Public sector bodies throughout the UK create and maintain a large amount of valuable information that could potentially be of benefit to the commercial sector. In an effort to utilise this resource more effectively the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations (2005) came into force on 1st July 2005.
In summary, the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations (2005) aim to promote the re-use of public-sector information across the European Union. (Please note the distinction between the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and Environmental Information Regulations (2004) which promote access to information, not re-use – such as copying or selling the disclosed information.)
The Council is not obligated to make public sector information available for re-use. However, if it decides to allow the re-use of any of its information, this has to be done in accordance with a number of obligations set-out in the regulations.
These include:
- Promoting transparency and fairness about the terms for information re-use which are published on our website.
- Provision of accurate notices on documents and the organisation's website about re-use arrangements and copyright ownership.
- Publication of an asset list providing details of publications that the organisation produces and which are available for re-use.
- The Council can choose to allow re-use under licence, imposing conditions on the re-use of information to ensure that it is not used in a manner inconsistent with its copyright.
- A licence fee (which must not be restrictive to fair competition) can be issued by the Council if it feels that this is appropriate.
- The Council must make available to the public its conditions for re-use and any standard charges for re-use it wishes to apply.
- Information for re-use should be made available electronically wherever possible and appropriate.
- The Council must treat all requests equally and must not discriminate between applicants making a request for re-use for comparable purposes.
