Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for making a request for information to the London Borough of
Enfield.

We are aiming to respond to your request within 20 working days and will
let you know if we hold the information you requested and if we can
release it under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We are now making an initial assessment of your request and we will
contact you if any clarification is needed.

If you have any queries regarding your request, please contact us at
[1][Enfield Council request email] quoting your reference CRM FOI
5808  

Kind regards,

Seun Ogunsan

Complaints & Access to Information Coordinator

Finance, Resources and Customer Service

London Borough of Enfield

Website: www.enfield.gov.uk

Classification: OFFICIAL

[2]Campaign

[3]Facebook[4]Follow us on Facebook [5]Twitter[6]Twitter
[7]Enfield[8]http://www.enfield.gov.uk

show quoted sections

This email has been scanned for viruses but we cannot guarantee that it
will be free of viruses or malware. The recipient should perform their own
virus checks.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is
confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others
authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby
notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in
relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and
may be unlawful.

This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been
automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a
Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for
your human generated data. Specializing in; Security, archiving and
compliance. To find out more [9]Click Here.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[Enfield Council request email]
2. https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/...
3. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enfield-C...
4. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enfield-C...
5. https://twitter.com/EnfieldCouncil
6. https://twitter.com/EnfieldCouncil
7. http://www.enfield.gov.uk/
8. http://www.enfield.gov.uk/
9. http://www.mimecast.com/products/

Dear Mr Pleasant

Thank you for your freedom of information request.

Please treat this email as a refusal notice in response to your Freedom of
Information Act request. I am refusing under Section 31, section 41 and
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act and this refusal is supported
by ICO decisions such as FS50671834 and FS50619844.

Also to expand we do not do write on’s for credits. We simply treat
credits as a continual ongoing exercise to refund directly to our
ratepayers (and/or their agents) as part and parcel of daily
administration of collecting a tax. It is our duty to protect our
ratepayers and Central government expect this of us.

In terms of Section 31 (law enforcement), our view that the public
interest in withholding information relating to accounts that are
currently overpaid, in credit or have a write on including names of
ratepayers outweighs the public interest in disclosing it. Disclosing this
to you effectively makes it available to all.

There are justifiable reasons to withhold information under this exemption
on the basis of crime and disorder as information within the public domain
may lead to false claims resulting in fraud, making the information
available to you effectively makes it available to all. Therefore the
Council considers that disclosure of this information is not in the public
interest as so to do may lead to criminal activities such as fraud and
identity fraud. We would never release the account number for example as
this is used as part of the identity verification.

There is a fiduciary duty on all Councils and therefore to simply release
unchecked financial information to third parties is not something we will
do. A credit on our system is not necessarily a true credit, every account
that may have a credit would have to be investigated and verified.

We have been inundated with similar F.O.I requests from various parties
and we continue to ensure that all credits are refunded where appropriate
to do so and this is something that is an ongoing process as part and
parcel of administering a tax, as such I am also refusing Under Section 12
of the Freedom of Information Act a public authority is not obliged to
comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the
cost of complying with the request would exceed the “appropriate limit”
prescribed in the regulations. I am refusing your request on this basis
and in line with previous repeated requests for this information.

Our records are solely for the purposes of collecting a tax and any
information collected and given to us is given in confidence. You are also
asking for specific information about accounts, such information is
personal to the ratepayers in question and I am refusing under Section 41
(Information provided in Confidence) because the release of information
would constitute a breach of confidence. The ratepayers have agents who
deal with their accounts. Tax payer confidentiality is of the upmost
importance.

Information relating to billing and collection of Business Rate is
provided to us by organisations expressly for that purpose and is
commercially sensitive. Companies provide information in confidence to
Enfield and it follows that such information should be protected. The view
is that the Council could be subject to an actionable breach of confidence
if it were to disclose information relating to companies to third parties
without their authorisation.

As a rating agent you work for many different Companies and have authority
to act on their behalf. In this situation the Council would accept you
have good reason to request the information in this FOI where your clients
are the ratepayer.

We would only provide details to rating agents if we know they act for a
client. I am sure you will understand if another Company obtained details
relating to your clients that may result in a loss of commission to your
Company, which in itself may be actionable if it became apparent it was
due to information Enfield had released. If we do not already know a
rating agent is acting on behalf of a company we would need "an authority
to act" from each of their clients before giving them any information
about specific Business Rate accounts. It is usual for an agent to quote
the account number, who they are acting for and the context of why they
are contacting us.

As I said we have published certain information but when connected with
other information we consider other specific details about a company would
be likely to attract a higher degree of sensitivity. For example, in the
area of procurement, the identify of an unsuccessful bidder may be
withheld in certain circumstances. Therefore we consider that to the
extent that the supplementary data account concerning ratepayer is exempt
under Section 41 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Section 41 of the FOIA states:

1) Information is exempt information if-

a) it was obtained by the public authority from any other person
(including another public authority), and
b) the disclosure of the information to the public (otherwise than under
this Act) by the public authority holding it would constitute a breach of
confidence actionable by that or any other person.

2) The duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that,
the confirmation or denial that would have to be given to comply with
section 1(1)(a) would (apart from this Act) constitute an actionable
breach of confidence.

Section 41(1) (a) requires that the information in question was obtained
from any other person. Guidance issued by the Information Commissioner
(regarding Information provided in confidence) states: A person may be an
individual, a company, a local authority or any other “legal entity”.
Individuals and companies supplied information to the Council regarding
the account holder’s details which then activated the account number. This
part of the exemption is therefore satisfied.

Section 41(1) (b) requires the disclosure by the Council to constitute an
actionable breach of confidence by that person. The information must
therefore have the necessary quality of confidence. In our opinion the
information does have the necessary quality of confidence. It is
recognised in English law that an important duty of confidentiality is
owed to taxpayers. This is what is known as “taxpayer confidentiality”.
This is a long established principle of common law, protecting taxpayers’
affairs against disclosure to the public, and has been recognised to be of
the utmost importance when dealing with the administration of tax and
rates. We were satisfied that the requested information is not trivial,
nor is it available by any other means. It is our assessment that
companies or individuals would be able to establish that disclosure would
expose the Council to the risk of a breach of confidence claim which, on a
balance of probabilities, would succeed. This includes considering whether
the Council would have a defence to the claim. This latter point is
expanded upon below.

The duty of confidence is not absolute, and the courts recognise three
circumstances under which confidential information may be disclosed:

• Where the person to whom the duty of confidentiality is owed consents to
the disclosure.
• Where the disclosure is required by law.
• Where there is an overriding public interest in disclosure.

In the context of this request, no consent has been obtained from the
individual taxpayers (and it would be impractical to do so); nor is the
disclosure required by law. Of more relevance is whether there is an
overriding public interest. Guidance issued by the Information
Commissioner states that “the courts have taken the view that the grounds
for breaching confidentiality must be valid and very strong. A duty of
confidence should not be overridden lightly.” Further guidance from the
Information Commissioner states that the “the public interest test within
the duty of confidence assumes that information should be withheld unless
the public interest in disclosure outweighs the public interest in
maintaining the duty of confidence.”

It is appreciated that there may be a public interest in scrutinising how
the Council administers its business rates; however this interest is not,
in our view, sufficient to override the duty of confidence, and apart from
your own private interest in disclosure we have no evidence of a wider
public interest in this matter. It is also the case that we have a
fiduciary duty to our residents and businesses and we have to take the
interests of our Council Tax payers as central,

Ratepayers provide information to the Council and have a legitimate
expectation that the information will be treated in confidence.
Furthermore, there is a public interest in maintaining trust and
preserving a free flow of information to the Council where this is
necessary for the Council to perform its statutory functions relating to
the administration of business rates and council tax. Such functions are
undertaken for the benefit of the public. We therefore consider that it
would be excessive to override the duty of taxpayer confidentiality and
disclose information relating to the affairs of business ratepayers. Your
request for disclosure is therefore refused under section 41 of the FOIA.

However to assist you & save you time in terms of the companies you
mention, no data is held.

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision,
you should email: [1][email address]

If you are not content with the outcome your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints
procedure provided by the Authority. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Or Email: [2][email address]

Yours sincerely

Simon Ranyard
Ndr & Inspection Manager
Revenues and Benefits
Enfield Council
Silver Street
Enfield
EN1 3XY

Tel: + 44 (0)20 8379 4766
[3][email address]

"Enfield Council is committed to serving the whole borough fairly,
delivering excellent services and building strong communities."

Customer details:
C Pleasants
[4][FOI #569237 email]

FOI request:
I am looking to obtain a report, in excel format, of any business rates
accounts, closed or open, in the name of Henkel Limited or in the names of
their subsidiary companies, for the period 1 April 2005 to present: -

Acheson Industries
Darex UK Limited
Jeyes Group Limited
Henkel UK Operations Limited
National Adhesives Holding Ltd
Schwarzkopf Limited
Akzo Nobel
Shiseido Group.

The report should include the following: -

1.Account Name
2.Address of the Property
3.BA Reference Number
4.Liability Start Date
5.Liability End Date (if a closed account)
6.If a credit is showing on the account:-
a)Amount of credit
b)Account Number the credit relates to
c)Period the credit relates to
d)Reason for the credit.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

[Campaign]
<[5]https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/...>

[Facebook]Follow us on
Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enfield-C...>
[Twitter] Twitter<https://twitter.com/EnfieldCouncil> [Enfield]
[6]http://www.enfield.gov.uk

show quoted sections

This email has been scanned for viruses but we cannot guarantee that it
will be free of viruses or malware. The recipient should perform their own
virus checks.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this communication from the sender is
confidential. It is intended solely for use by the recipient and others
authorized to receive it. If you are not the recipient, you are hereby
notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in
relation of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and
may be unlawful.

This email has been scanned for viruses and malware, and may have been
automatically archived by Mimecast Ltd, an innovator in Software as a
Service (SaaS) for business. Providing a safer and more useful place for
your human generated data. Specializing in; Security, archiving and
compliance. To find out more [7]Click Here.

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[FOI #569237 email]
5. https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/...
6. http://www.enfield.gov.uk/
7. http://www.mimecast.com/products/