Submission and the Coalition Government

Please provide me with:
1.      The introductory note submission your organisation made to its lead
Government Minister since the Coalition Government took office on 12 May.
2.      The number of staff employed by your organisation on 12 May
3.      The number of staff employed by your organisation on 6 October
4.      Any submissions made to government departments on the effects of budget cuts
on your organisation
5.      Any notices given to trade union, or employee representatives, regarding
staffing cuts to your orgnisation
6.      Any notices of re-arranged pension arrangements for staff.
7.      Details of any subscriptions to online news outlets such as Politics Home,
The Times, The Sun, News of the World etc.
8.      Any submissions made by your organisation in the run up to the Comprehensive
Spending review.
9.      How many times the Chief Executive of your organisation has met with a
Government Minister since 12 May. Please tell me the nature and location for any such meetings.
10.     Provide me with a copy of your organisation's travel policy - in particular
in respect of planes, trains and cars.
11.     The number of properties (a) owned, and (b) leased by your organisation.

Thank you for your e-mail dated 6th October 2010. I am pleased to provide you with the following information with regard to your request. Please be aware that not all the requested information is held by Ordnance Survey, and this is detailed where applicable in our response.

We respond to each of your questions in turn:

1. The introductory note submission your organisation made to its lead Government Minister since the Coalition Government took office on 12 May.

Ordnance Survey has not directly made a formal submission to its lead Government Minister since 12 May 2010.

However, on the 29^th June 2010, Vanessa Lawrence, Ordnance Survey Director General and Chief Executive did meet with Baroness Hanham  CBE, and at this meeting made a PowerPoint slide presentation, which is attached for your information. Please note, the slide presentation content and images are subject to Crown Copyright or may be subject to the copyright of others. In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, information supplied under the terms of the Act may not be reused unless this is approved by the provider.  Therefore you may not reproduce, distribute or publish any of this material without Ordnance Survey’s express permission. This restriction does not apply to reasonable use for your own non-commercial research purposes, private study, or any other use permitted under the published exemptions to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

2. The number of staff employed by your organisation on 12 May

The number of staff employed by the organisation on the 12^th May 2010 was 1193.

3. The number of staff employed by your organisation on 6 October

The number of staff employed by the organisation on the 6^th October 2010 was 1178.

4. Any submissions made to government departments on the effects of budget cuts on your organisation.

Ordnance Survey made no direct submission to government departments on the effect of budget cuts to the organisation, therefore this information is not held. 

5. Any notices given to trade union, or employee representatives, regarding staffing cuts to your organisation.

Ordnance Survey has not made any planned reductions to staffing numbers that would equate to "staffing cuts" since the 12^th May 2010, and therefore has had no need to issue notices to either of the trade unions recognised by the organisation.  In this instance the information you are requesting is not held.

6. Any notices of re-arranged pension arrangements for staff.

There have been no re-arrangements of pensions for staff since 12^th May 2010.

7. Details of any subscriptions to online news outlets such as Politics Home, The Times, The Sun, News of the World etc.

Ordnance Survey does not hold records detailing the subscriptions employees may have to online news outlets, therefore this information is not held.

However, we can advise that our Corporate Communications department do use a media monitoring agency to monitor in print, on-line, radio and broadcast mentions of Ordnance Survey.

8. Any submissions made by your organisation in the run up to the Comprehensive
Spending review.

Ordnance Survey has not directly made any submissions in the run up to the Comprehensive spending review, therefore the requested information is not held.

9. How many times the Chief Executive of your organisation has met with a
Government Minister since 12 May. Please tell me the nature and location for any such meetings.

Our Chief Executive has had two meetings with a Government Minister since 12^th May 2010, details as follows:

• 29 June – introductory meeting with new Minister, Baroness Hanham CBE in the offices of CLG in London;

• 15 July – introductory visit to Ordnance Survey’s Southampton Head office by  Ordnance Survey's Minister, Baroness Hanham CBE to meet staff and learn more about our activities

10. Provide me with a copy of your organisation's travel policy - in particular in respect of planes, trains and cars.

Please see the attached Travel Plans for your information. One plan relates to our current head quarters at Romsey Road, Southampton and the second is for our new head quarters building at Adanac Park, Southampton.

11. The number of properties (a) owned, and (b) leased by your organisation.

a) The only buildings for which Ordnance Survey owns the freehold are those at our current head quarters offices at Romsey Road, Southampton, and our new head quarters building at Adanac Park, Southampton - currently nearing completion.  On completion of the new building, ownership of the Romsey Road site will transfer to Ordnance Survey’s development partner – a private sector company.  The number of properties owned as at 1 November 2010 is therefore two.

 b) We have 8 leasehold interests and occupy 21 offices under short-term licences to accommodate field survey staff.  Field surveyors also occupy 3 offices under MOTOs (Memorandum of Terms of Occupation).

To the extent that the Public interest test applies (section 17 FOIA), we have determined that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in is not applicable, as all the information that is held by Ordnance Survey has been released to you.

Please note that your enquiry has been processed according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. If you are unhappy with our response, you may raise an appeal to our Appeals Officer at:

FOI Appeals Officer

Customer Service Centre

Ordnance Survey

Romsey Road

SOUTHAMPTON

SO16 4GU

Please include the reference number below. The Appeals Officer will ensure that the process has been followed correctly, questioning any decisions taken regarding the original response and recommending disclosure of additional information if appropriate.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Reference number: FOI10101/October 2010