Freedom of information requests
3. Declined requests for information
Please be aware that we may take longer to respond to any correspondence or complaints, due to staff shortages and our response to Coronavirus. Thank you for your understanding.
Following a decision of the First Tier Information Rights Tribunal EA/2018/0033, the Authority no longer publishes business rates data on its open data webpage. It will no longer disclose information about business rate accounts in response to FOI requests.
We will provide the requested information unless there is a good reason not to do so. For instance, your request might relate to someone else’s personal details, and the FOI Act lists any exemptions.
We must state why we have declined a request. You can ask for a reconsideration, and if rejected again, you can ask the Information Commissioner’s Office for a review.
The Information Commissioner’s Office is an independent body that enforces the FOI Act, the Data Protection Act, and the Environmental Information Regulations. To learn more, visit the Information Commissioner’s website.