Scientology rates relief, Manchester

The request was successful.

Dear Manchester City Council

I wish to follow up on a couple of points made in William Thackeray's previous FOI to you.

Link to his FOI - http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/sc...

In respect of the following property:

258 Deansgate, Manchester. M3 4BG

In reply dated 11 August 2010

You say "There are two rating assessments in the list where the address includes 258 Deansgate. These are described as 258-260 Deansgate. One assessment is in respect of the Basement to 3rd floor and the other, 4th & 5th floors."

and "This means that I have not included details of any relief given under Section 47 LGFA 1988 (where relief is given purely because a property is unoccupied)."

Could you clarify if ANY rates relief has been applied at any time over the past 5 years to the above property

Also could you tell me if Church of Scientology occupies the whole property or just part of it? If they occupy the whole property then why do they need two rating assessments? If just part of the property which part?

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

Manchester City Council

Dear Anastasia

Thank you for your email received on 8th September 2010.

Guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office sets out the
requirements for an information request to be valid and says that a request
must ‘state the name of the applicant and an address for correspondence’
(Section 8(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000).
http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/l...

The email address you have provided is sufficient for these purposes,
however, in order for your request to fully comply with the requirements of
Section 8(1)(b) I would be grateful if you could provide your full name.

Please note that the date of receipt of your request will be treated as the
date the above information is received.

Yours sincerely

Gill Wood
Democratic Services
Town Hall
Albert Sq
M60 2LA

Tel: 0161 234 4083
Fax: 0161 274 7007

Website: www.manchester.gov.uk
Email: [Manchester City Council request email]




Anastasia To
<request-46396-94a358c2@whatdothey FOI requests at Manchester City Council
know.com> <[Manchester City Council request email]>
cc
07/09/2010 21:40
Subject
Freedom of Information request - Scientology rates relief,
Manchester

Dear Manchester City Council

I wish to follow up on a couple of points made in William
Thackeray's previous FOI to you.

Link to his FOI -
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/sc...

In respect of the following property:

258 Deansgate, Manchester. M3 4BG

In reply dated 11 August 2010

You say "There are two rating assessments in the list where the
address includes 258 Deansgate. These are described as 258-260
Deansgate. One assessment is in respect of the Basement to 3rd
floor and the other, 4th & 5th floors."

and "This means that I have not included details of any relief
given under Section 47 LGFA 1988 (where relief is given purely
because a property is unoccupied)."

Could you clarify if ANY rates relief has been applied at any time
over the past 5 years to the above property

Also could you tell me if Church of Scientology occupies the whole
property or just part of it? If they occupy the whole property then
why do they need two rating assessments? If just part of the
property which part?

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

show quoted sections

Dear Manchester City Council,

I am not too willing to provide my surname for the likelihood of harassment to me and my family from Scientology representatives, as many Scientology critics have found in the past.

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

Manchester City Council

Dear Anastasia

Thank you for your email.

Should you wish to proceed with your request for information, please can
you contact me on telephone number 0161 234 4083 or email your details to
[Manchester City Council request email].

Please note that any personal details you provide to the Council in
relation to your request for information will be held in confidence and
will not be disclosed beyond the Council.

Yours sincerely

Gill Wood
Democratic Services
Town hall
Albert Square
M60 2LA

Tel No: 0161 234 4083
Fax No: 0161 274 7007

Website: www.manchester.gov.uk
Email: [Manchester City Council request email]




Anastasia To
<request-46396-94a358c2@whatdothey [Manchester City Council request email]
know.com> cc

09/09/2010 17:01 Subject
Re: Freedom of Information request - Scientology rates relief,
Manchester

Dear Manchester City Council,

I am not too willing to provide my surname for the likelihood of
harassment to me and my family from Scientology representatives, as
many Scientology critics have found in the past.

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

show quoted sections

Dear Manchester City Council,

Thank you in your replay, sorry in not responding till now.

Ok, I request your email then please?, thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

Manchester City Council

Dear Anastasia

As requested, the email address is:
[Manchester City Council request email]

Yours sincerely

Gill Wood
Democratic Services
Town Hall
Albert Square
M60 2LA

Tel No: 0161 234 4083
Fax No: 0161 274 7007

Website: www.manchester.gov.uk
Email: [Manchester City Council request email]




Anastasia To
<request-46396-94a358c2@whatdothey [Manchester City Council request email]
know.com> cc

18/09/2010 22:19 Subject
Re: Freedom of Information request - Scientology rates relief,
Manchester

Dear Manchester City Council,

Thank you in your replay, sorry in not responding till now.

Ok, I request your email then please?, thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

show quoted sections

Dear Manchester City Council,

Am still waiting on an email response from you.

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

Manchester City Council

Dear Anastasia

Unfortunately it appears that email addresses which are included in the
text of responses are not published by the whatdotheyknow website. Contact
details including email address which you can use to communicate with us
directly about your request for information are published on our website
at: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/a_to_z/serv...
. Alternatively please telephone the Information Governance Team on 0161
234 4415 who will be happy to provide the email address to you directly.

Yours sincerely

Gill Wood
Democratic Services
Town Hall
Albert Sq
M60 2LA

Tel: 0161 234 4083
Fax: 0161 274 7007

Email: [Manchester City Council request email]
Website: www.manchester.gov.uk

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Dear Manchester City Council,

Am still waiting on an email response from you.

Yours faithfully,

Anastasia

show quoted sections

Anastasia left an annotation ()

Being dealt with by email.

Anastasia left an annotation ()

Quoting from the email.

"I can confirm that relief under S47 LGFA (unoccupied property) has been applied to 258-260 Deansgate at times over the last five years. According to my records the Church of Scientology does not occupy the whole of the property.

The responsibility for determining the number and Rateable Value of assessments lies with the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) consequently I am unable to comment on your last question. You might peruse the VOA website www.voa.gov.uk for general information on the valuation of properties."

Anastasia left an annotation ()

Question + Answer session (lol)

'According to my records the Church of Scientology does not occupy the whole of the property.'

Could you tell me which part of the property 'Church' of Scientology occupys then please?

'According to our records the assessment described as Basement-3rd Floor 258-260 Deansgate.'

Further question, could you tell me if they is any type of relief applied to this part of the property over the last five years, also what type if any? (mandatory, discretionary or unoccupied property etc)

Anastasia left an annotation ()

(reply to last question of above annotation)

'I can confirm that no relief has been applied during the last five years.'