‘Five Council’ Proposal Public Consultation

‘Five Council’ Proposal Public Consultation

Have your say on the future of councils in Essex.  Councils across Greater Essex are seeking public input on plans to replace the current Local Authority structure with fewer, larger unitary councils. 

Have your say in the consultation here

Freedom of Information Datasets

The following Freedom of Information dataset is available to download:

Castle Point FOI Dataset

Dataset One. This dataset will allow you to see all the business hereditaments within Castle Point Authority along with the following information:
  • The name of the company (individual names have been removed), and their postal address.
  • The date their liability began.
  • What reliefs they are receiving e.g. Charity Relief, Discretionary Relief, Small Business Rate Relief.
  • Whether the property is exempt and if so the type of exemption that is applied.
  •  If the property is vacant and the date it became so
  • The description of the property.
  • The rateable value of the property.

NDR Dataset February 2025[xlsx] 461KB

Once the file has been opened it can be saved to an excel format.

Please note this dataset will be updated on a monthly basis.

 

Freedom Of Information - business rates credits

Credit bill notices have been sent to all ratepayers where credits appear on their accounts.

The Council no longer publishes information about Business Rates accounts that currently have credit balances in response to Freedom Of Information requests.

Information in respect of credit balances is considered exempt under section 31(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (prevention or detection of crime)

The Council holds this information but believes that its disclosure could result in fraudulent refund claims being made to the Council for these credit balances.

This follows a decision of the Information Commission dated 6 February 2017 in respect of a request made of Wandsworth Council in respect of a request for NNDR credit balances.  The decision can be read here: Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) [pdf]

Engaging section 31 requires a public interest test to be considered: there is a public interest in ensuring the transparency and efficiency of Council business, but there is very limited wider public interest.

 In favour of withholding the information is the public interest in preventing fraudulent refund claims being made against the Council, and the cost that such fraud places on the public purse.

On this basis, the Council feels that the public interest in disclosing the information requested is outweighed by the public interest in preventing the risk of fraudulent claims being made