Background

The Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 came in to force on 1st July 2005. The main objective of the regulations is to promote the re-use of information held by the public sector.

What is meant by re-use?

Information is available to the public by way of legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs). When requesting information, applicants may also ask to re-use the information if it is released. Re-use means the re-production of the same information in a way that it was not originally intended for. This could include copying, adapting, develop or re-using for commercial purposes.

Information released under FOI or EIRs can be re-used providing applicants have obtained the Council’s permission to do so. Without permission, re-use may breach copyright law.

Where the Council permits re-use of documents, it will do so in line with the following broad principles, as required under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations.

Making a request for re-use

Requests for re-use made to the Council must be in writing to the Council’s Information Compliance Manager at the Guildhall, Bath BA1 5AW or via email at information_governance@bathnes.gov.uk.

Requests should;

• State the name of the applicant and an address for correspondence;
• Specify the document/s requested; and
• State the purpose for which the document is to be re-used.

Responses to requests for re-use

The Council will respond to requests for re-use promptly, and in any case within 20 working days of receiving a request.

Where documents requested for re-use are extensive in quantity or the request raises complex issues, the Council may extend the period for responding by such time as is reasonable in the circumstances. Where the time period for response has been extended, the Council will notify the applicant of this in writing within 20 working days of receiving the request, and provide an estimated date by which the full response can be expected.

Where the Council chooses to permit re-use in respect of a request, the response will either make the requested document/s available to the applicant, or where conditions are to be imposed upon re-use, finalise the offer to the applicant of the conditions under which re-use will be permitted.

Refusals of requests for re-use

Where the Council refuses a request for re-use, it will make the following information available to the applicant;

• the reasons for the refusal in writing;
• the internal and independent appeals procedure open to the applicant;
• in cases where the refusal is based on the fact that copyright or other relevant intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) are owned by a third party, the owner of the relevant IPRs will normally be identified, where known.  The same principle applies where the copyright (or other relevant IPRs) in the document is held jointly by the public sector body and a third party;
• where the owner of the third party copyright is not known, then the name of the person from whom the document was obtained will be provided, where known.  If it is not known, this fact will be stated. 

Format of documents

The Council will make documents available to applicants for re-use, in the format and language in which those documents exist. Wherever possible, the Council will make documents available for re-use by electronic means.

Conditions

The Council may impose conditions on re-use. Where imposed, such conditions will not unnecessarily restrict the way in which a document can be re-used, nor will they unnecessarily restrict competition.

Non-discrimination

Any conditions the Council imposes upon re-use will not discriminate between applicants who make a request for re-use for comparable purposes.

If the Council holds a document which it wishes to re-use for activities which fall outside the scope of its public task, the same conditions will apply to that re-use as would apply to re-use by any other applicant for comparable purposes.

Exclusive arrangements

The Council will not enter in to any exclusive re-use arrangements, except where necessary for the provision of a service in the public interest. The validity for the reasons for granting any such exclusive arrangements will be reviewed every 3 years.

Any exclusive arrangements entered into on or after 31st December 2003 shall be published by the Council. Any exclusive arrangement which exists as at 1/7/2005, and are not necessary for the provision of a service in the public interest will be terminated by the Council when the current contractual terms end, and in any case by 31/12/2008.

Charging

The Regulations state that when allowing re-use, public authorities may make a reasonable return on investment. When calculating a licence fee, the Council will take the following factors in to account:

1. The Council’s intellectual property, ie the information that has a commercial value. A charge for this element will be determined on a case by case basis.
2. Charges for staff time. An hourly charge of £25 per hour will be made in respect of the staff time in making the requested information available to the application for re-use.
3. Charges for materials. A4 black & white copies - 10 pence per sheet. A3 black & white copies - 20 pence per sheet. A4 colour copies - 50 pence per sheet. A3 colour copies - £1.00 per sheet.

Where an applicant has been charged under Access to Information legislation* for any of the costs set out under paragraph (a) above in respect of any particular document, no additional charge to the applicant will be made for any of those costs in respect of any request he or she makes to re-use that document.

*Access to Information legislation means any legislation governing access to information including the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 as amended or replaced from time to time.

Conditions for re-use

Where the Council chooses to permit re-use of documents, it may impose certain conditions on re-use. Standard Licences will be used for this purpose.

Standard charges for re-use

Because of the potential diversity of requests for re-use the Council has taken the view it is not reasonably practicable to publish standard charges. However any charge made will not exceed the total cost of collection, production, reproduction and dissemination of the information which is the subject of the request together with a reasonable return on investment.

Asset list

The Regulations require the Council to publish a list of the main documents available for re-use. Refer to the Council’s Freedom of Information Publication Scheme.

Complaints

If an applicant is unhappy with the Council’s response to their request for re-use, they may contact the Council’s Chief Audit, Risk and Information Manager, and an internal review will be carried out. Contact Jeff Wring, at the Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW. Email: jeff_wring@bathnes.gov.uk.

Applicants who are unhappy with the outcome of the internal review may appeal to the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) for an independent review. The OPSI is contactable at;

The Standards Division
Admiralty Arch
North Side
The Mall
London
SW1A 2WH