Aerial photographic flight diagrams

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act I would like to be supplied with the following data held by Ordnance Survey.

Aerial photographic survey data captured between the period 1st May 2001 to date captured by a) OS staff and b) by subcontractors and agents acting on behalf of Ordnance Survey and where the data would be supplied to Ordnance Survey as part of the contractual survey agreement and to which Crown Copyright applies.

The requested details would be the information which would be necessary for the identification of a single image frame by time, location, capture medium and scale which would represent a single point of time at a particular location for the purposes of study and / or evidence in legal, environmental, historical or other such investigation(s).

Thank you for your e-mail dated 8^th July 2011. I can confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold flight diagrams for the time period in question.  However, there are several elements to consider in this request depending on the date of the flight diagram, and I respond to each of them in turn below.

2001-2006
For imagery held until 2006, I remind you that under Section 21 (2) of the FOIA ‘Information accessible to applicant by other means’  (which is an absolute exemption) this information would be exempt because it is available from the National Monument Records (NMR) as the place of deposit for such items. 

There is an agreement for information to be released to NMR on an annual basis, once it becomes five years old. Therefore film from 2006 is due for release in 2011

I note that you have expressed there have been some instances when NMR have information, which you had not. This is possibly because contractors tend to submit flight diagrams at the same time as the contracted work. Therefore, the information which is released to NMR on a five year 'delay' ensures that the contractor information is also included.

2006-2010
I must advise you that for business reasons it has been necessary for Ordnance Survey to change the way in which we hold historic flight diagram information. 

The information is no longer stored as a hard copy of library folders, but each diagram has been scanned and is held on an internal directory under the relevant national grid prefix, which contains scanned images dating back to the early 1970s.

The volume of information contained within this archive is vast, and the cost of the significant reprocessing that would be required to locate, extract and save the information requested would greatly exceed the appropriate limit which has been specified in regulations and for central Government is set at £600. 

Subsequently, under Section 12 (1) of the FOIA ‘Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit’ we will not comply with this section of your request, as the cost of complying exceeds the appropriate limit.

Under Section 16 of the FOIA ‘The duty to provide advice and assistance’ Ordnance Survey will continue to respond to requests for imagery. Upon your notifying us of the area/location we will be able to conduct a specified search to enable us to determine the dates we do hold imagery for a single image frame by time, location, capture medium and scale which would represent a single point of time at a particular location.

2011
Flight diagrams for the 2011 flying season are exempt information under Section 43 (2) ‘Commercial Interests’.
This is because these diagrams provide an insight into exactly what we plan to fly for the remainder of the current season, and current flight information is directly relevant to the population of OS MasterMap® Imagery Layer.  The currency of the data within this product is a key selling point for Orthoimagery and any external insight/knowledge into the exact dates of photography can have an effect on:

• Raising customer expectations
• Allow competitors to examine a key product in detail, which will provide their sales team with an additional argument as to why another suppliers product may be more current is a specific geographic location
• Allows an insight into our production processes, as opposed to information about historic flying process

We believe the release of this information is likely to cause harm to the Commercial Interests of Ordnance Survey and on this basis we will not be releasing the current season flight diagrams to you.

We also consider that Section 22 (1) (a) 'Information intended for future publication' is applicable in relation to the current flight diagrams.  This is because the flight diagrams for the 2011 season will be published and made available via the NMR in time, as per the current arrangement.

To the extent that the Public interest test applies (section 17 FOIA), we have determined that under Section 43 (2) Commercial Interest, there is a public interest in ensuring companies and organisations are able to operate fairly in competitive markets and are able to protect legitimate Commercial Interests. 

Under Section 22  'Information Intended for future publication', we consider that as there is already an agreement in place between Ordnance Survey and The National Monument Records Centre (NMR) to make the information you have requested available on a year by year basis, we have determined there is greater public interest to withhold the information in accordance with this current agreement. 

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
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: FOI11194/July 2011