Ref No: 21/20

21 April 2021

Dear Mr Chait,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding: Complete
Non-Residential_Business Property Rates Data.

We can confirm your request was received on 20 April 2021. This will be
dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
answered within twenty working days.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this request please contact the Corporate
Information Team, quoting the above reference number.

Yours faithfully

Graeme Napier

Freedom of Information
[1]NKDC [2]Facebook [3]YouTube Tel: 01529 414155
Twitter Email: foi@n‑kesteven.gov.uk
[HNG53VF58]​ [4]www.n-kesteven.gov.uk
Kesteven Street ,  Sleaford ,  NG34 7EF
[5]Click to find out the latest on Covid.

show quoted sections

Ref No: 21/20

11 May 2021

Dear Mr Chait,

We refer to previous correspondence regarding your request for information
relating to: Complete Non-Residential_Business Property Rates Data.

Releases under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 must be viewed as
releases to the world and therefore we can only release information if we
are content with this information becoming widely available.

Empty property details have been withheld in accordance with Section
31(1)(a).  Section 31(1)(a) states that information is exempt if its
disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the
prevention or detection of crime. During the last year there have been
instances in which individuals have used the previously provided empty
property data to fraudulently claim grants provided by the local
authority.  This led to difficulties in confirming or denying these
applications due to the lockdowns at various points through the year.  It
has now been shown that providing empty property data is used by criminal
elements to attempt to defraud the public.  This satisfies the term would
be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

Section 31 provides a qualified exemption and as such requires a public
interest test to ensure that withholding the information is in the best
interest of the general public.

In Favour of Release

There is a general presumption in favour of releasing information as much
as possible.  For that reason most business rates information is provided
by the City of Lincoln team and available online on the NKDC website.

Releasing the information enables analysis of the health of businesses in
the District which may enable better economic health for the area.

In Favour of Withholding

Empty property information is used by criminal elements in an attempt to
defraud local authorities and, more to the point, has been conducted in
the last year in this area.  In order to prevent this fraud, Council
Officers have to make more inspections and spend more time in public
areas. 

This both increases the costs around the provision of these grants and can
delay the provision of grants to those who are actually entitled to them. 
This both disadvantages the public generally due to increased costs but
can disadvantage in a more important way those businesses relying on the
grants to stay solvent. 

A further issue is that at this time we are trying to minimise person to
person interaction and if we had to send officers out to verify every new
business claiming a grant this would increase the vectors for transmission
of the coronavirus.

The fact that these fraudulent requests for grants have been made show
that individuals are using empty property information to facilitate
criminal activity, therefore other criminal activity may occur if we are
to share empty property information.  The sharing of empty property
information would therefore lead to an increased requirement for
inspections of empty property and the increased cost to the public purse.

Having weighed the various factors it is felt that the public interest in
this case is to withhold the information in order to prevent further
attempted criminal actions.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response,
quoting the above reference number, via email at: [North Kesteven District Council request email] or
by post to North Kesteven District Council, Corporate and Customer
Services, Kesteven Street, Sleaford, Lincs, NG34 7EF.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted through their
website www.ico.org.uk, by email to [email address], by telephone
0303 123 1113 or in writing to Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe
House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours faithfully

Graeme Napier

Freedom of Information
[1]NKDC [2]Facebook [3]YouTube Tel: 01529 414155
Twitter Email: foi@n‑kesteven.gov.uk
[HNG53VF58]​ [4]www.n-kesteven.gov.uk
Kesteven Street ,  Sleaford ,  NG34 7EF
[5]Click to find out the latest on Covid.

References

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1. NKDC Twitter
https://twitter.com/NorthKestevenDC
2. Facebook
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3. YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/NorthKestev...
4. http://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/
5. Click to find out the latest on Covid.
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus