18 July 2022
Your request
Please can you provide me with the following information in the form of a spreadsheet.
(a) List all Commercial properties with their Rateable Values and addresses.
(b) The names and addresses of the Rate payers referred to above for each property.
(c) The full billing authority reference for each property (this is the property reference not the account number) and property description.
(d) The current liability payable for the year.
(e) The date the rateable occupier first became liable for the business rates
(f) If the property is empty that date it became empty
(g) Please also state which hereditament is currently receiving I. Charitable rate relief (mandatory rate relief) II. Discretionary rate relief III. Empty property rate relief IV. Listed building exemption V. Retail Relief VI Small Business Rate Relief VII. Any other relief
Our response
Please see the attached spreadsheet.
Please also note we will not provide information relating to Empty properties therefore the following will not be included:
(f) If the property is empty that date it became empty
I can confirm that we have reviewed your request but consider that disclosure may be prejudicial to the Council’s responsibility to ensure protection against fraudulent activity.
We therefore engage Section 31: Law Enforcement to this request
The information requested is exempt from disclosure under Section 31(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA). Disclosure of this information would be likely to prejudice:
a. the prevention or detection of crime,
b. the apprehension or prosecution of offenders,
c. the administration of justice,
d. the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or of any imposition of a similar nature,
e. the operation of the immigration controls,
f. the maintenance of security and good order in prisons or in other institutions where persons are lawfully detained,
g. the exercise by any public authority of its functions for any of the purposes specified in subsection 2 (listed below)
h. any civil proceedings which are brought by or on behalf of a public authority and arise out of an investigation conducted, for any of the purposes specified in subsection 2 (listed below) by or on behalf of the authority by virtue of Her Majesty’s prerogative or by virtue of powers conferred by or under an enactment, or
The purposes in g - h are:
(2) (a)the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law,
(b)the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is responsible for any conduct which is improper,
(c)the purpose of ascertaining whether circumstances which would justify regulatory action in pursuance of any enactment exist or may arise,
(d)the purpose of ascertaining a person’s fitness or competence in relation to the management of bodies corporate or in relation to any profession or other activity which he is, or seeks to become, authorised to carry on,
(e)the purpose of ascertaining the cause of an accident,
(f)the purpose of protecting charities against misconduct or mismanagement (whether by trustees or other persons) in their administration,
(g)the purpose of protecting the property of charities from loss or misapplication,
(h)the purpose of recovering the property of charities,
(i)the purpose of securing the health, safety and welfare of persons at work, and
(j)the purpose of protecting persons other than persons at work against risk to health or safety arising out of or in connection with the actions of persons at work.
To use this exemption, we are required to undertake a public interest test. The matters which were considered in applying the public interest test are as follows:
Factors in favour of disclosure
We consider that disclosure would increase the public's understanding of this issue and we note the general benefit in transparency where possible.
Factors in favour of withholding
Disclosure of this data could allow individuals intent on fraudulent activity to attempt to defraud the council. It is therefore not in the public interest to provide information if to do so would increase the risk of fraud.
It is considered that the greater public interest therefore lies in not providing the information at this time. In coming to that conclusion, the public interest in providing the information has been carefully weighed against any prejudice to the public interest that might arise from withholding the information; in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
This response therefore acts as a refusal notice under section 17 of the FoIA.
If you are dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information request has been dealt with you can request an internal review. Tell us why you are unhappy with our response within 40 working days, and it will be looked at afresh. We will aim to provide you with our review response within 20 working days.