Asked by: Lord Allan of Hallam (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of measures to encourage the adoption of Unique Property Reference Numbers in government databases.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in the Cabinet Office does not undertake a central assessment of measures to encourage adoption of Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRN) in government databases. Deployment and adherence to policies and standards is ultimately the responsibility of individual organisations.
CDDO currently has arrangements in place to increase adoption of data standards such as UPRNs. This includes the Data Standards Authority (DSA) and the Technology Code of Practice.
The DSA coordinates cross-government work to specify standards for government data systems and the DSA-endorsed UPRNs as an open standard in 2020. The Technology Code of Practice is used by the Cabinet Office Spend Controls assurance process; departments are required to appraise the use of open data standards such as UPRNs when they build or buy technology.
The Geospatial Commission, now part of the Department for Science Innovation and Technology and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, continues to promote the mandated adoption of UPRNs across the public sector.
Asked by: Lord Allan of Hallam (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on their open data policy of the inclusion of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 within the scope of clause 1 of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
An assessment will be undertaken, and it will form part of a wider piece of work to refresh the government’s Open Data policy.
Asked by: Lord Allan of Hallam (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what metrics they are using to monitor and evaluate progress towards achieving their goal for the adoption of Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) identifiers, following the Cabinet Office guidance Identifying property and street information, published on 4 December 2020.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Geospatial Commission worked with GeoPlace, the Local Government Association, the Improvement Service, and Ordnance Survey to provide access to Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) and Unique Street Reference Numbers (USRNs) data under an Open Government Licence, as part of the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement held between the Geospatial Commission and Ordnance Survey.
Following this, the Open Standards Board, convened by the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), mandated the use of UPRN for gathering and storing address data in Government systems. This was published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-standards-for-government/identifying-property-and-street-information. The Data Standards Authority in the CDDO also published guidance on the use of UPRN at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/access-free-address-data-using-addressbase.
The Geospatial Commission is now working with its public sector partners to develop a standardised approach to benchmarking and measuring location data quality and improvement, applying a FAIR data methodology to ensure that location data, including UPRNs and USRNs, are Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. Further information will be published in early 2022.
Asked by: Lord Allan of Hallam (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to promote the use of the Unique Property Reference Numbers and Unique Street Reference Numbers that were released as open data in July in (1) the public sector, and (2) the private sector.
Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal
The Geospatial Commission has released the Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRN) and Unique Street Reference Numbers (USRN) free of charge, as part of its updated contract with Ordnance Survey. UPRNs and USRNs are critical identifiers in linking housing, planning, infrastructure and construction data in particular.
In order to promote their common usage, the Open Standards Board, part of the Government Digital Service, has mandated that UPRNs and USRNs are used in all public sector data sets that reference properties and streets. In parallel, the Geospatial Commission, Ordnance Survey, Geoplace, the Improvement Service Scotland and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government continue to undertake an extensive process of engagement with creators and users of geospatial data in both the public and private sectors. This includes a programme of presentations, webinars, newsletters, specialist blogs and best practice guides.