Dear North East Lincolnshire Council,

Can you provide me year by year from 2004 to current date

1. The number of businesses eligible for small business rates
relief
2. The number of businesses granted small business rates relief
3. A link to any paperwork/documentation that shows reason for
refusal of this relief over this period

Yours faithfully,

George Cant

Dear Mr Cant

Thank you for contacting us. Your request has been forwarded onto the
relevant department for them to take the appropriate action.
Your reference is CRM919838 this MUST be quoted in any future contact
relating to this enquiry. This will ensure that we are fully aware of
the background to your concern if you should need to contact us again
regarding this.

Yours sincerely
Customer Requests
Confidentiality Note
The information in this message including any attachments may be
confidential or privileged and is for the use of the named recipient
only. If you are not the named or intended recipient you may not copy,
distribute, or deliver this message to anyone or take action in reliance
on it. If you receive this message in error please contact the sender
immediately and delete it from your system.

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Dear Mr Cant

I am pleased to acknowledge your request for information received on 02
June 2010, which has been allocated the reference number 20100605.

Your request has been passed to the relevant department for processing
and you can expect your response within the 20 working day limit. If it
will take us longer than 20 working days to respond to you, we will
inform you of this and provide you with the expected date for receiving
the response.

Further information about how we will deal with your Freedom of
Information requests is available on our website at:
http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council-and-de…
dom-of-information/

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information or
assistance quoting the reference number above.

Research and Information Assistant
On behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Mr Cant

I acknowledge receipt of your request made under the Freedom Of
Information Act. This will be forwarded on to the relevant departments
and responded to within 20 working days.

Please note your request has been given a reference number of BSU 529.

Kind Regards

Jacky Byard
Business Support Unit – NELC
Room CO.0.31, Civic Offices,
Cleethorpes, DN35 8LN

Tel: 01472 324144
Fax: 01472 323939

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Dear Byard, Jacky,

can i ask

what is the business support unit ? and what directorate are you
under ( Legal ? ) I thought the records manager and the monitoring
officer had to do these ?

Jacky Byard
Business Support Unit – NELC
Room CO.0.31, Civic Offices,
Cleethorpes, DN35 8LN

Yours sincerely,

George Cant

Dear Mr Cant

Thank you for your e-mail of June 9th 2010, entitled ‘Re: FAO Mr George
Cant – Freedom of Information request’. In response to your further
enquiry, I am pleased to provide the following information

The Business Support Unit is part of the Business Services directorate and
provides administration support to the services in that directorate.

When a Freedom of Information request is received by North East
Lincolnshire Council, it is allocated to the most appropriate officer or
service to provide a response. There is no requirement for Freedom of
Information requests to be responded to by a particular officer of the
council.

I trust that this has answered your enquiry in full.

Yours sincerely

Paul Ellis

Corporate Records and Information Manager

North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Ellis, Paul,

Paul you say ”
The Business Support Unit is part of the Business Services
directorate and provides administration support to the services in
that directorate.”

Just to clear things up, becuase that responce doesnt give
information

Your boss or head of department would be the head of business
services ( current monitoring officer ). I am asking this because
of our outside actions that involves This position.

Yours sincerely,

George Cant

Dear Mr Cant

Please find a link to the North East Lincolnshire Council’s website
detailing the council’s directorates, their Executive Director and a
brief outline of the services they cover

http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council-and-de…
ctorates-within-north-east-lincolnshire-counci/

The role of Corporate Records and Information Manager sits in the Policy
and Partnership team within the Policy, Performance and Development
directorate which comes under Liz Jones, Deputy Chief Executive Policy,
Performance & Development

I trust that this has answered your enquiry in full.

Yours sincerely

Paul Ellis
Corporate Records and Information Manager
North East Lincolnshire Council

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Directorates within North East Lincolnshire Council

Each of the council’s directorates is listed below, along with a brief outline of the services it covers:
Business Services Directorate

The Business Services Directorate includes departments including Finance, Law & Democratic Services, Strategic Business Support, and Internal Audit.

The Executive Director of Business Services is Rob Walsh. ( current monitoring officer since 2004 )

1. The council is unable to inform you of the exact number of businesses
eligible to the small business relief. One of the criteria is that a
business may only occupy one premise, or more if the total rateable value
is less than £18,000, in England. Since the council does not hold records
of all businesses in England it is unable to advise which in this area are
eligible to the relief.

The total number of businesses under the £18,000 rateable value threshold
that may qualify is 3,535.

2. 1,423 currently receive relief.

3. An application for relief is only refused if the criteria is not met.
The conditions are outlined in the following legislation; SI 2004/3315
amended by SI 2009/3175.

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Dear Twidale, Geoff,
Hi, i ask for these to be suppled yearly since 2004, you seem to
have just answered one year

please provide for all years that you have data for. I am
particularly interested in 2004-2008, the years you have not
answered

In answer to question three ( this needs to be relative to
2005-2007 )

A link to any paperwork/documentation that shows reason for refusal
of this relief over this period ?

you say “An application for relief is only refused if the criteria
is not met.”

Does that mean that every property the qualifies and applies is
granted it automatically, As long as they fit the criteria ? Please
make sure your monitoring officer confirms this. relative to acc
no. 4404039954 ( 2005-2007)

Yours sincerely,

George Cant

Dear North East Lincolnshire Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of North East
Lincolnshire Council’s handling of my FOI request ‘Small business
rate relief’.

You sem to have ignord thae fact that you have not answered most of
this.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/sm…

Yours faithfully,

George Cant

Dear Mr Cant,

Thank you for contacting us. Your request has been forwarded onto the
relevant department for them to take the appropriate action.

Your reference is CRM 941437, this MUST be quoted in any future contact
relating to this enquiry. This will ensure that we are fully aware of
the background to your request when you contact us again.

Yours sincerely,

Customer Requests

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SBR rejection letter.doc
38K Download View as HTML

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Dear Mr Cant,

Further to your e-mail of August 6^th 2010, I have undertaken an Internal
Review of the Council’s handling of your Freedom of Information request
made on June 29^th 2010. In your e-mail you state that you have not
received a response to this request.

Your original Freedom of Information request (20100605) was made on June
2nd 2010, through the `What do they Know’ website to
[1][email address] asking for information about Small
Business Rate Relief. A response was sent in response to this request on
June 29^th 2010. Further to this response you requested clarification on
June 29^th 2010, directly from the officer who sent the response. Your
request for clarification has not to date been responded to. I therefore
uphold your complaint that your request of June 29^th 2010 has not been
responded to within the 20 working days specified by the Freedom of
Information Act.

If you are not happy with the decision of the Internal Review you may wish
to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire SKI OAF

Telephone 08456 306060 or 01625 545745

Please accept my apology for the delay in responding to your request, the
answers to your questions can be found below. You have asked for the
information to be provided on an annual basis from 2004 to current date.

Question 1 – The number of businesses eligible for small business rate
relief

North East Lincolnshire Council does not hold information on the number of
businesses who would be eligible for small business rates relief.

One of the criteria for awarding small business rates relief is that the
business may only occupy one premise, or more if the total rateable value
is less than £18,000, in England. Since the Council does not hold records
of all businesses in England it is unable to advise on the number of
businesses that are eligible for small business rate relief.

Question 2 – The number of businesses granted small business rate relief

The number of businesses awarded small business rate relief in North East
Lincolnshire, by year are:

Financial Year Businesses granted relief

01/04/2005 to 31/03/2006 2751
01/04/2006 to 31/03/2007 2281
01/04/2007 to 31/03/2008 2060
01/04/2008 to 31/03/2009 1774

01/04/2009 to 31/03/2010 1523 (This figure is
corrected from that previously disclosed to you)

Please be aware that the small business rate relief scheme did not come
into effect until April 1^st 2005, so no figures are available for the
Financial Year 2004/05.

Question 3 – A link to any paperwork / documentation that shows reason for
refusal of this relief over this period

The award of small business rate relief is only refused if the application
criteria are not met. These conditions are outlined in the following
legislation SI 2004/3315 as amended by SI 2009/3175.

These can be viewed at:

SI 2004/3315 (The Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief)
(England) Order 2004)

[2]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/2004331…

SI 2009/3175 (The Non-Domestic Rating (Small Business Rate Relief)

(England) (Amendment) (No.2) Order 2009)

[3]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/…

Further to the information provided to you on June 29^th 2010, the
following letter is issued to any applicant who is not awarded the relief.

<<SBR rejection letter.doc>>

In your request of June 29^th 2010, you asked the following `Does that
mean that every property the qualifies and applies is granted it
automatically, As long as they fit the criteria? Please make sure your
monitoring officer confirms this. relative to acc no. 4******54 (
2005-2007)’

In response to the first element of your question I am pleased to confirm
that any applicant who makes a valid application for small business rate
relief and meets the qualifying criteria will be awarded relief in
accordance with the legislation.

The second element of your request relates specifically to an application
for small business rate relief, and therefore it would not be appropriate
to disclose any information in relation to this as part of this response.
North East Lincolnshire Council’s Business Rate section will therefore
respond to you separately on this matter.

If you require any further clarification or details, please do not
hesitate to contact me, quoting the reference number above.

If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you have the right
to request an internal review by the Council. If following this you are
still dissatisfied you may contact the Office of the Information
Commissioner. If you wish to request an internal review, please contact me
and I will make the necessary arrangements.

Yours sincerely

Paul Ellis
Corporate Records and Information Manager
North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Ellis, Paul,

Regarding queston one, you answerd an estimate for

“The total number of businesses under the £18,000 rateable value
threshold that may qualify is 3,535″

Whats the total number that may qualify for the other years
requested .

Yours sincerely,

George Cant

Dear Mr Cant

Thank you for your further enquiry about small business rate
relief, Freedom of Information request (20100605).

Further to your original question asking for the number of businesses
eligible for small business rate relief, which the Council confirmed it
does not hold, you have requested the total number of businesses that may
qualify for relief for each year from 2004.

For the financial year 2009/10 as at March 29th 2010 we have
identified that 4,171 businesses in North East Lincolnshire had a rateable
value of less than £18,000, and therefore may have qualified for small
business rate relief.

For the current financial year 2010/11 as at July 28th 2010 we have
identified that 4,086 businesses in North East Lincolnshire have a
rateable value of less than £18,000.

To identify the number of businesses with a rateable value of less than
£18,000 for each of the previous financial years specified, would require
a manual review of each individual business rates assessment. We have
estimated, that the time required for the activities needed to locate,
retrieve and extract the information you have requested would exceed the
appropriate limit of £450 (18 hours).

Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, a public
authority is not obliged to comply with a request where the estimated cost
of doing so would exceed the appropriate amount. The Council’s Charging
Policy for information requests, which clearly sets out our
responsibilities and how the charging policy is applied, is available on
our website at
[1]http://www.nelincs.gov.uk/council-and-de….

The employee time required for the activities needed to locate, retrieve
and extract the information you have requested is calculated at a standard
rate of £25 per hour. When the appropriate limit of £450 (18 hours) is
exceeded we have the option to either decline to comply with your request
or apply a charge for the estimated time required to meet your request.

As a Council we are committed to the Freedom of Information Act and are
happy to support where ever possible any request for information we
receive. I trust that the information provided meets your requirement,
however if you wish to discuss refining your request in line with the
appropriate limit please let me know, quoting the reference number above.

If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you have the
right to request an internal review by the Council. If following this you
are still dissatisfied you may contact the Office of the
Information Commissioner. If you wish to request an internal review,
please contact me and I will make the necessary arrangements.

Yours sincerely

Paul Ellis
Corporate Records and Information Manager
North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Ellis, Paul,

I don’t agree,

You state

“To identify the number of businesses with a rateable value of less
than £18,000 for each of the previous financial years specified,
would require a manual review of each individual business rates
assessment”

No it would not, your system will allow it to be quired through SQL
or through . If you want i will show you how to use your current
system to produce this list easily.

I am saying you do not want to produce this because it shows how
badly you have done your job in relation to getting initial accosts
correct. and the relation it has to figures you published.

Furthermore, these figures show how you fail on the most basic
points of administration. Bu then what do you expect when a
solisiotr runs the council

Yours sincerely,

George Cant

Dear Mr Cant

Thank you for your further enquiry on 23rd August 2010 in relation to the number of businesses with a rateable value of less than £18,000 in North East Lincolnshire.

In your e-mail you are unhappy that the Council has estimated that to identify this for each financial year between 2004/05 and 2008/09 would exceed the appropriate limit of £450 (18 hours). In the response sent to you on 23rd August 2010 we explained that to locate, retrieve and extract the information would require a manual review of each individual business rates assessment. You suggested that a SQL query of the Council’s system would allow a list to be produced.

I have consulted the Council’s Business Rate section with regard to your suggestion, who have confirmed that a SQL query would not produce the information you require. The Council’s system holds the current rateable value of the business property, reflecting any revaluations that have taken place. Therefore as previously explained in the Council’s response of 23rd August 2010 to identify all business properties which had a rateable value of less than £18,000 in each of the financial years between 2004/05 and 2008/09, would require a manual review of each individual business rates assessment to ascertain the rateable value for that financial year.

I trust that this response has clarified why the Council has estimated that to provide the information requested for each financial year between 2004/05 and 2008/09 would exceed the appropriate limit.

If you are not happy with the Council’s handling of your request or the information provided to you, then you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone 08456 306060 or 01625 545745

Yours sincerely

Paul Ellis
Corporate Records and Information Manager
North East Lincolnshire Council

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Dear Ellis, Paul,

i am going to the ICO with this but need to confirm something

you say “I have consulted the Council’s Business Rate section with
regard to your suggestion, who have confirmed that a SQL query
would not produce the information you require”

1 Is this the section that would hold that information. Can i take
this answer is from the full councils system

2. What format are they held in or do you not keep any record of
the ratable value of property’s ( unlikely ).
Yours sincerely,

George Cant

Dear Mr Cant

Thank you for your further request made on 14th September 2010.

Under section 1 of the Act I wish to confirm that North East
Lincolnshire Council holds the information you have requested.

In response to your first question, I am pleased to confirm that the
Business Rate section is responsible for holding information on the
rateable value of business properties for North East Lincolnshire
Council.

In response to your second question, I am pleased to confirm that the
rateable value of business properties for North East Lincolnshire
Council is held on both the Business Rate processing system and in
physical list provided by the Valuation Office.

I trust that this has answered your request in full, if you require any
further clarification or detail, please do not hesitate to contact me,
quoting the reference number above.

If you are unhappy with the response you have received, you have the
right to request an internal review by the Council. If following this
you are still dissatisfied you may contact the Office of the Information
Commissioner. If you wish to request an internal review, please contact
me and I will make the necessary arrangements.

Yours sincerely

Paul Ellis
Corporate Records and Information Manager
North East Lincolnshire Council

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