Re-use of Public Sector Information

The public sector is the largest producer of information in the United Kingdom, helping to underpin an information industry worth an estimated £18 billion in 2000.  On 1 July 2005 new regulations came into force covering the re-use of public sector information.

The Regulations establish a framework for making the re-use of public sector information easier and more transparent.  Re-use means the use by a person (or company) of a document held by the Council for a purpose other than the initial purpose for which the document was produced.

The Regulations complement access to information legislation so where  Freedom of Information is about access to information, the PSI regulations look at how the information can be re-used.  In many cases re-use takes the form of commercial publication and sale of information in the context of value added products and services.

Responding to a request under access legislation by supplying information does not confer an automatic right of re-use.  The information will usually be disclosed with a warning that separate permission needs to be obtained from the copyright owner before its use in a way that would infringe copyright such as making multiple copies or publishing and issuing copies to the public.

The Regulations allow the Council up to 20 working days following date of receipt of the request for re-use to respond to the request.  This timeframe may be extended by such time as is reasonable in the circumstances for complex requests.  In such cases the Council will notify the applicant within the 20 working days of an estimated date by which it expects to respond to the request for re-use.