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Ordnance Survey’s Public Task

Background

Ordnance Survey is the National Mapping Agency of Great Britain, and creates, maintains and disseminates consistent, definitive and authoritative geospatial and cartographic data and products of Great Britain in the national interest.

Ordnance Survey is an independent non-Ministerial Government department and Executive Agency, reporting to Parliament through Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.   It operates as a trading fund under the terms of the Government Trading Funds Act 1973, and the Ordnance Survey Trading Fund Order 1999 as amended by the Ordnance Survey Trading Fund (Maximum Borrowing) Order 2010.

This statement is a high-level description of Ordnance Survey’s current Public Task for the purposes of the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 (the Re-use Regulations).

Ordnance Survey’s Public Task will be reviewed in detail following the outcomes of the European Commission’s current work on the revision of the Public Sector Information Directive and the establishment of the Data Strategy Board. 

 

Public Task

Ordnance Survey’s Public Task is:
1. to create and maintain geographic information datasets and products with coverage of all of Great Britain to a consistent specification; and 
2. to make the content of the relevant datasets widely available as products which can be used by customers of all types for a wide range of purposes.

In order to deliver its Public Task Ordnance Survey collects and records the following information:
  • natural and man-made topographic features of the landscape; 
  • descriptive annotations and distinctive names/postal numbers of buildings, places and features;
  • the alignment of administrative and electoral boundaries; and
  • the extent and classification of certain types of land cover and use.
 
The Ordnance Survey Act 1841 provides powers to enable the collection of this information.

 

Access and licensing

As a Trading Fund, Ordnance Survey is obliged to be self-financing.  Accordingly, Ordnance Survey operates a licensing model by way of recognised exception to the principle of marginal cost pricing as described in The National Archives’  ‘Guide to drawing up a statement of public task’  (Document Version 1.0 published in August 2011).

This licensing model currently includes making Ordnance Survey products available:
(i) free at the point of use through OS OpenData, a range of products available on similar terms to the Open Government Licence; and
(ii) in accordance with Ordnance Survey’s standard licensing model. 
Details of Ordnance Survey products, their specifications, licence terms and relevant licence fees are available at:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/licensing/licence-selector.html

The product licence terms have been extensively improved and updated in conjunction with the Directorate of Information Policy and Services of The National Archives following the Government’s 2010 consultation on Ordnance Survey (“Policy Options for Geographic Information from Ordnance Survey”).

In licensing its products, Ordnance Survey is committed to the principles of the Information Fair Trader Scheme, in relation to which it is fully accredited (see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/ifts.htm).

 

Approval and review

Prior to publication this statement has been approved by Shareholder Executive within the Department for Business Innovation and Skills following consultation with the Directorate of Information Policy and Services of The National Archives.

Ordnance Survey’s Public Task will be reviewed in detail following; the outcomes of the European Commission’s current work on the revision of the Public Sector Information Directive and the establishment of the Data Strategy Board.

Ordnance Survey’s future statement of Public Task will be developed in consultation with Shareholder Executive within the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and with reference to guidelines published by the Directorate of Information Policy and Services of The National Archives.

If you have any queries on Ordnance Survey’s Public Task you may contact us at 08456 05 05 05. If you have a complaint about Ordnance Survey under the Re-use Regulations, you may submit it using our general complaints handling process.

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For general enquiries, complaints, feedback or suggestions, email: customerservices@ordnancesurvey.co.uk or call us on 08456 05 05 05