Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with Ordance Survey on the potential merits of making the Ordnance Survey Maps Premium (a) service and (b) app available to the public for free.

Ordnance Survey is a public corporation, operating on a commercial basis. Ministers meet regularly with the leadership of Ordnance Survey to discuss how the company can support the Government’s priorities.

Ordnance Survey makes its authoritative geospatial data available to the public and private sectors, including individuals, directly and through commercial partners. A free version of the OS Maps app, which uses data that Ordnance Survey makes available under Open Government Licence, is used by over a million people every month. The premium subscription provides additional features and has over half a million active subscribers. It is already freely available to key users such as Mountain Rescue in Scotland, England and Wales.