Covid Small Grant & Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Schemes

The request was refused by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

Dear Cheshire West and Chester Council,

Please treat this email as a request for information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, alternatively the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

1. Please advise yes or no if all grants paid by CWaC under these Government Schemes up to 31/8//20 is held on a single file, I.e. a spreadsheet.

2. If the answer to 1. is ‘yes’ please forward a copy of the file.

3. If the answer to 1. is ‘no’ please advise how the information is held and how I may physically view the information on all the grants provided by CwaC under these Government Schemes.

Yours faithfully,

Benjamin Dean

FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

RE: Your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Case Reference: RFI 3121

Dear Benjamin Dean

Thank you for your email dated 8 October 2020.

It will be treated as a request within the meaning of the Act: this means that we will send you a full response within 20 working days, either supplying you with the information which you want, or explaining to you why we cannot supply it.

If we need any further clarification or there is any problem we will be in touch.

Yours sincerely

Disclosures Team
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Tel: 0300 123 8 123
Email: [email address]
Location: Cheshire West and Chester Council, 4 Civic Way, Ellesmere Port CH65 0BE
Visit: cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

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FOI West, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Dear Benjamin Dean

Thank you for your request for information of 8 October 2020 which has been logged as RFI 3121 and has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We confirm that Cheshire West and Chester Council holds information relating to your request.

For the purpose of clarity your request has been reproduced below:

1. Please advise yes or no if all grants paid by CWaC under these Government Schemes up to 31/8//20 is held on a single file, I.e. a spreadsheet.

2. If the answer to 1. is ‘yes’ please forward a copy of the file.

3. If the answer to 1. is ‘no’ please advise how the information is held and how I may physically view the information on all the grants provided by CwaC under these Government Schemes.

Response

The details you request are held electronically on the Council's Business Rates database. To access this information a request should be made under the Freedom Of Information Act to [email address].

The Council considers placing information in the public domain under FOIA relating to businesses that have received COVID-19 related financial support, including business name, address, liability etc prejudices the Council’s ability to identify, limit or prevent fraudulent attempts to claim business rate support. For this reason we are applying an exemption at section 31(1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and will not be disclosing the information to you.
Section 31(1) (a) of the FOIA states:
Information which is not exempt information by virtue of section 30 is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime Section 31 is a prejudiced based exemption and is subject to a public interest test.

It is considered that disclosure of the requested information at the present time would, or would likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.

The information requested is held by the Council for the purpose of assessing eligibility for reliefs and grants. The Council is supporting businesses impacted by COVID-19 with funding for eligible businesses, who can claim financial support in the event of a local lockdown. The information contained in the report you request identifies businesses who have claimed support to-date, and could be eligible for the latest support grants available. The information could be used to assist fraudsters to claim monies not rightfully theirs and likely to prejudice the Council’s attempts to prevent fraudulent activity. It is known to the Council the extent fraudsters go to in order to submit fraudulent claims, such as impersonating a business or Council officers and intercepting a genuine claim for assistance and diverting funds. Whilst the commission of identity fraud is not of itself a crime, the use of another’s identity for the purpose of the commission of a crime is. CWaCC consider that there is a real and significant risk of prejudice.

The greater the potential for a disclosure to result in crime, the greater the public interest in maintaining the exemption. The victims of crime can be both organisations and individuals and there is public interest in protecting both from the impact of crime. The businesses eligible for grants can be sole traders and companies, and both are susceptible to fraud and the impact of the crime.

The public interest test reasons for disclosure:
Open and transparency in relation to procedures and decision making of public authorities and collection of taxes and management of finances HIGH

Reasons against disclosure:
There is strong public interest in ensuring monies from the public purse, such as COVID grants and reliefs, are not fraudulently claimed, and also not making it easier for fraud to be committed HIGH
There is a real and evident risk of crime if information is released HIGH
Disclosure would be likely to prejudice the Council’s ability to identify, limit or prevent fraudulent attempts to claim business rate support HIGH
There is an inherent duty to protect individuals and organisations from the effects of crime HIGH
It would not be in the public interest to expose the Council to potential costs associated with a fraudulent claim. Costs such as legal costs to recover funds, internal management costs and having to pay monies twice. HIGH
Public duty of the authority to protect the ability of law enforcement agencies to conduct investigations HIGH
Effects of crime are not only local but global and need to be protected against HIGH
There is an inherently strong public interest in avoiding the likely prejudice to the prevention of crime. HIGH

CWaCC consider that the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

The Council considers that your request has been answered in full by either confirming that information is not held, providing you with the information requested, or explaining why any information has been withheld and the reasons for any redaction. Where applicable, the Council has also told you the reasons for the delay in responding to your request.

If you are unhappy with the way your request for information has been handled you can request a review by writing to the Disclosures Team within 40 working days from the date of the Council’s response.

You are entitled to a review by the Council if:
• You are dissatisfied with the Council’s explanation of why the application was not dealt with within the 20 working day time limit.
• All the information requested is not being disclosed and you have not received an explanation why some information is not being disclosed.
• A reason for the disclosures under the request being refused is not received.
• You consider that exemptions have been wrongly applied, and/or
• You consider that a fee has been wrongly applied.

Please set out your grounds for seeking a review together with what specific part of your request those grounds apply to and the outcome you are seeking. The Council reserves the right to ask you for clarification of the grounds for your review request if the grounds are not clear, and to delay commencing the review if such grounds are not provided.

The Disclosures Team can be contacted by email via: [Cheshire West and Chester Council request email] or at the following address:

Disclosures Team
Cheshire West and Chester Council
4 Civic Way
Ellesmere Port
CH64 0BE

The Disclosures Team will acknowledge a request for an internal review within 5 working days and complete the review as soon as possible and no later than 40 working days from receipt of the request.

More information about the Council’s internal review process can be found via:

https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.u...

If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your review, you have a right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Website: www.ico.org.uk

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely

Disclosures Team – Customer Relations and Information Cheshire West and Chester Council
Tel: 0300 123 8 123
Email: [email address]
Location: Cheshire West and Chester Council, 4 Civic Way, Ellesmere Port CH65 0BE
Visit: cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

ND (Ex)

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