Re-use of Council Information

• Public sector information for RPSI purposes
• What re-use means
• Make a request for re-use
• When RPSI does not apply
• Information on what the Council does
• Licenses
• Complaints

Public sector information for RPSI (Re-Use of Public Sector Information) purposes

By public sector information, we mean information that we as a Council produces as part of our core role and functions. This is also known as Public Task.

Information that is not held as part of our public task would not be covered by RPSI.

The Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulation 2015 (RPSI) requires the council to make such information available for re-use unless it is restricted or exempt under other legislation. Examples include the Data Protection Act (DPA), the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).

RPSI only applies to recorded information that the Council holds. It does not apply to information that someone else holds the intellectual property right to, such as in relation to copyright or database rights. We can only permit re-use if we hold the intellectual property right to the requested information.

What re-use means

Re-use means using public sector information for a purpose other than the initial public task it was produced for.

This means an individual, a company or other organisation taking information that we have produced and republishing it, or using it to produce a new product or resource. This is often by combining it with other information. This is sometimes on a commercial basis. RPSI is intended to encourage re-use of public sector information.

RPSI is about permitting re-use of information and how it is made available. It is not about accessing information, which is dealt with under information access legislation such as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. You can submit your FOI request by emailing foi@fenland.gov.uk. 

Make a request for re-use

• Apply to re-use council information

You do not need to make a request if we have already made the information available under the Open Government Licence (OGL). This would be stated alongside the information. If you re-use information through the OGL, you must follow their terms. 

When we receive a request to re-use information, we must respond within 20 working days.

This time limit can be extended if the information is extensive or the request raises complex issues. If this is the case, we must inform you of this within the 20 day period.

We must permit re-use in response to a request.

When RPSI does not apply

RPSI does not apply to information that would be exempt from disclosure under information access legislation such as Freedom of Information. Therefore we do not have to permit re-use of exempt information and information we have withheld.

If the Council has not previously disclosed the information requested, then we will manage this as an access request under the appropriate legislation (as a Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulations request) in order to decide whether the information is exempt. This will be the first stage of dealing with the request and once responded to we will then deal with the re-use request.

Information on what the council does

Our website already holds a lot of information about what the Council does.

Our Council Services sections gives information about services used by residents and businesses. Our Your Council provides information about the Council as an organisation and its decisions and plans. You may also wish to visit our Freedom of Information Act, Subject Access Requests and Publication Scheme page.

Licences

We may impose conditions on re-use. However, the conditions will be as open and non-restrictive as possible. The easiest way we will do this is to use the Open Government Licence. This allows re-use of public sector information without charge for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, with minimal conditions.

However, other licences may be appropriate in particular situations, including where there is a charge for re-use. The UK Government Licensing Framework includes other types of standard licences.

Usually we will not enter into exclusive licensing arrangements with a particular person or organisation, but there are some limited exceptions to this.

Complaints

You can complain in writing if you are unhappy about the way the Council has handle your request for re-use. 

To do this, email 3cs@fenland.gov.uk. You can also write to the Complaints Team at Fenland Hall, County Road, March, PE15 8NQ.

If you remain dissatisfied with our response to your complaint, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and request they investigate.