Chesterfield Borough Council will now release only a limited dataset of the previously disclosed Business Rates data, also known as National Non-Domestic Rates, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

This decision follows guidance from the Information Commissioners Officer (ICO) and recent legal cases that support exemptions from disclosing certain information under the Freedom of Information Act 200 (FOI).

Specifically, information that could compromise commercial confidentiality, infringe on personal privacy or pose security risks is exempt from disclosure, balancing public transparency and protection of sensitive data.

Below are the legal cases that support the council’s decision:

• the Information Commissioners Office decision reference FS50873141 - 4 March 2020 (Cornwall Council)
• the Information Commissioners Office decision reference FS50836002 - 24 October 2019 (Sheffield City Council)
• the Information Commissioners Office decision reference FS50649626 - 28 March 2017 (East Riding of Yorkshire Council)
• the Information Commissioners Office decision reference FS50611895 - 16 December 2016 (Westminster City Council) 

The following exemptions will be applied to limit the information disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act regarding Business Rates data: 

Under Section 31 - prevention of crime

Empty property information

We believe that disclosing information about empty properties would increase the risk of fraud and make it easier for criminals to target and identify these properties for property crimes such as burglary and malicious damage. Therefore, this information will no longer be available.

Financial data

Revealing details about credit balance “Write Offs” and “Write Ons” would place the council and the businesses at risk of fraud. This information will no longer be disclosed, as this could undermine crime prevention efforts.

Under Section 40.2 - personal data

Information relating to sole traders or partnerships is exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2).

The names and contact address of the rate payer are not disclosed if the rate payer is an individual, such as a sole trader or partnership, as the council considers this information to be personal data, as they relate to a living individual and the individual is identifiable from those data.

This section of the Act provides an exemption to the general right of access to information, where the disclosure of personal information would breach any of the data protection principles.

Under Section 41 - information provided in confidence

This can include the name, property and billing address, periods of liability, contact telephone numbers, and whether exemptions and reliefs might have been applied to those accounts.

This information was provided to the council with an expectation of confidence for the purposes of calculating rates or reliefs to arrive at an amount payable.

We consider that the withheld information is more than trivial in nature and is not accessible to the public by other means. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test, but section 41(b) has an assumption that the public interest in maintaining the duty of confidence will prevail unless the public interest in disclosure outweighs maintaining that duty. We recognise the public interest in openness and transparency, however we consider this does not outweigh the stronger case against disclosure.

Some Business Rates data, such as rateable values and property description are already publicly accessible via the UK Government Valuation Office Agency website and the UK Land Registry website.

Therefore, this information is exempt from disclosure under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act, as it is considered reasonable accessible to the public by other means.

Information that is included under the Freedom of Information Act for Business Rates data:

• property reference number
• address
• rate payer
• liability start date 

Note 'rate payer' – excludes sole traders, individuals and partnerships. It applies only to limited and public trade companies.