Ordnance Survey public task

Our public task means we:

1. Create, maintain, and improve the OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD). This contains the data that describes the geography of Britain.
2.  Provide access to the OS NGD with the public and private sectors.
3. Provide technical and customer support to maximise the use, value, and benefit of the OS NGD.
4. Provide leadership, domestically and internationally, on best practice with regards to geospatial data, standards, and services.
5. Maintain and develop the underlying physical infrastructure which is needed to support the capture and maintenance of the OS NGD.

The PSGA contract provides details of all the activities we undertake to deliver our public task. 

Creating and maintaining the OS NGD is at the core of our public task. The OS NGD holds the location data that describes the geography of Great Britain, maintained to agreed accuracy, currency, and coverage. This data is used across the public and private sectors to underpin a wide variety of products and services in the delivery of critical infrastructure and services – from blue lights to streetlights.

The OS NGD has these themes:

OS NGD theme	Definition of data available within the theme
Addresses	An address is a structured label, usually containing a property number, a street name, locality name, and postal code. It’s used to identify a plot of land, a building or part of a building, or some other construction, together with coordinates indicating their geographic position.
Administrative and Statistical Units	Administrative and Statistical units are the geographical extent of administrative, legislative, regulatory, electoral, statistical, governance, service delivery and activity management areas.
Buildings	A Building is any roofed structure permanently constructed or erected on its site, for the protection of humans, animals, things, or the production of economic goods.
Geographical Names	Geographical Names provides orientation and identity to places. They are location identifiers for cultural and physical features of the real world, such as regions, settlements, or any feature of public or historical interest.
Height	The Height Theme describes the surface of the Earth relative to a vertical datum.
Imagery	Imagery is geo-referenced image data of the Earth's surface, from satellite or airborne sensors.
Land Cover	Land Cover represents the physical and biological cover of the Earth’s surface.
Land Use	Land Use is the current and future planned management, and modification of the natural environment for different human purposes or economic activities.
Structures	A Structure is any free-standing manmade construction, that is designed to stand permanently in one place and is not a building (for example, bridge, tank, mast, fence).
Transport Networks	Transport Networks are the suite of road, path, rail, air, and water transport routes (ferry only) and their connectivity.
Water	The Water Theme covers the extent of all water features including rivers, lakes, and marine features (and their connectivity).

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which is our shareholder, requires us to operate as a sustainably profitable commercial organisation, on a self-financing basis. Our delivery of the public task is therefore funded through a contract with the Geospatial Commission, the cost of which is offset by royalties returned by our Partners. The current licensing model means we make the OS NGD available through numerous datasets and digital services, e.g. OS MasterMap Topography Layer and OS Maps API.

We provide access to this data:

• Through our OS OpenData with a range of products available under the Open Government Licence;
• Free at the point of use to members of the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) via different datasets and digital services; and
• Under commercial terms, where not covered by the above, to OS’s licensed partners and to end users.

Find out more about our licensing.

Our licensing model is a recognised exception to the principle of marginal cost pricing. You can read more about this in The National Archives' 'Guidance on public task statements’, published May 2020 (PDF).

This statement describes our current public task for the purposes of the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (the Re-use Regulations).

Approval

Prior to publication this statement has been discussed with and approved by the Geospatial Commission.

Review

Our public task statement was last reviewed in December 2020, and will be reviewed at regular intervals, through consultation between OS and the Geospatial Commission in order to ensure it remains in line with the PSGA. If you have any queries, comments, contributions, or wish to challenge our public task, you may contact us.

If you wish to make a complaint about OS under the Re-use Regulations, you may do so using our general complaints handling process.

Access the PSGA contract (PDF) (this file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology). Ordnance Survey is publishing the contract on behalf of the Geospatial Commission.

All enquiries related the contract should be directed to The Geospatial Commission at gccontractsteam@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

OS produces a range of datasets and digital services, many of which form part of our public task, but a number of which do not. The full list of Ordnance Survey datasets and digital services can be found on our products page.

Learn how the OS Open MasterMap Implementation Programme helped shape access and sharing arrangements for OS MasterMap.