When our report on PSI provision at trading funds was published alongside the budget in March, the Government promised further investigation. They have now commissioned another review this time done by the Shareholder Executive/HMT (full ToR on Shareholder Executive website:
The review, announced as part of Budget 2008, will be conducted by the Shareholder Executive and will consider the benefits to the wider UK economy from any potential changes to the trading funds’ business model.
The review will examine the impact on the trading funds’ business models of any changes to the current pricing, accessing and licensing regimes with the aim of:
- distinguishing more clearly what information is required by Government for public policy
- ensuring that this information is available as widely as possible in order to maximise the benefits to the wider UK economy, at a price that balances the provision of such access with the need for users to make a fair contribution to the cost of collecting the information in the long term.
The policy objectives of each of the trading funds will not form part of the assessment, but the review will consider the future of the trading fund model and how it impacts on the delivery of these objectives.
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The priority group of Trading Funds to be included in the assessment includes Ordnance Survey, Meteorological Office, UK Hydrographic Office, HM Land Registry, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and Companies House. Others are listed in Annex A of the Terms of Reference. The Review will be carried out within the framework of current data protection legislation.