Guidance

Local Authority Information Gateway guidance

Published 14 February 2017

This guidance provides additional support for local authorities who are using the Local Authority Information Gateway. It should be read in conjunction with the Information Sharing Protocols (ISP) and Information Sharing Agreement (ISA) documents.

1. What is the LA Information Gateway and what does it aim to achieve?

The LA Information Gateway will help to deliver on the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s commitment, in the 2014 Autumn Statement, to reduce barriers to the efficient administration of business rates. It has been enabled by the Enterprise Bill 2016, which inserted Section 63 A, B, C into the Local Government Finance Act 1988. This legislation allows the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to share a broader range of information related to non-domestic rating with local authorities. The aim is to improve the efficiency of business rates billing and collection by reducing, where possible, the need for ratepayers to provide the same information to both the VOA and local authorities.

2. What does the LA Information Gateway enable?

It allows the VOA to share more non-domestic rating information for a qualifying purpose to a qualifying person.

The sharing gateway is permissive, and the VOA will only share information where it is permitted through the LA Information Gateway and it considers such sharing reasonable and proportionate.

Annex C of the ISA sets out the information the VOA may provide. Any requests for information outside that listed will be considered on a case by case basis.

3. Who is a qualifying person and what is a qualifying purpose?

A qualifying person is defined as either

• a billing authority (BA)
• a major precepting authority (MPA)
• or a person authorised or a person providing services in relation to a BA or MPA for functions relating to non-domestic rating.

The LA Information Gateway also enables sharing with the Secretary of State or Welsh Ministers in relation to the central rating lists.

A qualifying purpose are the functions linked to a BA or MPA and referred to within Part 3 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988. These can broadly be classified as

• billing and collection
• duty to inform Valuation Officer that a list requires alteration
• certification
• and business rates retention.

4. What does the LA Information Gateway not enable?

The LA Information Gateway does not enable access to information in relation to domestic properties or their occupiers, or any information which would be deemed as sensitive, such commercial confidentiality or security implications.

Equally information sharing cannot be for the purposes of providing assurance of a rating list entry. These values are set by the Valuation Officer. Should a billing authority have reason to believe an assessment requires review they should submit a report with supporting information to the VOA as normal.

5. What are Information Sharing Protocols (ISP) and Information Sharing Agreements (ISA) and why are they needed?

The ISP and ISA provide the public with assurance that the VOA takes its responsibilities in relation to information sharing seriously and are sharing information in a secure way. The information we can share will include personal customer details: the ISP and ISA will give local authorities the guidance necessary to handle, use and retain this confidential information correctly.

It is now a standard requirement when the VOA shares new information with other Government Departments or any private body, and is not dissimilar to the DWP’s requirement of local authorities. The ISP is an overarching document for all sharing by the VOA, setting out generic terms for sharing, whereas the ISA sets out terms specific to individual exchanges of information such as the LA Information Gateway. Sharing cannot begin until both an Information Sharing Protocol and Agreement has been completed, signed and returned.

6. Where can I find a copy of these documents?

The ISP and ISA templates are online. They are initially available only for billing authorities to complete.

7. What are the onward sharing restrictions?

Whilst the legislation allows for sharing directly with third parties, initially the VOA will only share information directly with BAs. However onward disclosure by BAs to their service providers is permitted when certain conditions are met. These are shown in the ISA.

Onward sharing under freedom of information is also restricted. The legislation exempts VOA information from Freedom of Information requests by virtue of section 44(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

8. What are the restrictions on use of the information?

Information disclosed can only be used for a qualifying purpose, this is a requirement of the legislation. The VOA will define the purpose(s) that the information can be used for either in the ISA or when the information is provided.

9. Can the information be used for council tax?

Council tax is not a qualifying purpose and therefore information provided through this gateway must not be used for council tax purposes.

10. Why are there so many restrictions?

Although in some cases the information provided wouldn’t be considered highly sensitive in itself, the need to protect it derives from the duty of confidentiality that exists both in common law and statute (CRCA) for any identifying taxpayer information regardless of its sensitivity. Ministers sought commitments during the passage of the Bill that taxpayer confidentiality would be maintained. The Commissioners of Revenue and Customs Act (CRCA) 2005 sets out the VOA’s responsibilities including restrictions on sharing of taxpayer information and these restrictions are transferred with the information we share to BAs.

11. How can I ensure VOA information is used only for the purposes it has been provided and is not wrongfully disclosed?

The ISP and ISA were created to provide clarity and support authorities in ensuring any safeguards or procedures required are put in place. BAs will need to discuss with their Information Management teams about how these can be best applied.

12. How do I make a request and what do I need to provide?

Requests for information must be submitted online. These will be received by the dedicated team within our Customer Contact Centre, who will then review the request. Requests through any other channel will be rejected.

On your request you must provide enough details to allow the VOA to determine the information requested and the qualifying purpose. Information requests can only be accepted on that basis.

Information can only be requested directly by a billing authority. The request needs to include a named email address for an individual at that BA (for example [email protected]).

13. How will information be received?

Information will be provided either by our BA Transfer Site (BATrans) or through secure email such as GCSX or GSi. You will be asked to provide details of these secure BA named email addresses when making a request.

It is important that once information is received it is handled in line with both the ISP and ISA.

14. Is there an appeal process against a VOA refusal to provide information?

This is a permissive gateway, which means although the VOA is legally able to share information it will be for the VOA to determine what it actually provides. The ISA sets out what information the VOA will be providing initially. Other requests will be considered, however they must be shown to be directly linked to a qualifying purpose. In some instances even when that criteria is met the VOA may decide not to provide. For example due to the sensitivity of information requested, or as the VOA consider the request is beyond reasonable and proportionate.

There will be opportunities for LAs to raise concerns through their local authority relationship manager and we are committed to holding discussions to facilitate changes to future provision.

15. Other useful information

• Enterprise Act 2016 Part 6
• CRCA 2005
• Information Sharing Protocol and Information Sharing Agreement templates

16. Any other questions

Should you have any other questions please contact your Local Authority Relationship Manager using [email protected]