Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data (Q4 2017)
Gavin Chait made this Freedom of Information request to Ceredigion County Council as part of a batch sent to 12 authorities This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Ceredigion 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 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 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 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 more than 53% of local authorities already 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
Diolch am eich neges e-bost a fydd yn cael sylw gan y swyddog cyswllt
priodol maes o law.
Thank you for your e-mail communication which will receive attention from
the appropriate link officer
--
Ymwadiad:
Er y cymerir pob gofal posib i sicrhau cywirdeb unrhyw wybodaeth a chyngor
a roddir yn yr ohebiaeth hon, ni dderbynnir atebolrwydd am unrhyw
golledion a all godi o unrhyw gamgymeriadau sy'n gynwysedig ac fe'ch
atgoffir o'r angen i chi ofyn am gyngor proffesiynol eich hun.
Bwriedir y neges ebost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau iddi, at sylw'r person(au)
y'i danfonwyd atynt yn unig. Os nad chi yw'r derbynnydd y cyfeiriwyd y
neges hon ato ef neu hi, neu'r person sydd gyfrifol am drosglwyddo'r neges
hon iddo ef neu hi, mi ddylech hysbysu'r anfonwr ar eich union. Oni bai
mai chi yw'r person neu gynrychiolydd y person y cyfeiriwyd y neges hon at
ef neu hi nid ydych wedi eich awdurdodi i, ac ni ddylech chi, ddarllen,
copio, dosbarthu, defnyddio na chadw'r neges hon nac unrhyw gyfran ohoni.
O dan y Ddeddf Amddiffyn Data 1998 a Deddf Rhyddid Gwybodaeth 2000 gellir
datgelu cynnwys y negest ebost hon.
Disclaimer:
While reasonable care is taken to ensure the correctness of any
information and advice given in this correspondence no liability is
accepted for losses arising from any errors contained in it and you are
reminded of the need to obtain your own professional advice.
The information in this email and any attachments is intended solely for
the attention and use of the named addressee(s). If you are not the
intended recipient, or person responsible for delivering this information
to the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately. Unless
you are the intended recipient or his/her representative you are not
authorised to, and must not, read, copy, distribute, use or retain this
message or any part of it.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000
the contents of this email may be disclosed.
Dear Mr Chait
Please find attached our response to your recent request.
We have provided the occupied status on properties relating to Public
Bodies and Limited Companies only. Having reviewed previous Decision
Notices issued under FOIA, useful guidance is provided in the case of
England v Bexley & the ICO in respect of the level of injustice that could
be caused to an individual as opposed to a company if disclosure of the
information resulted in damage to their property etc and is therefore
exempt under s.31(a) ‘Prevention or Detection of Crime’.
If you have any complaints in relation to this FOI response the Council
does operate an internal appeals procedure. If you wish to utilise this
procedure then please write to Mr Alun Williams, Head of Policy Support,
Cyngor Sir Ceredigion, Penmorfa, Aberaeron, Ceredigion, SA46 0PA or via
email through [1][Ceredigion County Council request email]
Thank you
Angela Evans
--
Ymwadiad:
Er y cymerir pob gofal posib i sicrhau cywirdeb unrhyw wybodaeth a chyngor
a roddir yn yr ohebiaeth hon, ni dderbynnir atebolrwydd am unrhyw
golledion a all godi o unrhyw gamgymeriadau sy'n gynwysedig ac fe'ch
atgoffir o'r angen i chi ofyn am gyngor proffesiynol eich hun.
Bwriedir y neges ebost hon, ac unrhyw atodiadau iddi, at sylw'r person(au)
y'i danfonwyd atynt yn unig. Os nad chi yw'r derbynnydd y cyfeiriwyd y
neges hon ato ef neu hi, neu'r person sydd gyfrifol am drosglwyddo'r neges
hon iddo ef neu hi, mi ddylech hysbysu'r anfonwr ar eich union. Oni bai
mai chi yw'r person neu gynrychiolydd y person y cyfeiriwyd y neges hon at
ef neu hi nid ydych wedi eich awdurdodi i, ac ni ddylech chi, ddarllen,
copio, dosbarthu, defnyddio na chadw'r neges hon nac unrhyw gyfran ohoni.
O dan y Ddeddf Amddiffyn Data 1998 a Deddf Rhyddid Gwybodaeth 2000 gellir
datgelu cynnwys y negest ebost hon.
Disclaimer:
While reasonable care is taken to ensure the correctness of any
information and advice given in this correspondence no liability is
accepted for losses arising from any errors contained in it and you are
reminded of the need to obtain your own professional advice.
The information in this email and any attachments is intended solely for
the attention and use of the named addressee(s). If you are not the
intended recipient, or person responsible for delivering this information
to the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately. Unless
you are the intended recipient or his/her representative you are not
authorised to, and must not, read, copy, distribute, use or retain this
message or any part of it.
Under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000
the contents of this email may be disclosed.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Ceredigion County Council request email]
Dear Angela Evans,
Thank you very much for the data provided.
While I don't dispute the data provided, I do the justification for the redactions. As per ICO Decision Notes (FS50628943 - https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak..., and FS50628978 - https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-tak...) on 28 February 2017 finding that “it is not correct to withhold this information under Regulation 31(1)(a)”, and that “the public interest in the information being disclosed outweighs that in the exemption being maintained”.
However, given you are choosing to redact personal individual data, these would - as per my initial request - be under Section 40(2) of the Act.
I wish to ensure that my future requests don't get unnecessarily bogged down in areas of the Act that are not applicable.
Yours sincerely,
Gavin Chait
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