Government has considered the many responses to its consultation. Responses were received from a varied range of stakeholders including businesses, trade bodies, industry experts, public sector bodies and individuals involved with, or with an interest in, the UK geographic information market. A wide range of views were expressed in response to the consultation, although a clear majority (68%) of respondents agreed that at least some Ordnance Survey data should be made available for free. The consultation set out three possible options for the future of Ordnance Survey. There was no clear consensus on which policy option of those set out is the favoured one. In light of consultation responses government has decided to pursue a modified approach. This is outlined below.

Release of data for free

In response to this support, government will release a range of Ordnance Survey data and products for free on 1 April 2010, known as OS OpenData™. The datasets to be released are those set out in the original consultation document as the Free package, with the following changes:

• replacement of 1:25 000 and 1:50 000 Scale Colour Raster products with OS VectorMap District
• addition of OS Locator™ and Land-Form PANORAMA to the product list
• replacement of Code-Point by Code-Point Open, which provides accurate locations for 1.7 million postcodes in England, Scotland and Wales.

Full details of the products to be released are set out in the main body of this consultation response.

The modifications to the data to be released have been made in order to:

• meet the most important needs identified by consultation respondents
• maximise the ability to make best use of other public data released under the Making Public Data Public initiative
• reduce the impact on existing market participants, in light of consultation Feedback
• ensure that core reference information is freely available while protecting the ability of all market participants, including the Ordnance Survey, to add value
• ensure that Ordnance Survey continues to provide high-quality products and services to those customers, including government, who need them
• ensure the sustainability of Ordnance Survey paper maps
• meet affordability criteria; and
• ensure a sustainable business model for Ordnance Survey.

Public Sector Mapping Agreement

A significant number of consultation responses reinforced Ordnance Survey’s role as the national mapping agency and provider of the definitive ‘MasterMap’ of Great Britain, referencing the organisation’s unique history and high-quality data. Respondents also commented on the restrictions or complications involved in sharing data between different parts of the public sector, including between organisations involved in the different types of collective procurements. Government’s intention is therefore to move to a commercial relationship with Ordnance Survey to provide products and services to government, and, subject to discussions, the entire public sector, under a centrally funded Public Sector Mapping Agreement. Provision of a Public Sector Mapping Agreement would allow government to make geographic information provided by Ordnance Survey, including high specification OS MasterMap products, free at the point of use for public sector bodies, and subject to no limits on re-use when used internally within the public sector for public sector activities. This would cover all the definitive national datasets that the public sector needs in order to provide vital and
valuable services to the public. Subject to discussions, this change will come into effect on 1 April 2011.

Ordnance Survey Licensing

Ordnance Survey will also be proposing changes to the derived data policy for the commercial sector, including ‘Free To Use’ data, as part of its work on revised pricing and licensing. Ordnance Survey, The National Archives and the Cabinet Office will also work together to ensure that derived data issues do not unnecessarily impede the release of public datasets by other public bodies, balancing the significance of the data taken, the impact of release of any dataset on Ordnance Survey’s commercial business and that of its partners, and any legal or regulatory consequences for Ordnance Survey. This reflects concerns expressed in the consultation responses about licensing of Ordnance Survey products, and in particular derived data.

INSPIRE

Government has also asked Ordnance Survey to take on the technical delivery role of the services that are required to meet Britain’s obligations under INSPIRE, which is an EU Framework Directive seeking to introduce greater harmonisation, interoperability and wider access to public sector electronic spatial information across Europe.

See the full Government Response

In his letter to Professor David Rhind, Chair of APPSI, Michael Wills, Minister of State for Justice says:

"I read APPSI's expert and detailed analysis of the points raised in the consultation with interest. APPSI's
response offers an informative consideration of a number of key issues..."

See Michael-Wills'-Letter-to-David-Rhind,-Chair-of-APPSI.pdf (34.43 KB)

APPSI has today submitted its response to the DCLG consultation on Policy options for geographic information from Ordnance Survey.

See APPSI-response-to-GI-Consultation.pdf (290.17 KB)

Background

In October 2007, the Prime Minister announced an independent review of the ‘30 year rule’ – the arrangements governing the custody of and access to public records.

The review was chaired by Paul Dacre, Editor in Chief of Associated Newspapers, and the review team was supported throughout its work by staff from The National Archives. It took evidence from a wide range of organisations and individuals, and examined the history of access to public records. It published its report and recommendations in January 2009.

In June 2009, the government announced its initial response to the review. The National Archives was heavily involved in developing the government’s response, which included the following key changes:

•  a reduction in the 30 year rule to 20 years – meaning that the majority of records must be transferred to The National Archives and made available to the public by the time they are 20 years old;
• the potential broadening of the reach of the Freedom of Information Act.

Today’s announcement

Today government announced the detail of how and when it plans to implement these changes. This will include proposed new clauses, introduced as part of the Constitutional Renewal and Governance Bill, to give effect to the required changes to the Public Records Act and the Freedom of Information Act. 

To summarise, if this legislation is passed, the 30 year rule will be reduced gradually over ten years, allowing plenty of time to plan what needs to be done by The National Archives, central government and the wider archive sector before full implementation.

If you would like to read the Written Ministerial Statement from Michael Wills, Minister of State for Justice,  you can see it on the MOJ website here

Members of the Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information (APPSI) are drawn from many different fields and all have very considereable experience. Nevertheless APPSI is seeking the views of privatesector organisations, public sector organisations, and academia on the strategic options set out in Policy options for geographic information from Ordnance Survey - Consultation, which are summarised in the Executive Summary on pages 10-12 and set out in detail in Sections 6-9. We are doing this to ensure that we obtain the widest possible range of insights on this very important matter.
 
 
Why do we want to hear from you?
 
In particular, APPSI would like to shape its response to the Ordnance Survey consultation by drawing on evidence from organisations that use Ordnance Survey’s products and / or have a interest in the business models that are being proposed in the consultation. This will help APPSI to better understand how the proposed models could impact on Ordnance Survey customers and partners.
 
Please send your comments to…
 
The APPSI Secretariat at the following email address: secretariat@appsi.gsi.gov.uk by Monday 8 February 2010.
 
 

APPSI's overall response to Ordnance Survey's new business strategy is two-fold:

To welcome and acknowledge the principles underpinning Ordnance Survey's new Business Strategy and their importance in facilitating resolution of one of the longest running and most distracting issues in the public sector information world;

To highlight many of the issues which need to be resolved before any Strategy can be realised and make some constructive comments on these.

See APPSI-response-to-OS-Business-Strategy.pdf (217.72 KB) for details on the key issues emerging from Ordnance Survey's new Business Strategy.

APPSI's overall comments on this consultation are as follows:

• The Impact Assessment (IA) looked generally well-prepared, covering many of the impacts that needed to be measured. The benefits assessment has been undertaken in a conservative manner minimising the risk of optimism.  However, it is important that steps are taken to ensure that the benefits are actually realised.
• We are concerned that Statutory Instruments (SIs), and the IA, may not have recognised that the geographic area relevant to the Directive is wider than the UK – the Directive includes all areas where the UK has or exercises jurisdictional rights.  Hence, for example, it appears to include surrounding sea areas and the atmosphere above them.  The position of other areas, such as the Falklands (and surrounding areas), Gibraltar and the Channel Islands is not clear.
• For clarity, the SIs should note that INSPIRE includes data held on behalf of Public Authorities – thus data collected by the private sector may well be included if it is part of a statutory requirement.
• As a clarification, the Consultation Document should have made clear, in Annex 5 (on Related UK legislation) that the EIR does not require all information to be made available electronically and hence INSPIRE will not apply to such information.
• The underpinning idea of providing better access to information is strongly supported by APPSI; however this approach can easily become over-bureaucratic and expensive so safeguards to avoid this are essential.

See in full APPSI-response-to-INSPIRE-consultation.pdf (87.38 KB)

We are now awaiting reassurance that Royal Mail’s new licensing model will not interfere with long-established use of a dataset which has become part of the national data infrastructure.

See our letter in response to the Postal Address File Consultation.

• PAF-consultation-letter.pdf (78.85 KB)

Background

In January 2008, the Prime Minister appointed an independent team to review when Government records are made available to the public. This review, which ran from January - April 2008, focused on whether, in the light of Freedom of Information and other considerations, there should be any changes to the ‘30 year rule’ – the time span under which most public records are transferred to The National Archives and opened for inspection. 

The Review took evidence from a wide range of organisations and individuals through evidence sessions and an opinion poll. It also examined in detail the history of access to public records, and the developments that have, arguably, cast doubt on the continued appropriateness of the 30 year rule. One of the most powerful of these, the report argues, is the Freedom of Information Act.

Recommendations

The key recommendations are:

• The reduction of the 30-year rule to 15 years, so that government records have to be transferred by the time they are 15 years old. This would be phased in over a period of 15 years.
• An independent review of the Radcliff rules on the publication of memoirs by former ministers, civil servants and special advisers.
• Changes to the Civil Service Code to help make sure that civil servants keep full, accurate and impartial records of government business.
• That government clarify that special advisers, as temporary civil servants, have a duty to keep a full record of their non-political activities which will be archived and released in the same way as any other official documents.
  

See 30-year rule review report (PDF, 796.91kb)

See also APPSI's response to the 30-year rule review consultation, 29 February 2008.

APPSI's response to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) consultation paper on Local Authorities (Charges for Property Searches) Regulations 2008 was submitted today.

APPSI's letter to DCLG makes the following points:

 

• that the Government's consultations on Local Authority property searches do not refer specifically to the Re-use of Public Sector Regulations 2005;
• that DCLG should consult the Director of OPSI and her team about how best to clarify the relationship between the draft Regulations on property search charges and the Re-use Regulations.
• that the supply of property records should be monitored periodically with a view to assessing whether or not the absence of such an obligation, is constraining the re-use of public sector information.

         See APPSI's response to DCLG (PDF - 147 KB) 

Since submitting its response to DCLG, APPSI has learned that DCLG's main consultation on property searches does indeed refer to the PSI Regulations 2005. See Charges for Property Search Services: A Consultation Paper, January 2008, pp. 50-51.

The Data Sharing review's final report was published on 11 July 2008 and concludes that:

• there is a lack of transparency and accountability in the way organisations deal with personal information
• there is confusion surrounding the Data Protection Act, particularly the way it interacts with other strands of law
• greater use could be made of the ability to share personal data safely, particularly in the field of research and statistical analysis
• the Information Commissioner needs more effective powers, and the resources to allow him to use them properly.

The report makes a series of recommendations, aimed at transforming the personal and organisational culture of those who collect, manage and share information:

See Data Sharing Review report:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/data-sharing-review-report.pdf

See Data Sharing Review annexes:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/data-sharing-review-annexes.pdf

The Prime Minister has appointed an independent team to review when Government records are made available to the public. This review will centre on whether, in the light of Freedom of Information and other considerations, there should be any changes to the ‘30 year rule’ – the time span under which most public records are transferred to The National Archives and opened for inspection. 

The 30-year rule review consultation was opened in early January and closed in mid-April 2008. The review team will report to the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor by the autumn of 2008.

APPSI believes the 30-year rule is anomalous in policy terms and unnecessarily inhibits the re-use of public sector information.

APPSI recommends that the emphasis of the 30-year rule is changed to one of openness; and that public records should be made available earlier to encourage greater re-use of public sector information.
Full response see The Panel’s response to Consultation on the 30 Year Rule (PDF - 160 KB)

The Data Sharing Review was set up to:

• consider whether there should be any changes to the way the Data Protection Act 1998 operates in the UK and the options for implementing any such changes
• provide recommendations on the powers and sanctions available to the regulator and courts in the legislation governing data sharing and data protection
• provide recommendations on how data-sharing policy should be developed in a way that ensures proper transparency, scrutiny and accountability.

The Data Sharing Review consultation runs until 15 February 2008. See Data Sharing Review Consultation: http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/data-sharing-review-consultation-paper.pdf

Summary of APPSI’s response to the Data Sharing Review – 6 February 2008

• Significant growth in the re-use of public sector information will only be achieved if the public and national and local government, are confident that personal information is protected;
• that there are robust and transparent processes to control and monitor the sharing of information;
• and that public and private sector bodies are held accountable for an unauthorised or inadvertent sharing of personal data.

Full response see The Panel’s response on Data Sharing (PDF - 137 KB)

 Office of Fair Trading’s Commercial Use of Public Information (CUPI) study - December 2006

This study looked at the markets for public sector information (PSI) and how well the supply of PSI is working for customers, particularly:

· What PSI is made available for re-use, at what price and on what terms
· Whether business can compete with public sector infromation holders in the supply of products / services to which value has been added.

The CUPI study can be accessed here:  http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/publications/reports/consumer-protection/oft861

Summary of APPSI’s response to OFT’s CUPI Study

The main recommendations set out in the CUPI study should be implemented; and resources are required for the Office of Public Sector Information and public sector information holders to support the implementation of the recommendations.

There are opportunities for public sector information holders to improve current practices to enable more effective commercial re-use of PSI.

The value of PSI is significantly higher than stated in the CUPI study.

There is a need to clarify the value of the PSI sector.

Full response see http://APPSI’s response to OFT’s CUPI Study