Support for Custodians

As the Authority Address or Street Custodian, you provide access to local datasets to ensure that address and streets are accurately represented in a national framework.

The role of the Custodian is underpinned by the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) (revised 2020) and Data Co-operation Agreement (DCA) (revised 2020).

By managing and submitting data on the basis of these Agreements, you also ensure your local authority continues to benefit from free access to Ordnance Survey mapping through the PSGA and a standard partnership licensing agreement. The value of this scale of mapping from the OS would run into the equivalent of many thousands of pounds for each authority.

The Data Co-operation Agreement sets out a legal framework for the submission of accurate data to the national gazetteers. It is an agreement between GeoPlace and all County, District, and Unitary authorities in England and Wales. It commenced on the 1st April 2012 and was revised in line with the PSGA in 2020.

As Custodian, you are required to:

• Maintain your authority’s Gazetteer using an appropriate Gazetteer Management System (GMS) to a set of standards and conventions defined by GeoPlace
• Complete a Street/Address Updates Improvement Schedule questionnaire (usually in April) and commit to maintaining at least the minimum criteria set out within the annual Improvement Schedule
• Communicate the requirements of the annual Improvement Schedule with your line management or seek support from GeoPlace to do so
• Liaise with your authority colleagues across a range of areas to ensure the latest information has been captured. For example: Street Naming & Numbering (SNN); Planning; Electoral Roll; Council Tax; Highways Asset Management; Highways Network Management
• Provide regular data updates as required by GeoPlace, passing all submission criteria as laid out in the Data Transfer Format 8.1 (on the Address side this may be automated daily; on the Streets side this will be generated at least once a month)
• Process Candidate records - requests for additions and amendments to the address data, as submitted by licensed OS data users
• Maintain Achieved National Standard (ANS) on all measures in the Annual Improvement Schedule for at least 10 months of the year commencing 1 April.

The DCA new member starter pack sets out the structure and governance for the Address and Street Gazetteers in more detail. Should you have any queries, please contact your regional chair or the GeoPlace team via [email protected].

Please check out the resources below: