Ordnance Survey : fifth report of session 2007-08, report, together with formal minutes, and written evidence

The Ordnance Survey has existed for 216 years as a publicly funded and managed agency of government.

It became a Trading Fund, then an Executive Agency in 1980s and 1990s, and is now overseen by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

However, the Survey ceased to be publicly funded in October 2006 and since that time has been required to make a profit and so engage in commercial competition.

This in turn raises the question of whether such a dominant organisation can operate fairly in the information market.

A previous report ('Ordnance Survey (HC 481)' - ISBN 9780215003812, available below) concluded that there needed to be defined boundaries between public service and national interest work.The conclusions and recommendations include: now that Ordnance Survey is self-supporting, both funding its public task and commercial work entirely from its own revenues, the distinction between public duty and commercial interest is no longer clear; the Surveys' annual report and accounts should distinguish between its public and private tasks; the Survey needs to co-operate with the private sector in regard of licences that cover intellectual property rights, particularly if the licence is too stringent in its' requirements, such as requiring competitors not to compete with the Survey; greater clarity is needed on what use can be made of data bought from the Survey; and, licensing conditions appear to be too complex and inflexible.