Equality and diversity scheme

Dear Requester

Request for information - FOI12287

Thank you for your e-mail of 14th May 2012 clarifying your FOI request. I confirm Ordnance Survey does hold some of the information you have requested and we respond to each of your questions in turn:

1. A copy of the organisations equality schemes and any other schemes produced since 2007.
Attached is a copy of the Equality Scheme from 2010 [omitted]. We do not hold any versions of our scheme prior to this date, as they were overwritten with the 2010 Equality Scheme.

Our current Equality and Diversity scheme is exempt under Section 21 (1) of the Freedom if Information Act (FOIA) 2000 'Information accessible to applicant by other means'.  This is because we published our current scheme information on our website at the following link:

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/about-us/our-policies/equality-and-diversity.html <http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/about-us/our-policies/equality-and-diversity.html>

2. Monitoring and evaluation of the schemes
The monitoring and evaluation of the scheme is covered by progress reports.  These are also exempt under Section 21 (1) of the FOIA 'Information accessible to applicant by other means'.  This is because we publish our progress reports at the same web page as detailed above in response to your question one.

3. Has the organisation made amendments to their maps, if so how? For instance, are the maps including more synagogues and mosques since 2007?
We have made some changes to our mapping, as follows:

Naming conventions
Consideration and changes are currently being made to our large, medium and small scale maps to re classify 'gypsy sites' to 'traveller sites' to eliminate offence caused to the traveller community.

Colour blindness
As a result of research carried out to determine whether the product could easily be used by people with visual difficulties; we established that some of the colours used were not suitable for use by people with colour blindness. As a result, the new designs had significant improvements made to the product to ensure easier identification and accessibility.  Further information can be found in our 2007/2008 annual report which is available on our website at this link:

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/about-us/annual-reports/index.html

Colour tile styles
With the ability to style our current and emerging vector data products and online services in different ways, we are designing new colour styles for customers to apply.
An example of this is the development of OS VectorMapT Local, which is a flexible product that helps users visualise information on a map. It allows them to customise the look and feel of their map by adding in their own information or applying different map colour styles.

For this product, we have created several different styles and are working on a new map style that will take into account the needs of colour-blind customers. This will also be used for other products and web services. Further information in our 2009/2010 annual report, accessible at the same link as detailed above.

Place of Worship
Under Section 16 of the FOIA, the duty to provide advice and assistance, we advise that our surveyors follow our Geobase-04 Reference Guide [omitted], which sets out how to capture places of worship. 

This current version is dated February 2012, although previous versions were in place prior to this time. 

On our small and medium scale mapping data, buildings are not captured or named based on religious grounds.  Identification is based on the significance of the architecture of the building and its surroundings, 'painting a picture of the geography' for navigation purposes.  Therefore a place of worship with a spire or dome is more likely to be identified; these are more likely to be purpose built.

4. If possible, are you able to give me the contact details of the person who is in charge of these schemes?' 
Paul Hemsley has overall responsibility for Equality and Diversity in his role as Director of Finance and Corporate Services. 

We do not provide direct telephone numbers or e-mail addresses of employees as we consider this to constitute personal information which is exempt under Section 40 (2) which is an absolute exemption and requires no public interest test.

If you have further questions regarding equality and/or diversity at Ordnance Survey you may write, e-mail or telephone our Customer Service Centre using the information available at this web link:

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/support/contact-us.html <http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/support/contact-us.html>

The Public Interest
As the requested information has been provided, is not held or has been withheld under an absolute exemption, we have determined that in all the circumstances of this case the Public interest consideration (section 17 FOIA) is not applicable

Internal review process
If you are unhappy with our response to your request, you may ask our Appeals Officer for an internal review.  You should forward your request for an internal review as follows:

FOI Appeals Officer
Customer Service Centre
Ordnance Survey
Explorer House
Adanac Drive
SOUTHAMPTON
SO16 0AS
E-mail: foi@ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Please include the reference number above. 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.

Appealing to the Information Commissioner's Officer (ICO)
If following receipt of our internal review response you still remain unhappy, you may raise an appeal directly with the ICO by contacting them as follows:

The Case Reception Unit
Customer Service Team
The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

E-mail the ICO:  mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk or you may telephone their helpline on 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745 for advice.

Thank you for your enquiry.