Borough Council

Thank you for your email.

E-mails will be replied to as soon as possible but within a maximum of 14 days of their receipt. If a reply cannot be sent within this timescale, an e-mail will be sent specifying a target date for the response.

Kind regards,

Customer Services

show quoted sections

Comments, Woking Borough Council

We acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information Request. Your request has been forwarded to the Policy department for action.
Kind regards
Customer Services

______________________________________________
Woking Borough Council, Civic Offices, Gloucester Square, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6YL
Phone: 01483 755855 | Fax: 01483 768746 | Web: www.woking.gov.uk

________________________________________
From: Gavin Chait [[FOI #322137 email]]
Sent: 21 April 2016 09:50
To: Comments
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data

Dear Woking Borough Council,

My Freedom of Information request of 14 March 2016, and your subsequent acknowledgement of that request, remains unanswered and it is now well past the period for response. Please could you, as a matter of urgency, direct your attention towards a response.

For clarity, I repeat my request as follows:

In terms of the Freedom of Information Act of 2000, 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 Code
- 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)

While such data series are often published by local authorities, I have undertaken a thorough search of your website and have not found these. If they are available, as requested, then please - in terms of Section 21 of the act - could you provide a link to the page where the data are published, as well as guidance on the update frequency.

I appreciate that properties owned / rented by individuals are personal information and such personal data (i.e. the Firm's Trading Name) would be excluded from my request in terms of Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. In such cases, please provide the remaining information with the Firm's Trading Name either blank or listed as 'individual'.

Please provide this as machine-readable as either a CSV or Microsoft Excel file, capable of re-use, and under terms of the Open Government Licence.

I am compiling a comprehensive time-series database of business activity across the UK and will require the dataset updated on a quarterly basis. Some 20% of local authorities already provide this dataset (and a total of 30% of local authorities provide a subset of these data) on a monthly to quarterly basis on a dedicated page on their websites or on an open data service. I would appreciate it if you could do the same.

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #322137 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the ICO:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Terry Stocks, Woking Borough Council

4 Attachments

Dear Mr Chait

 

Ref A022.AC.71

 

I am in receipt of your freedom of information request dated 14/03/2016.
Please accept my apologies for the delay in replying. The information that
you have requested regarding empty properties is held by the Council.
However, it will not be disclosed to you for the following reasons.

 

The exemption in Section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
applies.  Disclosing the information would likely lead to an increase in
squatting and potentially an increase in crime in the area generally. We
have considered whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. We have
concluded that it does. In reaching this view, we have taken account of
(i) the inherent public interest in crime prevention, (ii) the cost of
repair and security, (iii) eviction costs, (iv) the impact on those
directly affected by crime and/or squatting and (v) the impact of crime
and/or squatting on the surrounding community, the police and Council
staff. These considerations far outweigh the public interest in
disclosure, including any argument that this might result in empty
properties being brought back into use.

 

The information relating to properties owned or occupied by private
individuals and sole traders has been withheld because: It is personal
information and disclosure would not be fair under the Part 1 Schedule 1
to the Data Protection Act 1998; condition 6 in Schedule 2 to the Data
Protection Act 1998 is not made out in this case as disclosure would be
unwarranted because of prejudice to individuals, both in terms of the
impact upon them emotionally, financially and in respect of potential
damage to property. This is not outweighed by the legitimate interests of
you or any other members of the public to whom this information might be
disclosed.

 

The attached decision from the First-tier Tribunal (Information Rights) in
the case of Mr Yiannis Voyias  v  IC (Freedom of Information Act 2000)
[2013] UKFTT 2011  0007 (GRC) (22 January 2013) is relevant to our
decision to withhold the information.

 

I hope that you are satisfied with the way in which your request for
information has been dealt with. If not, the Council has decided that any
complaint regarding requests for information that cannot be dealt with
satisfactorily on an informal basis should be dealt with in accordance
with its established complaints procedure. Details of our complaints
procedure may be found at:
[1]http://www.woking.gov.uk/council/about/c... .
Alternatively, I can forward you a paper copy of a leaflet giving details.
I am also happy to discuss any queries that you may have regarding how we
have dealt with your request for information. In addition, you may apply
to the Information Commissioner for a decision whether your request for
information has been dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the
Act (although I understand that the Information Commissioner may decline
to become involved if you have not first exhausted the Council's
complaints procedure). The Information Commissioner may be contacted at
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF; tel. 01625
545745; fax. 01625 524510; e-mail. [2][email address]  

Terry Stocks | Revenues Team Manager | Revenue and Benefit Services

show quoted sections

Dear Woking Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Woking Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data'.

On 14 March 2016, I sent an FOI request for a complete and up-to-date list of all business (non-residential) property rates data, and including the following fields:

- Billing Authority Code
- 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)

My request has been refused in terms of Section 31(1)(a). According to the Information Commissioners Office, "Section 31 is a prejudice based exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that not only does the information have to prejudice one of the purposes listed, but, before the information can be withheld, the public interest in preventing that prejudice must outweigh the public interest in disclosure."

Section 31(1)(a) deals specifically with "the prevention or detection of crime".

In order to justify a Section 31(1)(a) exemption it is not sufficient simply to claim that crime occurs in empty commercial premises, it is also necessary to provide evidence that publishing a list of empty properties in real, measurable terms increases the incidence of crime in such properties.

Over the past three months, we have placed FOI requests with all police services across England and Wales requesting total number of incidents of criminal activity in empty commercial properties.

Of the 350 local authorities in England and Wales, more than 65% of these either already make empty property data available, or have done so in response to FOI requests from ourselves. The combination of crime incident data and the list of local authorities would permit easy comparison between areas that regularly disclose and those which choose not to in order to assess whether there is a greater risk as a result of disclosure.

Out of 44 police services, only two are actually able to provide data on incidents in empty commercial properties. The remaining police services do not specifically collect such data and have no way of knowing what the incident rates are.

The two who have are Thames Valley Police and North Wales Police. If your relevant police authority is advising you on your Section 31(1)(a) exemption, then - unless they are either of these - they do not actually have data to validate their opinion.

The data provided are unequivocal. Incidents of crime in empty properties are exceedingly rare, and there is no variation in the incidence rate between local authorities who do publish, and those who do not publish data on empty properties.

In North Wales, there are an average of 1,780 crimes a year in occupied properties, and 26 crimes a year in unoccupied properties that largely have to do with theft, vandalism or arson (note that squatting in commercial property is not a crime and so unrecorded).

There are about 45,000 commercial properties in North Wales and vacancies are amongst the worst in England and Wales (ranging from 15% to 25%).

In other words, the ratio of crimes in occupied vs empty commercial properties is almost 70:1, compared with an actual occupied vs empty ratio of 6:1 (i.e. an occupied commercial property is ten times more likely to experience an incident of crime than an unoccupied one).

This tells us that crime in empty commercial premises is extremely rare. This explains why most police services do not bother to specifically collect such data.

The data from the Thames Valley police gives us a better idea of the variation between authorities which publish, and those which don’t.

For example, in 2015 Oxford had 4,038 commercial properties and suffered 2 cases of empty commercial property crime at a cost of £1,259. In comparison, they had 3,133 cases of crime committed in occupied business premises, at a cost of £507,956.

By comparison, Reading, with 5,659 commercial properties suffered 2 empty commercial property crimes that caused no damage at all.

Oxford refuses to publish under Section 31(1)(a) while Reading publishes regularly.

In total, across the Thames Valley, for 74,027 properties - of which about 7,000 are empty - only 11 crimes related to empty properties were recorded. Compare that to occupied and actively-traded properties which experienced 29,946 reported crimes.

The Thames Valley data are here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...
And the North Wales Police data are here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Please verify for yourself.

In two distinct parts of the UK, with completely different approaches to recording crime, empty property crime is extremely rare, and publication of data listing empty properties does not have any impact on the number of incidents of crime.

Some local authorities who claim exemption under Section 31(1)(a) claim to have their own data to validate these claims. We have further sent FOIs requesting data to 64 local authorities (including both those who do publish empty property data, and those who do not). Not one has any data - other than very sparse anecdotal data to support their claim.

It is very difficult to substantiate a Section 31 refusal if you have no data to validate your concern. There is no substantive basis for concern that publishing a list of empty properties will lead to prejudice under Section 31.

In terms of Public Interest, the purpose of our use of the data requested is in informing entrepreneurs and business seekers about opportunities in empty premises when they are advertised for new tenants. We combine local authority premises occupation data with other data (from the Valuations Office and ONS) to develop forward guidance on business potential in each empty business property. Further details on our activities are available at http://pikhaya.com, but our activity is supported by the Open Data Institute and we have received funding from the EU Open Data Incubator to develop this service.

Our combined data are made available via online commercial property leasing intermediaries as a free service to business seekers. These leasing intermediaries combine our data with properties being offered for rent.

I would ask that you consider that the public interest in economic development and improving opportunities for independent businesses and entrepreneurs far outweighs any concern that the release of data which can identify empty business properties may cause crime.

We recently took this motivation to the Information Commissioners Office when we referred our first case there for external review. ICO found in our favour and South Holland authority has now published their list of empty properties which they originally refused to do under Section 31(1)(a).

I ask that you reconsider your decision and make the data requested available to us under terms which permit our use thereof.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

Comments, Woking Borough Council

Thank you for your email.

E-mails will be replied to as soon as possible but within a maximum of 14 days of their receipt. If a reply cannot be sent within this timescale, an e-mail will be sent specifying a target date for the response.

Kind regards,

Customer Services

show quoted sections

Comments, Woking Borough Council

Thank you for your contact. We have forwarded your request to the Policy dept. for action.
Kind regards
Customer Services

______________________________________________
Woking Borough Council, Civic Offices, Gloucester Square, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6YL
Phone: 01483 755855 | Fax: 01483 768746 | Web: www.woking.gov.uk

________________________________________
From: Gavin Chait [[FOI #322137 email]]
Sent: 09 May 2016 15:36
To: Comments
Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data

Dear Woking Borough Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Woking Borough Council's handling of my FOI request 'Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data'.

On 14 March 2016, I sent an FOI request for a complete and up-to-date list of all business (non-residential) property rates data, and including the following fields:

- Billing Authority Code
- 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)

My request has been refused in terms of Section 31(1)(a). According to the Information Commissioners Office, "Section 31 is a prejudice based exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that not only does the information have to prejudice one of the purposes listed, but, before the information can be withheld, the public interest in preventing that prejudice must outweigh the public interest in disclosure."

Section 31(1)(a) deals specifically with "the prevention or detection of crime".

In order to justify a Section 31(1)(a) exemption it is not sufficient simply to claim that crime occurs in empty commercial premises, it is also necessary to provide evidence that publishing a list of empty properties in real, measurable terms increases the incidence of crime in such properties.

Over the past three months, we have placed FOI requests with all police services across England and Wales requesting total number of incidents of criminal activity in empty commercial properties.

Of the 350 local authorities in England and Wales, more than 65% of these either already make empty property data available, or have done so in response to FOI requests from ourselves. The combination of crime incident data and the list of local authorities would permit easy comparison between areas that regularly disclose and those which choose not to in order to assess whether there is a greater risk as a result of disclosure.

Out of 44 police services, only two are actually able to provide data on incidents in empty commercial properties. The remaining police services do not specifically collect such data and have no way of knowing what the incident rates are.

The two who have are Thames Valley Police and North Wales Police. If your relevant police authority is advising you on your Section 31(1)(a) exemption, then - unless they are either of these - they do not actually have data to validate their opinion.

The data provided are unequivocal. Incidents of crime in empty properties are exceedingly rare, and there is no variation in the incidence rate between local authorities who do publish, and those who do not publish data on empty properties.

In North Wales, there are an average of 1,780 crimes a year in occupied properties, and 26 crimes a year in unoccupied properties that largely have to do with theft, vandalism or arson (note that squatting in commercial property is not a crime and so unrecorded).

There are about 45,000 commercial properties in North Wales and vacancies are amongst the worst in England and Wales (ranging from 15% to 25%).

In other words, the ratio of crimes in occupied vs empty commercial properties is almost 70:1, compared with an actual occupied vs empty ratio of 6:1 (i.e. an occupied commercial property is ten times more likely to experience an incident of crime than an unoccupied one).

This tells us that crime in empty commercial premises is extremely rare. This explains why most police services do not bother to specifically collect such data.

The data from the Thames Valley police gives us a better idea of the variation between authorities which publish, and those which don’t.

For example, in 2015 Oxford had 4,038 commercial properties and suffered 2 cases of empty commercial property crime at a cost of £1,259. In comparison, they had 3,133 cases of crime committed in occupied business premises, at a cost of £507,956.

By comparison, Reading, with 5,659 commercial properties suffered 2 empty commercial property crimes that caused no damage at all.

Oxford refuses to publish under Section 31(1)(a) while Reading publishes regularly.

In total, across the Thames Valley, for 74,027 properties - of which about 7,000 are empty - only 11 crimes related to empty properties were recorded. Compare that to occupied and actively-traded properties which experienced 29,946 reported crimes.

The Thames Valley data are here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...
And the North Wales Police data are here:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

Please verify for yourself.

In two distinct parts of the UK, with completely different approaches to recording crime, empty property crime is extremely rare, and publication of data listing empty properties does not have any impact on the number of incidents of crime.

Some local authorities who claim exemption under Section 31(1)(a) claim to have their own data to validate these claims. We have further sent FOIs requesting data to 64 local authorities (including both those who do publish empty property data, and those who do not). Not one has any data - other than very sparse anecdotal data to support their claim.

It is very difficult to substantiate a Section 31 refusal if you have no data to validate your concern. There is no substantive basis for concern that publishing a list of empty properties will lead to prejudice under Section 31.

In terms of Public Interest, the purpose of our use of the data requested is in informing entrepreneurs and business seekers about opportunities in empty premises when they are advertised for new tenants. We combine local authority premises occupation data with other data (from the Valuations Office and ONS) to develop forward guidance on business potential in each empty business property. Further details on our activities are available at http://pikhaya.com, but our activity is supported by the Open Data Institute and we have received funding from the EU Open Data Incubator to develop this service.

Our combined data are made available via online commercial property leasing intermediaries as a free service to business seekers. These leasing intermediaries combine our data with properties being offered for rent.

I would ask that you consider that the public interest in economic development and improving opportunities for independent businesses and entrepreneurs far outweighs any concern that the release of data which can identify empty business properties may cause crime.

We recently took this motivation to the Information Commissioners Office when we referred our first case there for external review. ICO found in our favour and South Holland authority has now published their list of empty properties which they originally refused to do under Section 31(1)(a).

I ask that you reconsider your decision and make the data requested available to us under terms which permit our use thereof.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

Gavin Chait

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #322137 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the ICO:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Policy, Woking Borough Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Chait,

 

Thank you for your email dated 9 May 2016 requesting an internal review of
your FOI request.

 

I can confirm that we are currently looking into your request and a
response will be with you in due course.

 

Kind regards,

Katharine

Katharine Collinson | Policy Officer | Corporate Strategy

______________________________________________________________________________

For general enquiries, please call Woking Borough Council's Contact Centre
on 01483 755855
[1]Description:
http://ewok/images/instances/000050291E9...

[2]signature

 

_____________________________________________________________

From: Gavin Chait [[FOI #322137 email]]

Sent: 09 May 2016 15:36

To: Comments

Subject: Internal review of Freedom of Information request - Complete
Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data

 

Dear Woking Borough Council,

 

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

 

I am writing to request an internal review of Woking Borough Council's
handling of my FOI request 'Complete Non-Residential / Business Property
Rates Data'.

 

On 14 March 2016, I sent an FOI request for a complete and up-to-date list
of all business (non-residential) property rates data, and including the
following fields:

 

- Billing Authority Code

- 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)

 

My request has been refused in terms of Section 31(1)(a). According to the
Information Commissioners Office, "Section 31 is a prejudice based
exemption and is subject to the public interest test. This means that not
only does the information have to prejudice one of the purposes listed,
but, before the information can be withheld, the public interest in
preventing that prejudice must outweigh the public interest in
disclosure."

 

Section 31(1)(a) deals specifically with "the prevention or detection of
crime".

 

In order to justify a Section 31(1)(a) exemption it is not sufficient
simply to claim that crime occurs in empty commercial premises, it is also
necessary to provide evidence that publishing a list of empty properties
in real, measurable terms increases the incidence of crime in such
properties.

 

Over the past three months, we have placed FOI requests with all police
services across England and Wales requesting total number of incidents of
criminal activity in empty commercial properties.

 

Of the 350 local authorities in England and Wales, more than 65% of these
either already make empty property data available, or have done so in
response to FOI requests from ourselves. The combination of crime incident
data and the list of local authorities would permit easy comparison
between areas that regularly disclose and those which choose not to in
order to assess whether there is a greater risk as a result of disclosure.

 

Out of 44 police services, only two are actually able to provide data on
incidents in empty commercial properties. The remaining police services do
not specifically collect such data and have no way of knowing what the
incident rates are.

 

The two who have are Thames Valley Police and North Wales Police. If your
relevant police authority is advising you on your Section 31(1)(a)
exemption, then - unless they are either of these - they do not actually
have data to validate their opinion.

 

The data provided are unequivocal. Incidents of crime in empty properties
are exceedingly rare, and there is no variation in the incidence rate
between local authorities who do publish, and those who do not publish
data on empty properties.

 

In North Wales, there are an  average of 1,780 crimes a year in occupied
properties, and 26 crimes a year in unoccupied properties that largely
have to do with theft, vandalism or arson (note that squatting in
commercial property is not a crime and so unrecorded).

 

There are about 45,000 commercial properties in North Wales and vacancies
are amongst the worst in England and Wales (ranging from 15% to 25%).

 

In other words, the ratio of crimes in occupied vs empty commercial
properties is almost 70:1, compared with an actual occupied vs empty ratio
of 6:1 (i.e. an occupied commercial property is ten times more likely to
experience an incident of crime than an unoccupied one).

 

This tells us that crime in empty commercial premises is extremely rare.
This explains why most police services do not bother to specifically
collect such data.

 

The data from the Thames Valley police gives us a better idea of the
variation between authorities which publish, and those which don’t.

 

For example, in 2015 Oxford had 4,038 commercial properties and suffered 2
cases of empty commercial property crime at a cost of £1,259. In
comparison, they had 3,133 cases of crime committed in occupied business
premises, at a cost of £507,956.

 

By comparison, Reading, with 5,659 commercial properties suffered 2 empty
commercial property crimes that caused no damage at all.

 

Oxford refuses to publish under Section 31(1)(a) while Reading publishes
regularly.

 

In total, across the Thames Valley, for 74,027 properties - of which about
7,000 are empty - only 11 crimes related to empty properties were
recorded. Compare that to occupied and actively-traded properties which
experienced 29,946 reported crimes.

 

The Thames Valley data are here:
[3]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

And the North Wales Police data are here:

[4]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/a...

 

Please verify for yourself.

 

In two distinct parts of the UK, with completely different approaches to
recording crime, empty property crime is extremely rare, and publication
of data listing empty properties does not have any impact on the number of
incidents of crime.

 

Some local authorities who claim exemption under Section 31(1)(a) claim to
have their own data to validate these claims. We have further sent FOIs
requesting data to 64 local authorities (including both those who do
publish empty property data, and those who do not). Not one has any data -
other than very sparse anecdotal data to support their claim.

 

It is very difficult to substantiate a Section 31 refusal if you have no
data to validate your concern. There is no substantive basis for concern
that publishing a list of empty properties will lead to prejudice under
Section 31.

 

In terms of Public Interest, the purpose of our use of the data requested
is in informing entrepreneurs and business seekers about opportunities in
empty premises when they are advertised for new tenants. We combine local
authority premises occupation data with other data (from the Valuations
Office and ONS) to develop forward guidance on business potential in each
empty business property. Further details on our activities are available
at [5]http://pikhaya.com, but our activity is supported by the Open Data
Institute and we have received funding from the EU Open Data Incubator to
develop this service.

 

Our combined data are made available via online commercial property
leasing intermediaries as a free service to business seekers. These
leasing intermediaries combine our data with properties being offered for
rent.

 

I would ask that you consider that the public interest in economic
development and improving opportunities for independent businesses and
entrepreneurs far outweighs any concern that the release of data which can
identify empty business properties may cause crime.

 

We recently took this motivation to the Information Commissioners Office
when we referred our first case there for external review. ICO found in
our favour and South Holland authority has now published their list of
empty properties which they originally refused to do under Section
31(1)(a).

 

I ask that you reconsider your decision and make the data requested
available to us under terms which permit our use thereof.

 

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this address:
[6]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Gavin Chait

 

 

 

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[7][FOI #322137 email]

 

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the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[8]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/offi...

 

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the
latest advice from the ICO:

[9]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/help/ico-...

 

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

 

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Douglas Spinks, Woking Borough Council

Dear Mr Chait,

Ref A022.AC.71

I can confirm that, as requested, I have undertaken an internal review of the handling of your FoI request. In so doing, I have carefully considered the case you have made. I have also sought to validate your claim in respect of the South Holland District Council case to which you refer; but my web based research is inconclusive.

The outcome of my review is that the position taken by the Council not to disclose the information is correct. I am of the view that, if your request had been granted, the information could have led to the potential for criminal offences to be committed and that this would not be in the public interest.

The Council has promoting the local economy as one of its top four priorities and it seeks to positively support the local business community. The decision not to disclose the information does not in any way compromise the Council's active engagement in promoting and supporting the local economy, but it does protect the public interest.

Therefore, I can confirm that the information you have requested will not be disclosed by virtue of the exemption in Section 31 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

If you are dissatisfied with this decision, you may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Tel. 01625 545745 email [email address]

Yours sincerely,

Douglas Spinks.

Douglas Spinks | Deputy Chief Executive
_____________________________________________
Woking Borough Council, Civic Offices, Gloucester Square, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6YL
Phone: 01483 743440 Web: www.woking.gov.uk
For general enquiries please call Woking Borough Council's Contact Centre on 01483 755855

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