Datasets & Popular Freedom of Information Request

Where the Council receives a request for information that is, or forms part of a dataset, the Council must release that information in a reusable format.

A 'dataset' means information held in electronic form where it has been gathered for the purposes of carrying out Council services or functions and is in its raw format. Usually this will be in the format of a spreadsheet or similar.

Below we will publish any datasets that are released in response to an information request. The most popular spreadsheets will be updated on a regular basis. Information regarding how often the information will be updated will be located within each individual spreadsheet e.g. monthly, half yearly or yearly.

Please note: information contained within the datasets is only accurate on the date of publication as information is being constantly updated.

Popular Freedom of Information Requests will be published in any of the following formats: Word Document Excel/CSV File, PDF, etc.

Exemptions Applied

Any FOI requests received in relation to these matters received prior to the next planned publication date will be refused using the exemption under Section 22 of the FOI Act as it is information that we hold with the intention of publishing at some future (pre-scheduled) date. The existing information available to you demonstrates that the Council has a process in place to regularly and routinely publish this information. The Council recognises that at times information outside of this routine publication may be requested and that the Council should be open and transparent in its operations and more up to date information may assist this. The information is, however, freely available on the Council’s website, and there is a statutory duty and timescale for publication. In accordance with the publication schedule quality and accuracy of information is checked. To provide information outside of this schedule may impede the process and potentially impact on the quality and accuracy of the material disclosed. As a consequence, having considered the balance of public interest in favour of both withholding and disclosing information, the Council considers that the arguments in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the arguments in favour of disclosing it.

After careful consideration of all the relevant factors and the provisions of the legislation, it is considered that disclosure of this information is not in the public interest.

The reasons why the public interest favours withholding the information regarding Commercial Properties, Business Rates and Credit Balances are that it may make it easier for fraud to be committed and lead to fraudsters obtaining funds if the information was released into the public domain. There would be cost consequences to the Council in the event of a successful fraudulent claim. Further, disclosure of the requested information may result in additional verification processes for refund claims needing to be implemented at additional cost to the public which would be disproportionate to the benefits that would accrue from disclosure.

There may also be an expectation, from the owners and or renters of the Commercial Property, that the information they provide to the authority is confidential in nature and we should not further disclose information (e.g. void properties) that could potentially expose said property to increased risks.

The exemptions that apply are: