Information Commissioner's Office

Summary: The complainant requested information relating to the record of business rates payments at a property in Chawleigh, Mid-Devon, and in particular wished to know whether the occupied or un-occupied rate applied between 1997 and 2004 and whether any party other than the tenant made payments for the rates during that period. The Council refused to supply the information citing section 40(2), the exemption for personal information about third parties. Following an investigation the Commissioner has decided that the majority of the information about the applicable rates constitutes the tenant's personal data, and that to disclose it would contravene the first data protection principle. However, he has also found that a limited amount of the information does not constitute personal data and he has therefore ordered the Council to disclose that material. Finally, the Commissioner is satisfied that the Council does not hold the information about the identity of the person(s) making the payments.
Section of Act/EIR & Finding: FOI 1 - Complaint Partly Upheld, FOI 40 - Complaint Partly Upheld, FOI 16 - Complaint Upheld, FOI 17 - Complaint Upheld