Title: Public sector information and re-use – where is the UK now?

Authors: Stephen Saxby

Addresses: School of Law, Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences, Southampton University, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

Abstract: Information produced by the government does of course serve a number of purposes. First, it should inform the government so as to generate sound policy decisions and effective strategies. Second, through a variety of media, it should provide the general public with information to enable individuals to engage with government services and to deliver personal data that they are obliged to provide. Access to a wide variety of public sector information (PSI) is also important for individuals and businesses. In the UK, this has been under debate for many years through analysis of Crown copyright regulation. Current policy, as interpreted by the HM Treasury, continues to argue that those wishing to exploit or add value to PSI for commercial purposes should at least contribute something to the cost of its supply. This paper traces the process of development of the policy through to the present.

Keywords: public sector information; information reuse; reuse policy; PSI Directive; Crown copyright; trading funds; public access; Office of Public Sector Information; OPSI; UK PSI Regulations; United Kingdom; government information.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPL.2008.021228

International Journal of Private Law, 2008 Vol.1 No.3/4, pp.229 - 255

Published online: 13 Nov 2008 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article