West Berkshire District Council

The complainant has requested information on business (non-residential) property rates data from the council. The council applied section 31(1)(d) to withhold the information (prejudice to the assessment or collection of any tax or duty).The complainant argues that it was not correct to do so. The Commissioner’s decision is that the council was correct to apply section 31(1)(d) to the information however the public interest in the disclosure of the information outweighs that in the exemption being maintained. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. To disclose the withheld information to the complainant.