County Council historical contact

1. What are the dates that xxxxxx  County Council updated the Ordnance Survey from their internal digital maps from first digitalisation of xxxxxx Maps?

2. The Ordnance Survey updates xxxxxx Agency quarterly on or about 27 November, Feb, May, Aug. Do you update all agencies quarterly beginning the date of their contract?

3.  The search agency and map publishers (e.g. xxxxxx) only use the information supplied and do not alter internally and therefore is there a different type of contract between the Ordnance Survey and County Council Highways Offices to allow them to use the Ordnance Survey material last published and to update themselves on their Ordnance Survey map on their computer? 

4. Is there a typical contract that the Ordnance Survey have between e.g. Search Agencies as opposed to County Councils Highways Authorities and please may I have a copy of both if different?

5. The Ordnance Survey is very strict on usage of information and is therefore dependent upon Public Authorities to supply correct material fact upon which the Ordnance Survey depends, and ultimately the public.  If a Licensee provides incorrect material fact what procedural steps does the Ordnance Survey adopt?

6.  One the agencies described that if they observed a mistake they would inform Ordnance Survey of the incorrect material fact for investigation - is this correct and how would the Ordnance Survey deal with a complaint of a mistake?

7. What data packages have been supplied to the xxxxxx County Council with signed contracts - if the Ordnance Survey cannot supply copy of contract for the High Court hearing we request the possibility of obtaining a 'list of packages, dates, updates with date of contract/renewals' to enable specific disclosure of the Council or by Court Order.

Thank you for your e-mail dated 23rd May 2011. We are pleased to provide the following information to response to your request, and respond to your questions in turn. Please note that some of the information is not held by Ordnance Survey, or is exempt from disclosure under an exemption of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. This is detailed where applicable.

1. I regret to inform you that Ordnance Survey does not hold this information. Any feedback forms (also see question 5) supplied to Ordnance Survey from a local authority detailing changes to OS MasterMap®, are not retained by our Data Quality Customer Support department once the information is noted. The information you are seeking may be available by contacting xxxxxx County Council directly, should they retain records of the changes they notify to Ordnance Survey.

2. Ordnance Survey does hold this information. However, this is exempt under Section 21 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 ‘Information accessible to applicant by other means’ which is an absolute exemption.This is because we already make this information available to the public on our website, by detailing the date we release information to all licensees at the follow link (please see the 'Technical Data' information on this page):
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/products/address-point/index.html

3. Yes, there is a different type of license. County Councils (including their Highways Offices) are now members of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) which allows members to use the data licensed though the agreement for their core public sector business. 

Previously, from circa 1992, they were members of other collective purchasing agreements for portfolios of Ordnance Survey maps and data.The terms of the user licences for these collective purchasing agreements do not permit use for commercial gain or where such use is in competition with Ordnance Survey or one of our Licensed Partners.

A search agency or a map publisher would potentially have difference license rights to those given to a local authority, unless a local authority takes out a license with us which permits the same uses.

4. The current contracts which search agencies tend to have with Ordnance Survey, and we therefore consider a ‘typical’ contract are: View Tracking and Scheduling, Printed Products and Distribution.

Attached are pdf copies of these contracts.  Please note that further to this there is an established process for becoming a partner of Ordnance Survey which includes Ordnance Survey Account Managers assisting potential partners to understand which contracts are most suitable for them.
County Council Highway Authorities are subject to the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) member license.

I confirm Ordnance Survey does hold a copy of the PSMA license, however it is exempt under Section 21 (1) of the Freedom if Information Act (FOIA) 2000 ‘Information Accessible to applicant by other means’ which is an absolute exemption.  This is because the license is already published and available at the following Ordnance Survey website link:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/docs/licences/psma-member-licence.pdf

5. While it is not permitted to deliberately misrepresent Ordnance Survey data, publishers are at liberty to alter the design, style, look and feel of any products they produce from Ordnance Survey source material.  This includes simplification, omission and addition of data including data from other sources.

However, if it was brought to our attention, e.g.: through our Customer Service Centre, that a licensee has incorporated incorrect information such as colouring of roads on their own published material, in a way which incorrectly represents the land, as a matter of good practice, Ordnance Survey would ask the customer to refer this to the authority concerned.

6. Our Data Quality Customer Support department regularly receive feedback from local authorities detailing real world changes or perceived discrepancies in OS MasterMap® and other data.

The corrective action Ordnance Survey would take depends on the category of change and any changes would be made according to our current capture specification.

Ordnance Survey may undertake a site visit depending on the type of discrepancy, or some issues can be corrected from clear recent aerial photography. Changes such as new buildings would require a site visit for ground survey.

7. As we have detailed in this request, and request FOI11169, xxxxxx County Council are currently members of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement. A copy of the PSMA contract has already been provided in our response to your question three. Please note that there is no signed version of this contract, as County Councils would have agreed to become members by agreeing to the terms and conditions of the PSMA by ticking an ‘accept’ box on line to confirm their acceptance.

Prior to this time xxxxxx County Council would have been a member of the Mapping Services Agreement (MSA). A signed copy of the MSA is attached to this e-mail dated April 2005.

Prior to the MSA xxxxxx County Council were members of other collective purchasing agreements for portfolios of Ordnance Survey maps and data at that time called Service Level Agreements (SLA).  The signed xxxxxx County Council agreement is attached to this e-mail, agreements prior to this time are not held by Ordnance Survey.

Although the following information is not recorded by Ordnance Survey, under Section 16 of the FOIA ‘The duty to provide advice and assistance’ it is worth noting that prior to 1992 most local authorities purchased paper chart edition mapping directly from Ordnance Survey or through one of our agents on an ad hoc basis. 

There was no formal relationship or agreement at a local or national level between Ordnance Survey and Local Authorities prior to 1992.

The publications which you have requested and we have provided with this response are subject to crown copyright.  Therefore you may not reproduce, distribute or publish it without Ordnance Surveys express permission.  This restriction does not apply to reasonable use for your own non-commercial research purposes, private study or any uses permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Your enquiry has been processed according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. As the requested information has been provided or is exempt under Section 21 of the Freedom if Information Act which is an absolute exemption, we have determined that in all the circumstances of this case the Public interest consideration (section 17 FOIA) is not applicable in this instance.

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
Adanac Drive
SOUTHAMPTON
SO16 0AS

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: FOI11170/May 2011