FOI Request- Business Rates Ratepayer
Case reference FOI2026/00672
Received 4 July 2026
Published 31 July 2026
Request
Response
In accordance with section 1(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), Oxford City Council (OCC) confirms that it holds information falling within the scope of your request.
However, OCC considers that the requested information is exempt from disclosure under section 31(1)(a) and 31(1)(d) of the FOIA.
Section 31(1)(a) applies where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. Section 31(1)(d) applies where disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the assessment or collection of any tax, duty or imposition of a similar nature.
Non-domestic rates are a form of taxation administered and collected by OCC. The requested information has been extracted from OCC’s business rates records and would provide a structured and authoritative dataset linking individual ratepayers with particular premises, their rateable values and the reliefs or exemptions applied to their accounts.
Disclosure under the FOIA is disclosure to the public generally and not solely to the person making the request.
OCC considers that publication of the requested dataset would enable third parties to draw reliable conclusions about individual business rates accounts and the reliefs or exemptions applied to them. The information could be combined with publicly available company, property and contact information to support credible approaches to OCC or to ratepayers.
This would increase the risk of impersonation, false claims for relief, fraudulent refund requests or other unauthorised interference with business rates accounts. It could also require OCC to undertake additional verification checks, delay the administration and collection of business rates and expose both OCC and legitimate ratepayers to potential financial loss.
OCC considers that there is a clear and logical connection between disclosure of the requested information and the prejudice identified. The risk is not remote or purely hypothetical. The structured nature of the dataset would allow multiple accounts to be identified and targeted more readily than would be possible using isolated items of publicly available information.
OCC has considered whether individual elements of the requested information could be disclosed separately. However, the principal risk arises from the combination of ratepayer identity, premises and OCC-held liability and relief information within one current and authoritative dataset. Removing one field would not necessarily remove that linkage or the resulting risk. OCC has therefore withheld the requested dataset in full.
Sections 31(1)(a) and 31(1)(d) are qualified exemptions. OCC has therefore considered whether the public interest in maintaining the exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
OCC recognises the public interest in openness and transparency concerning the administration of non-domestic rates, the application of reliefs and exemptions and the management of public finances. Disclosure could also assist research into commercial activity and the operation of the business rates system.
Against disclosure, there is a strong public interest in preventing fraud, protecting legitimate ratepayers, safeguarding public funds and maintaining the security and integrity of the systems used to assess and collect non-domestic rates. There is also a public interest in ensuring that reliefs, exemptions and refunds are applied only to those properly entitled to receive them and that public resources are not diverted to investigating fraudulent or unauthorised activity.
On balance, OCC considers that the public interest in maintaining the exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
In accordance with section 17 of the FOIA, this letter constitutes a refusal notice in respect of the information withheld under sections 31(1)(a) and 31(1)(d).
In accordance with section 16 of the FOIA, which relates to the duty to provide reasonable advice and assistance, OCC advises that individual property addresses, property descriptions and rateable values may be searched through the Government’s “Find a business rates valuation” service. The service enables users to find the rateable value of a non-domestic property and compare it with similar properties. OCC has provided the link below:
Find a business rates valuation - GOV.UK.
If you disagree with any part of the response to your request, you are entitled to ask the Council for an internal review of the decision(s) made. You may do this by writing to the Monitoring Officer, by either email monitoringofficer@oxford.gov.uk – or by post to Monitoring Officer, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldate’s, Oxford, OX1 1BX. After the result of the internal review, if you remain dissatisfied, you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your behalf. You may do this by writing to the Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information Officer
| Freedom of Information Team | Law & Governance | Oxford City Council | Town Hall | St Aldate’s | Oxford | OX1 1BX |
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