Dear Gavin Chait

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request, which was received by
Vale of White Horse District Council on 11 November 2022.

Please accept this email as confirmation that your request has been
received and is being considered by the relevant department and that a
response will be sent to you within 20 working days, subject to the
information not being exempt and subject to any need for clarification.

The deadline for this will be 12 December 2022

The reference number for this request is Vale 22/953

I trust that this email is sufficient to assure you that your request is
being dealt with. However, should you have any queries in the meantime,
please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team at
[1][Vale of White Horse District Council request email]

Kind regards

Information Governance Team

Legal & Democratic Services

Vale of White Horse District Council

[2]www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk

We’ve moved – our address is now:

Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE

Please update your records.

To find out more about how the council holds, uses and stores your
personal data, please click on the link below

[3]Vale of White Horse District Council

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Chait

Thank you for your Freedom of Information requests, which were received by
both South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District
Council, logged under FOI  22/993 South and 22/953 Vale. Please note that
the two councils operate as a shared service hence this joint response.

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 some of the
information requested (empty properties) to be exempt from the rights of
access under section 31(1)(a) of the Act.

Under Section 31(1)(a) the council is permitted to withhold information if
its disclosure would prejudice the prevention and detection of crime.  It
is the council's view that disclosing the requested information would or
would be likely to prejudice the prevention of crime in that releasing
this information, would increase the likelihood of properties being used
by squatters and criminals for anti-social behaviour, drug dealing,
criminal damage, arson and building stripping. 

The exemption available under section 31(1)(a) is one of the exemptions
which is subject to the public interest test. Therefore, even when, as
here, the council considers the exemption is engaged it must then go on to
consider whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption
outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

The council recognises that there is public interest in the release of
this information for transparency and accountability reasons. However, it
is not in the public interest to disclose information which could lead to
a criminal act.

The council publishes a list of all liabilities (stripped of personal data
and empty properties) for business rates on the business rates freedom of
information pages on the websites below. 

[1]Business Rates Freedom of Information requests - Vale of White Horse
District Council (whitehorsedc.gov.uk)

[2]Business Rates Freedom of Information requests - South Oxfordshire
District Council (southoxon.gov.uk)

The lists are updated every quarter.

Please treat this as the councils’ formal response under the 2000 Act.  If
you are not satisfied with the decision I have made in response to your
request, you can make a request for an internal review by emailing
[3][email address]  within 40 working days from the date we issued
our response. 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 [4]www.ico.org.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 : [5][email address]

      
Visit us at:

[6]www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk

[7]www.southoxon.gov.uk

To find out more about how the council holds, uses and stores your
personal data, please click on the appropriate council’s link:   

[8]South Oxfordshire District Council

[9]Vale of White Horse District Council

We’ve moved – our address is now:

Abbey House
Abbey Close
Abingdon
OX14 3JE

Please update your records.

References

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1. https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/vale-of-...
2. https://www.southoxon.gov.uk/south-oxfor...
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.ico.org.uk/
5. mailto:[email address]
6. http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/
7. http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/
8. https://www.southoxon.gov.uk/south-oxfor...
9. http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/about-us/...