Business Property Rates Retail Relief Data
Case reference FOI2023/01501
Published 27 September 2023
Request
Please can I request a complete and most-recently updated list of all business (non-residential) property rates data, including the following fields:
* Full Property Address
* Retail Relief Previously Claimed (TRUE/FALSE)
Response
Herefordshire Council publishes a business rates dataset monthly on its website, and this is available via the following link:
https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/council/open-data-principles/8
This dataset includes the property reference number, account holder name (excluding any considered to be personal data), address of the property, rateable value and date liable from.
As such we consider this information to be exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 because it is reasonably accessible to you via other means. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
Regarding retail relief previously claimed (true / false), we consider this information to be exempt under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which exempts information if disclosure would, or would be likely, to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
For many years Herefordshire Council disclosed information on business rates reliefs. The business rates datasets which the council publishes on its website used to contain this information, and it was also disclosed in response to Freedom of Information requests. However, as stated on the business rates dataset web-page, the council no longer publishes or discloses this information. This is because Herefordshire Council, like many other local authorities, have recently been subject to related criminal offences. The risk of fraud with reliefs / discounts is a known issue and remains a long term risk.
As such we consider that the prejudice being claimed through the use of this exemption is 'real, actual or of substance' i.e. it is not trivial and there is a causal link between disclosure and the prejudice claimed.
This exemption is subject to the public interest test, and accordingly I have weighed up the reasons for and against disclosure as follows:
Reasons for disclosure in the public interest:
Openness and transparency in relation to the reliefs' individual properties are in receipt of.
Reasons against disclosure in the public interest:
Providing confirmation of whether or not a business / property has claimed retail relief previously would open our business rates system to abuse and criminal activity. As explained above, this information has, in the past, been published on our website and disclosed in response to Freedom of Information requests. However, fraudulent claims have recently been made against the council. It is highly likely that publishing / disclosing the information requested above would aid criminals by providing vital information which makes the commission of such fraud much easier. Disclosure would increase the risk and rate at which we are targeted. Any information that could even indicate that a credit was due for a refund or if a property was empty could help to facilitate future fraud attempts, such as rating agency or business impersonation.
Those with criminal intent could use the information to hijack a company's identity, allowing them to pose as that company to the council in order to claim monies, set up a fraudulent account in the name of the company or pose as the council or ratings agency to approach a company with relevant details of their accounts, such as the fact they have or haven't previously claimed relief, to acquire further confidential information from them, such as that company's banking details.
Fraudulent activity costs the council - money is paid out to fraudsters, the council is liable for any legitimate claims (i.e. payment could be made twice), and there is also a cost associated with seeking recovery of funds paid to fraudsters. Potential losses to the council itself and to the public purse extend far beyond this particular matter when mosaic or precedent effects are taken into account. Such costs are not in the public interest.
There is a general public interest in knowing the total amounts of relief claimed by businesses but not in knowing whether or not a specific business has claimed retail relief previously, in conjunction with information about them which is already in the public domain such as the rateable value of the property or the hereditament address. Disclosure of the details for individual businesses does not advance the general public interest in this type of information, and is data which each owner would already know about their business.
As only the businesses concerned know this type of information about their business this helps to act as a safeguard when they contact the council. If a business does contact the council to discuss their business rates account there are enhanced verification systems in place and extra fraud awareness training has been given to all officers working in business rates.
If we were to disclose the requested information, releasing this to the world at large (which disclosure under Freedom of Information would essentially do), further additional checking processes would need to be introduced to mitigate against fraud, as the safeguard set out above would have been removed. Such disclosure, as we have experienced, increases the risk and rate in which we are targeted for fraud because the risk of fraud substantially increases each time it is disclosed into the public domain. Not only would this lead to additional costs, but it would result in delays in legitimate refunds or account queries and lead to complaints regarding slowness. If legitimate claims were delayed this would not be in the interests of the businesses concerned.
Taking the above into account I find the balance in favour of non-disclosure of the requested information in the public interest. Please take this letter as a refusal notice under S17 of the Act for this part of your request.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.