FOI Request May
Dear Copeland Borough Council,
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000.
In accordance with the provisions specified within the above Act I hereby request the following information.
All information requested relates to Business Rates.
This request for information falls within the parameters of the Act but if you require clarification on any of the points above or should you wish to discuss this further then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Required Information;- A list of all live business rates accounts with a 2017 list Rateable Value.
• Property Reference Number (also known as Billing Authority Reference Number) of the property on which the charge is made. Please note that this is not the Rate Demand or Rate Account Number.
• Current rateable value
• Account holder name
• Property address
• The billing address (where different to the property address), the contact telephone number and email address
• The date the current ratepayer became liable for the business rates – we do not require any historical account liability dates only the current ratepayers liability start date
• whether a property is empty or occupied
• Where a property is currently empty please provide the date the ratepayer became liable for empty rates
• Where there is an exemption on the account please provide the start and end date and type of exemption applied (e.g. listed building)
• Where there is a relief on the account please provide the date it was applied and the type of relief (e.g. Retail Discount)
• We do not require any personal information or sole traders.
Please provide the information in an electronic, spreadsheet format ideally excel. The Act requires that a response be provided within a period of 20 working days from the date hereof.
Yours faithfully,
Richard Roberts
Dear Richard Roberts
I acknowledge receipt of your Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Your request is being considered and you will receive any recorded information held by Copeland Borough Council 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.
For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions, which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the 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. You will be informed if this is the case.
There may be a fee payable for this information. 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.
If you have any queries or concerns then please contact me.
Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone 01625 545700
https://ico.org.uk/
Yours Sincerely
Freedom of Information
Copeland Borough Council
01946 598300
[email address]
Copeland Borough Council, Whitehaven Commercial Park, Moresby Parks, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 8YD
Dear Robert Roberts
Thank you for your request for information regarding Business Rates
I can advise that the information requested is as follows:
The information the council was required to submit under The Non-Domestic
Rating (Compilation and Alteration of Lists) (England) Regulations 2020 by
15th January 2021 is not for sharing in its current format, due to the
amount of personal data within the file.
However, the council routinely shares a full NNDR redacted dataset on
request which I have attached for your information.
I hope this is the information you require, but do not hesitate to contact
me if you wish to clarify anything further.
The Council makes every effort to make sure that the services it provides
are as efficient and effective as possible, and this includes any requests
under the Freedom of Information Act.
If you believe that your request has not been dealt with satisfactorily
you should follow the Council’s complaints procedure.
If you have followed the complaints procedure and are still not happy with
how your request has been dealt with you may also contact the:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Enquiry/Information Line: 01625 545 745
For more information: [1]https://ico.org.uk/
Yours Sincerely
Freedom of Information
Copeland Borough Council
01946 598300
[2][email address]
Copeland Borough Council, Whitehaven Commercial Park, Moresby Parks,
Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 8YD
Dear Richard Roberts
Thank you for your request for information regarding Business Rates
I can advise that the information requested is as follows:
Please see attached spreadsheet.
Withheld information:
Personal data relating to sole traders:
Section 40(2) FOI Act – Personal Information
Details relating to individuals and sole traders is personal data as it
relates to identifiable individuals therefore the exemption that applies
is S40(2), by virtue of section 40(3)(a) of the FOI Act (Personal
Information).
Section 40(2) in an absolute exemption in cases where disclosure would
breach any of the Data Protection Principles.
Whilst it is appropriate to disclose some information from the NNDR data
set, there is no similar expectation that personal details of the sole
traders would also be released into public domain as a result of being
released under a Freedom of Information request.
In accordance with S17(1) of the Freedom of Information act 2000 this note
acts as a refusal notice for this part of your request.
Data relating to empty properties:
Section 31 (1)(a) FOI Act – Law Enforcement
Details relating to empty properties is withheld under Section 31 (1)(a)
of the Freedom of Information Act – information is exempt if its
disclosure would be likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of
crime.
Harm:
The application of this exemption is necessary for the prevention of
crime. Disclosure of such information would expose vulnerabilities of such
properties and thus lead to potential acts of criminal damage to vacant
properties and fraudulent business rates claims against empty properties.
Public Interest Test:
Factors favouring disclosure for S31:
o Greater accountability surrounding public authority activities.
o It is in the public interest to provide some transparency regarding
the records we hold in respect of the administration of business
rates.
Factors favouring non-disclosure for S31:
o The release of the information would hinder the prevention of crime.
o Potentially more crime would be committed as a realisation of the
vacant properties.
o If there was to be an increase in crime due to the release of
information, a monetary loss would result as an impact of the crimes
committed.
Balance test:
Whilst transparency surrounding the public purse and local authority
activities are in the public interest, the prevention of crime is
paramount. An increase in crime would also cost the public purse. The
conclusion is such that the arguments in favour of maintaining the
exemption outweigh the factors for disclosure of this information.
In accordance with S17(1) of the Freedom of Information act 2000 this note
acts as a refusal notice for this part of your request.
Public Authorities are routinely required to provide statistics however,
the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, not are the
procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted that for
these reasons Copeland Borough Council’s response to your questions should
not be used for comparison purposes.
I hope this is the information you require, but do not hesitate to contact
me if you wish to clarify anything further.
The Council makes every effort to make sure that the services it provides
are as efficient and effective as possible, and this includes any requests
under the Freedom of Information Act.
If you believe that your request has not been dealt with satisfactorily
you should follow the Council’s complaints procedure.
If you have followed the complaints procedure and are still not happy with
how your request has been dealt with you may also contact the:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Enquiry/Information Line: 01625 545 745
For more information: [1]https://ico.org.uk/
Yours Sincerely
Freedom of Information
Copeland Borough Council
01946 598300
[2][email address]
Copeland Borough Council, Whitehaven Commercial Park, Moresby Parks,
Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 8YD
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