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| January 2010 Edition |

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General:

1. OS Consultation Document
2. ONS Census Consultation
3. Exceptions to Marginal Cost Pricing
4. Local Government data
5. Geographic Information Survey by IDeA/LGA/WLGA
6. Plans to increase penalties for disruptive road works
7. Socitm: Public sector ICT needs to rethink efficiency strategy
8. NLPG hub will help Local Authorities provide INSPIRE compliant addresses
9. London Datastore
10. Managing Public Sector Information Conference
11. VOA Matching

NLPG:

1. Access to the NLPG

2. IA signs up 3 new NLPG resellers
3. LLPG Chairs Group
4. NLPG Regional Meetings

NSG:

1. NSG Uploads
2. NSG Downloads
3. Permit Authorities
4. Health Checks
5. NSG Training
6. NSG Regional Meetings

-----[articles]-----

[General]
**1. OS Consultation Document**
On December 23rd the Department of Communities and Local Government published
the
government's Consultation on the future policy options of geographic
information
from Ordnance Survey. Details are available from [1]OS Consultation.
Closing
date is March 17th 2010 and we urge all those interested to read the document
and
make comments. An Impact Assessment document is available from [2]Impact
Assessment.
The LGA Group will be submitting a response which will be shared through the
Mapping
Services Agreement Community of Practice. Intelligent Addressing will also
separately
be submitting a response.

Ordnance Survey welcomes the consultation and are actively encouraging

organisations
to give views on the proposals. Note that the closing date for comments to
the
AGI is February 11th 2010.
[1]
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/ordnancesurveyconsultation
[2]
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/ordnancesurveyconsultation

**2. ONS Census Consultation**

The Office for National Statistics has launched an [1]ONS Consultation on
geography
policy for the 2011 Census outputs. The consultation will run until the 26th
March
and invites users to comment on any aspect of the policy, but particularly on
three
key areas of it:
A new geography for improved reporting of business statistics and statistics
relating
to the workplace
An upper layer of Super Output Areas (USOAs)
A request for exceptional instances of current OAs and SOAs, as designed for
2001,
that do not fit present criteria for statistical zones

[1] http://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2011-census/consultations/open-
consultations/census-output-geography-consultation/index.html

**3. Exceptions to Marginal Cost Pricing**

The Government has published criteria for its
[1]exceptions to marginal cost pricing.

The response to the Taskforce's "recommendation 10" explained that the Office
of
Public Sector Information, part of The National Archives, would develop a
series
of tests, or criteria, to help assess whether charges are appropriate. Having
consulted
with interested parties through the [2]Perspectives blog, these criteria have
now
been developed and published.

Government policy for charging for supplying information which recipients

intend
to process and re-use is set out in HM Treasury's document 'Managing Public
Money'.
There are some cases where a department has added value to the information to
create
a commercial product. In those cases the policy is to charge at full cost plus
an
appropriate rate of return. This information trading is policed under the
Information
Fair Trader Scheme (IFTS), which ensures that there is a simple, fair and
transparent
approach to licensing. Where departments and agencies wish to charge for the
re-use
of data, they will be required to justify departures from the marginal cost
model
against the criteria for exceptions for marginal cost pricing.

[1] http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ifts/exceptions-to-marginal-cost-pricing
[2] http://perspectives.opsi.gov.uk/2009/07/exceptions-to-marginal-cost-
pricing.html

**4. Local Government data**

The Prime Minister said that "there are many hundreds more datasets that can
be
 opened up - not only from central government but also from local councils, the
NHS,
police and education authorities"; and the Secretary of State for Communities
said
"we plan to give local people far better access to information held by local
public
organisations so they can challenge, compare or scrutinise their local
services
in order to drive up standards in their area."

The Government will encourage local government to release local public data
and
make it free for reuse, and establish an open-platform local data exchange.
Professor
Nigel Shadbolt from the University of Southampton has been asked to head up a
panel
of experts to oversee the release of local public data and ensure that data
are
linked effectively across local government departments and agencies.

The Local Public Data Panel members will include:

Tim Allen, Programme Director for Analysis and Research, Local Government
Association
Roger Hampson, Chief Executive of Redbridge
Dave Smith, Chief Executive of Sunderland City Council
Janet Hughes, Head of Scrutiny and Investigations at the Greater London
Authority
Jos Creese, Head of IT at Hampshire County Council
Nick Aldridge, CEO of Mission Fish UK (eBay for Charity)
William Perrin - Government web innovator and community activist
Chris Taggart - web developer and founder of OpenlyLocal.com

The Panel will work closely with local authorities, strategic partners,
government
departments and agencies, developers and community organisations to help
improve
local public services and empower citizens. The Panel will operate for a two
year
period to the end of 2011, its key aims are to:

Ensure understanding of the case for making local public data freely available
for
re-use
Promote innovative uses of local public data
Sponsor the further development of a single place on line ('data.gov.uk')for
all
public sector data, while meeting the specific needs of the local government
sector
Encourage agreed standards for greater data and information sharing by local
strategic
partnerships.

[1]Cabinet Office, Digital Engagement Blog

[1] http://blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/digitalengagement/post/2009/12/07/Local-
Government-Data.aspx

**5. Geographic Information Survey by IDeA/LGA/WLGA**

The Geographic Information Survey was conducted by the Local Government
Association's
Analysis and Research team for the Improvement and Development Agency for
local
government (IDeA), the Local Government Association (LGA), and the Welsh Local
Government
Association (WLGA) in October 2009.

The purpose of the survey was to gain a full picture of the current provision
of
Geographic Information (GI) Services by local authorities, national parks,
passenger
transport authorities, police and fire services across England and Wales.

The main objectives of the survey were to identify:

the current level of GI services provided in local government
the technical capabilities of GI services
current partnership arrangements of GI service provision

The results of the survey will inform the IDeA/LGA/WLGA's strategic vision to
support
local authorities to improve GI services within their organisation and across
partnerships.
This in turn will enable them to meet the requirement of modern public service
delivery.

This report gives a summary of the survey findings followed by a more detailed
assessment
of the survey results divided into current level of service, technical
capability
and partnership working.

[1]Geographic Information Survey 2009

[1] http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/6597492

**6. Plans to increase penalties for disruptive road works**

Utility companies who do not finish their road works on time will face
increased
charges under new plans announced by Transport Minister Sadiq Khan MP during
January.
The current maximum daily charge is £2,500, but to encourage companies to
complete
works on time increases to as much as £25,000 may be justified.

Also proposed are lane rental schemes for those companies wanting to carry out
works
on the busiest roads and good practice guidance for councils and utility
companies.
This guidance will outline how to make sure that those affected most by
street
works disruption are informed properly, for example, through working with bus
companies
to ensure that they can plan alternative routes and by text messaging
residents
and commuters affected by road works.

The plan was drawn after the Department for Transport hosted the street works
summit
with road user groups, utility companies, bus operators and local authorities
in
October 2009.

[1]http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=409828&NewsAreaID=2

[1] http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=409828&NewsAreaID=2

**7. Socitm: Public sector ICT needs to rethink efficiency strategy**

Declining levels in efficiency savings, increased pressure to help reduce cost
without
compromising service levels, and falling budgets, highlighted in Socitm's IT
trends
in local public services report.

Socitm, the Society of IT Managers which represents ICT executives in the

local
government sector, has published its annual report into IT trends amongst
public
sector services. The 2009/10 report highlights the daunting challenges facing
ICT
managers as they come under increased pressure to deliver cost efficiencies.
The
report, Stretched to breaking point, predicts a greater dependency on ICT
within
the sector in the coming years, (a symptom of reduced "belt-tightening"
budgets)
and calls for a "radical rethink about how technology can be exploited for the
public's
benefit."

Whilst ICT within the public sector is increasingly coming under pressure,
Socitm's
report suggests the amount of resource spent has significantly decreased in
the
past twelve months. Negativity permeates through many areas of the report:
cuts
to staffing levels are already impacting on service levels; planned shared
service
projects are now stalling; efficiency savings are on the decline; and the
biggest
challenge facing ICT managers on a local government level is the need to "do
more
with less."

For more information, see [1]http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?

op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=22418
and
[2]http://www.socitm.net/news/article/23/continued_it_budget_cuts_will_compromis
e_delivery_of_savings_elsewhere_says_it_trends_200910

[1] http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?
op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=22418
[2]
http://www.socitm.net/news/article/23/continued_it_budget_cuts_will_compromise_d
elivery_of_savings_elsewhere_says_it_trends_200910

**8. NLPG hub will help Local Authorities provide INSPIRE compliant addresses**
UK local authorities are to benefit from a new online service that makes their
local
land and property data available in a European Union compliant format. The
National
Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) can now be produced to the format required
by
the European Union (EU) INSPIRE Directive directly from the central NLPG hub.
This
will significantly reduce the burden on local government who would otherwise
have
to provide this information individually.

For more details on INSPIRE and the benefits of this to Local Authorities
visit
the [1]NLPG website
[1] http://www.nlpg.org.uk/nlpg/link.htm?nwid=153

**9. London Datastore**

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, recently launched a new website - the
London
Datastore - hosting hundreds of sets of data about London. The site is due to
be
officially open from January 29th 2010. In addition to planning information
the
Guardian newspaper says that the datasets available will include attainment,
pupil
number and schools data; fire incidents, ambulance rates, crime rates; carbon
emissions,
floorspace, vacant commercial offices, industrial stock data, abandoned
vehicles,
recycling rates, waste data, waste re-use centres, fly tipping rates, alcohol
indicators,
abortion rates, hospital waiting lists and admissions, excess winter deaths -
and
many dozens more.

The government has launched a similar site called data.gov.uk.

This reflects the demands from many developers who have been requesting that
local
authorities release the data, so they can put it to public use. Sites such as
[1]Openly
Local and [2]Mash The State, [3]Pic and Mix have been campaigning for more
access
to data.

[1] http://www.openlylocal.com/
[2] http://www.mashthestate.org.uk/
[3] http://picandmix.org.uk/

**10. Managing Public Sector Information Conference**

Government departments are now recognising the need to improve their
collection
and handling of management information but many have been found to lack
accurate
data and the capability to link data across networks. At a time when resources
are
being reduced, the need for better information management has never been
greater
for increased operating efficiency, agility and, ultimately, cost savings.

The conference will bring together delegates from across the public sector who
are
involved in improving the collection, use and re-use of information to improve
performance
and service delivery. By attending this event you will:

Engage directly with senior experts in the field of information management,

use
and re-use
Learn from innovative keynotes and take part in interactive panel discussions
Attend in-depth industry-led workshops demonstrating solutions for the
challenges
facing you
Network with peers and share experiences about likely challenges and how to
address
them
 The speaker line up includes:

Professor David Rhind CBE, Chair, Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information
John Kirkpatrick, Director of Studies, Audit Commission
Carol Tullo, Director, Office of Public Sector Information, part of The
National
Archives
Steve Brandwood, Programme Manager, Local Government Information House
Neil Ackroyd, Director of Data Collection and Management, Ordnance Survey

For more information and to register visit [1]www.kable.co.uk/managing-

information.

[1] http://www.kable.co.uk/managing-information

**11. VOA Matching**

We have uploaded and processed the new full reconciliation file from the
Valuation
Office. The Council Tax match rate is now 99.25% with 24 million records
matched.
All regions are over 98% with 8 regions over 99%. The Non Domestic Rates match
rate
is now at an all time high of 74.10%. Tom Peirson-Webber from Intelligent
Addressing
will be attending the LLPG Regional Custodian Groups over the next few months
to
discuss the VOA matching process and answer any questions authorities may
have.

[NLPG]
**1. Access to the NLPG**
This is to remind all users of the secure NLPG search site that their
passwords
expire every 90 days. Users can create a new password at any time by clicking
on
the "password changer" icon on the login page and following the instructions.
Passwords are case sensitive must contain at least 8 characters, including one
uppercase
character and at least four digits. If you have forgotten your password or
fail
to enter the correct password in three attempts an email will be sent to the
registered
owner of the account. On receipt of this notification we recommend that a
new
password is created by following the procedure above.

All requests for new logins must come from the Authority Liaison Officer
(ALO).
These requests must be made by email to [1]contacts@intelligent-
addressing.co.uk
and should contain the first name, surname, email address and telephone number
of
the person requiring access.

[1] mailto:contacts@intelligent-addressing.co.uk

**2. IA signs up 3 new NLPG resellers**

Intelligent Addressing have signed three new companies to act as resellers of
the
National Land and property Gazetteer (NLPG), the national address database for
England
 and Wales. The first independent resellers of the NLPG are Aligned Assets,
Bartec
Systems and Postcode Anywhere. By widening the reseller community, more
organisations
such as housing associations, utilities and retail companies will benefit from
access
to and use of this valuable national asset.

[1]Intelligent Addressing announces two latest NLPG Resellers

[1] http://www.nlpg.org.uk/nlpg/link.htm?nwid=150

**3. LLPG Chairs Group**

Our first meeting of the New Year concentrated on pushing along initiatives on
quality
and consistency. We all know that the NLPG is an excellent dataset but, we
also
know that there are areas where we could be doing better. As chairs, we're
looking
at these areas to try and ensure that the quality of the NLPG continues to
improve.
To begin with, we are looking at where the problem areas are such as
positional
accuracy, classifications etc. Unless we know where the problems are, we can't
help
to fix them. We are also going to look at problems specific to individual
LLPGs
and find out how we can target assistance and help custodians in these areas.
Finally,
we are working with IA to see how we can raise the profile within Local
Authorities
to ensure that custodians receive the resources and the backing they need.

The first piece of work to come out of this will be some additional 'checks'
on
your healthcheck reports. Don't be alarmed, they're there to give you a better
idea
of the quality of your gazetteer so that you can target your resources
effectively.
Things such as 'multiple BLPU points with the same co-ordinates' or 'invalid
administrative
areas' have been identified as being useful to know and will be included in
the
future as part of the standard healthcheck reports. These new 'warnings' will
probably
not be coming out until April/May time and we'll be letting you know in plenty
of
time.

If anyone has any ideas on how you think these key issues of quality and
consistency
can be addressed, please contact your local chair who can feed it up to the
group.
We're also looking for new ideas on how to target the right people to ensure
that
gazetteers are fully resourced and recognised in local authorities. Do you
know
of any local or national groups that IA and the chairs can target? If so,
again,
let your chair know who can pass it on to the group.

Anyway, I think that's enough to be getting on with for now and I'd just like
to
wish you all a slightly belated Happy New Year. May all of your COUs be
accepted
first time and may all of your children have parents!

Andrew Young - Chairman of the Regional LLPG Chairs

**4. NLPG Regional Meetings**

South East 5th February, The Harlequin
Theatre, London Road, Redhill RH1 1NN,
(UPRN 100062606981)
Yorkshire and Humberside 16th February, Square Chapel Centre for the
Arts, Halifax,
(UPRN 100052033789)

[NSG]
**1. NSG Uploads**
The NSG hub has seen a steady increase in the number of uploads again this
month.
As a reminder Local Authorities should all be sending data every month to the
NSG
hub. Submissions should be made within the first 10 working days of the month
(first
5 days for London Authorities)

In February and March we would like to see all 174 Local Highway Authorities
submit
data to the NSG hub in DTF7.1. If you have any concerns about this or if you
are
having any troubles making submissions please contact the NSG Hub team.

**2. NSG Downloads**

It is strongly recommended that all Highway Authorities should download their
own
data each month to ensure they know exactly what data is being published as it
is
the data being used by Statutory Undertakers.
It is currently still possible to download data in both DTF7.1 and the
downscaled
NSG CSV formats. However the NSG CSV will only be available until April 1st
2010.
It is extremely important to be aware that after this date NSG CSV will not be
available
to download.

IA is able to offer a downscale service as outlined in the [1]letter from IDeA

on
23rd December 2009. If you require this service please don't hesitate to
contact
the NSG Hub team [2]helpdesk@thensg.org.uk.
For help or advice with any downloads issues please contact the
[3]helpdesk@thensg.org.uk.

[1] http://www.iahub.net/docs/1264076976818.pdf
[2] mailto:helpdesk@thensg.org.uk
[3] mailto:helpdesk@thensg.org.uk

**3. Permit Authorities**

16 London Authorities and TFL all moved to the new Permit Scheme on 11th
January
2010. Kent also moved to the new Permit Scheme on 26th January 2010.
 All these Authorities have had to work extremely hard work to meet an
ambitious
timetable. Permit data has now been published on the NSG website.

**4. Health Checks**

The long awaited health checks have now been finalised and sent out to each
Authority
via their FTP access. The [1]health check documentation is available on the
NSG
website. Please be aware that some health checks are recommendations to help
improve
data quality, where as others are advisory and for information only. Please
check
these reports each month and make necessary corrections. If you have any
queries
over them please do not hesitate to contact the [2]helpdesk@thensg.org.uk for
advice.

[1] http://www.iahub.net/docs/1264176369477.pdf
[2] mailto:helpdesk@thensg.org.uk

**5. NSG Training**

IA has two dates for Introduction to NSG training:
25th March 2010 (fully booked)
21st April 2010

If you are interested in attending one of these training sessions (to be held
in
IA's offices at Ivybridge House, 1 Adam Street, London WC2N 6DD), please do
not
hesitate to contact the NSG helpdesk ( [1]helpdesk@thensg.org.uk) for more
information.

[1] mailto:helpdesk@thensg.org.uk

**6. NSG Regional Meetings**

South East 11th February 2010
London 4th March 2010
South West 8th March 2010
East of England 9th March 2010

For more information on Regional Meetings please contact your Regional Chair.