Our Ref: 5685567

09-MAY-11

Dear Cian O'Carroll,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

I acknowledge your request for information received today.

Your request is currently being considered and if the information
requested is held by the County Council it will be sent to you within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being exempt or
containing a reference to a third party.

If appropriate, the information will be provided in paper copy, normal
font size. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio,
large print, etc. then please let me know.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions that may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the exempt
information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the
case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you.

There may a fee payable for this information to cover photocopying,
postage and any other production costs. This will be considered and you
will be informed if a fee is payable. In this event the fee must be paid
before the information is processed and released. The 20 working day time
limit for responses is suspended until receipt of the payment.

In line with the Information Commissioner's directive on the disclosure of
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 your request will
form part of our disclosure log. Therefore, a version of our response
which will protect your anonymity will be posted on Durham County Council
website.

If you have any queries or concerns then please contact:

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive's Office

Room 4/140

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel. 0191 372 8371

Email: [Durham County Council request email]

Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [email address]

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Neale Boswell

Information Management

show quoted sections

Our Ref: 5685567

01-JUN-11

Dear Cian O'Carroll,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT - RESPONSE TO REQUEST

Your request for information received on 09-MAY-2011 has now been
considered.

You requested: Please provide a list of all properties within your area
which are currently classed as vacant for business rates purposes which
have a rateable value of over £3,000.

Please provide the address of the property, a description (i.e. shop,
office, factory etc), the contact details of whoever is responsible for
the property (i.e. landlord/owner, tenant who has vacated but still has a
lease in place etc) (kindly note where this is an individual I do not
require this information, please blank out where appropriate), the RV and
the date that the property was last occupied.

Our response: Please find the information attached.

NB: Individuals have been removed. We cannot provide the date that the
property was last occupied.

We can confirm, per s.1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, that
the council does hold the requested information.

Under s.12 of the Freedom of Information Act, the council is not obliged
to comply with a request for information where the cost of complying would
exceed the appropriate limit.

To fulfil your request would entail the manual interrogation of all the
accounts and the exercise would exceed the limit of work required to
satisfy a Freedom of Information request. The limit is £450 (18 hours)
as set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Fees and
Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.

I hope that this information is of assistance, however, if you are
dissatisfied with the handling of your request please contact:

The Information Management Team

Durham County Council

Assistant Chief Executive's Office

Room 4/140

County Hall

Durham

DH1 5UF

Tel. 0191 372 8371

Email: [1][Durham County Council request email]

After you have exhausted our internal appeals procedure you also have a
right of appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 01625 545 745

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: [email address]

Most of the documents that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most
cases the copyright will be owned by Durham County Council. The copyright
in other documents may be owned by another person or organisation, as
indicated on the documents themselves.

You are free to use any documents supplied for your own use, including for
non-commercial research purposes. The documents may also be used for the
purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for
example, by publishing the documents or issuing copies to the public will
require the permission of the copyright owner.

For documents where the copyright is owned by Durham County Council,
please contact me for details of the conditions on re-use.

For documents where the copyright is owned by another person or
organisation, you would need to apply to the copyright owner to obtain
their permission.

Yours sincerely,

Neale Boswell

Information Management

Durham County Council

show quoted sections