Re-use of council information

Public sector information for RPSI purposes

Public sector information means information that we as a council produces as part of our core role and functions (also known as Public Task).

Information that is not held as part of our public task would not be covered by RPSI.

The Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulation 2015 (RPSI) require the council to make such information available for re-use unless it is restricted or exempt under other legislation such as the Data Protection Act (DPA), the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR).

Please note: RPSI only applies to recorded information that the council holds. It does not apply to information that someone else holds the intellectual property right too, for example in relation to copyright or database rights. We can only permit re-use if we hold the intellectual property right to the requested information.

You can make a request online to re-use council information by clicking the button below.

However, you do not need to make a request if we have already made the information available under the Open Government Licence (OGL), which would be stated alongside the information, but you must follow the terms of the OGL.

What re-use means

Re-use means using public sector information, for a purpose other than the initial public task it was produced for.

This means an individual, a company or other organisation taking information that we have produced and republishing it, or using it to produce a new product or resource, often by combining it with other information. This is sometimes, though not always, on a commercial basis. RPSI is intended to encourage re-use of public sector information.

RPSI is about permitting re-use of information and how it is made available. It is not about accessing information, which is dealt with under information access legislation such as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. You can submit your FOI request by emailing foi@peterborough.gov.uk.

Make a request for re-use

You can make a request online to re-use council information by clicking the button below.

However, you do not need to make a request if we have already made the information available under the Open Government Licence (OGL), which would be stated alongside the information, but you must follow the terms of the OGL.

When we receive a request to re-use information, we must respond within 20 working days.

This time limit can be extended if the information is extensive or the request raises complex issues, but we must inform you of this within the 20 day period.

We must permit re-use in response to a request.

Please note: RPSI does not apply to information that would be exempt from disclosure under information access legislation such as Freedom of Information, and so we do not have to permit re-use of exempt information and information we have withheld.

If the Council has not previously disclosed the information requested, then we will deal with this as an access request under the appropriate legislation (as a Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulations request) in order to decide whether the information is exempt. This will be the first stage of dealing with the request and once responded to we will then deal with the re-use request.

Information on what the council does

We publish a wide variety of information about what the council does, our current and future plans for Peterborough and our residents. This information is split into three headings;

  • a place for residents to find out about services
  • a place for businesses to find information for their use
  • a place to find out about the council and decisions, plans and key events.

Additional information can also be found on our data transparency and other open data information pages.

Licences

We may impose conditions on re-use but the conditions will be as open and non-restrictive as possible. The easiest way we will do this is to use the Open Government Licence. This allows re-use of public sector information without charge for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, with minimal conditions.

However, other licences may be appropriate in particular situations, including where there is a charge for re-use. The UK Government Licensing Framework includes other types of standard licences.

Generally speaking, we will not enter into exclusive licensing arrangements with a particular person or organisation, but there are some limited exceptions to this.

Complaints

If you wish to complain about how the council has handled your request for re-use, you must submit your complaint to us in writing.

By email to: complain@peterborough.gov.uk

Or by post to:

Complaints Team
Peterborough City Council
Sand Martin House
Bittern Way
Fletton Quays
Peterborough
PE2 8TY

If you remain dissatisfied with our response to your complaint, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and request they investigate.

Contact details are:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF