Complete Non-Residential / Business Property Rates Data (Q1 2018)

The request was partially successful.

Dear Ashford Borough 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

FOI Requests, Ashford Borough Council

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Thank you for submitting a Freedom of Information request. Your email will
be processed by the Freedom of Information and Data Protection team.

 

We endeavour to respond to all Freedom of Information requests within 20
working days. If we require anything further from you we will be in
contact.

 

Kind Regards

 

Freedom of Information Team

Ashford Borough Council

 

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1. https://www.ashford.gov.uk/media/5384/20...

Ashford Borough Council

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Dear Gavin Chait FOI ref 5799 Thank you for your Freedom of information
request with regards to business rates in the authority. We receive a
number of very similar requests weekly and answering these on an
individual bases has proven to be a huge drain on resources. With this in
mind and to try and answer requests as quickly as possible, we produce a
standardised set of reports on a quarterly base. Any requests which are
received in that quarter will receive the same standardised reports as
answers. Please accept these as answers to your request. However if you
feel that these reports do not answer your request, please respond with
clarification as to what additional information you require. Report ones
shows the standardised business rate report, Report two shows information
about accounts that are in credit, Kind regards Tom Swain| Governance and
Data Protection Officer| Policy and Performance | Ashford Borough Council
If you believe the Council has not complied with the Freedom of
Information Act in relation to your request, you have the right to ask for
an internal review. Internal review requests must be submitted no later
than 40 working days after the date on which you believe that the Council
failed to comply with the legislation and must be addressed to: Freedom of
Information Manager, Ashford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Tannery Lane,
Ashford, Kent, TN23 1PL or email [Ashford Borough Council request email]. The Council's
procedure for internal reviews can be viewed at
http://www.ashford.gov.uk/freedom-of-inf.... Please remember to quote
the reference number above in any future communications. 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 at: Information Commissioner’s
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF; www.ico.org.uk;
Tel. 0303 123 1113.

 

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References

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1. https://www.ashford.gov.uk/media/5384/20...