Lyle
This is excellent news and I'm glad that you have been able to prise open the protective shell of the OS. To be fair, there was a time, many, many years ago when the arrogance of the organization was breathtaking and would refuse to countenance even the possibility that their maps could contain errors made either by surveyors or the draughtsmen preparing the maps for publication. That has changed and I find the staff helpful and willing to answer queries, and appreciative when I point out errors.
The lady with whom I raised the question of publishing conventions seemed concerned about commercial confidentiality and I had some difficulty in convincing her that I did not expect these to be revealed. In the end, it all came to nothing because she was too busy on other work to do the necessary research. I guess that you have approached the right person!
Hugh
did some looking about and found this as a answer as to why we dont know he conventions yet.
Rules and regulations governing the creation of Ordnance Survey maps
I wonder if you could tell me where I may find the rules and regulations governing the creation of Ordnance Survey maps, in particular the Landranger 1:50 000.
I am looking for such things as the minimum size of a water feature in order for it to be indicated on an Ordnance Survey map, rules about forestry areas etc.
Thank you for your email dated 22 April 2009, I can confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold this information, however I regret to inform you that your request falls within the Commercial interests exemption under section 43 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). We believe this exemption applies because we consider to specifications regarding how we make our maps to be trade secrets and to release such information would substantially prejudice our ability to operate within the constraints of our Trading Fund remit, therefore we will not be releasing this information to you.
To the extent that the Public interest is considered (section 17 FOIA), it is our reasonable opinion that in all the circumstances of the case that whilst the public interest in releasing the requested information would meet the requirement that Ordnance Survey as government department is openly accountable regarding our map making activities, in considering the public interest to the private sector in the release of this information, we also consider that there would be significant risk to the Ordnance Survey business model both financially and operationally. Accepting that there is some risk of prejudice in releasing the requested information, we feel that the public interest is more in favour of withholding the requested information regarding our mapping specification which may severely prejudice Ordnance Surveys’ ability to operate within the commercial geographic information sector. Therefore to release information relating to technological specifications (effectively our trade secrets) may provide the private sector an insight into map production, undermining our ability to operate effectively within the constraints stated in our Framework Document and under the Information Fair Trader Scheme as required by us as a government Trading Fund. Given that Ordnance Survey receives no direct funding from Parliament, we therefore consider that releasing the requested information would be prejudicial to our commercial interest (exemption s 43.1), consequently we will not be releasing this information to you.
Please be aware that we do provide limited information for users of our data and this is available on our website.
Please note that your enquiry has been processed to Freedom of Information guidelines. If you are unhappy with our response, you may raise an appeal to our Appeals Officer at:
Complaints Team
Customer Service Centre
Ordnance Survey
Romsey Road
SOUTHAMPTON
SO16 4GU
Please include the reference number below. The Appeals Officer will ensure that the process has been followed correctly, questioning any decisions taken regarding the original response and recommending disclosure of additional information if appropriate.
Thank you for your enquiry.
Reference number: 70912 04/