Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue lifts service with accurate addressing

Apart from attending fires and accidents, the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service carries out domestic and commercial property inspections covering everything from the installation of smoke alarms to the issuing of licences. They also undertake risk assessments and ensure building regulations are carried out. To help them do this work they are using a new property management system, which uses the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) â a national property ID scheme. Because of its NLPG foundations all searches and job referencing can now be carried out by property. The system is already delivering considerable benefits in terms of data access and accuracy.
In 2007 the NLPG was chosen to underpin the new FiReControl project, a major government initiative that is working to move from the existing 46 Fire & Rescue control room infrastructure to 9 new amalgamated Regional Control Centres (RCC). It was this decision that has spurred a number of Fire & Rescue services including Oxfordshire to embrace the NLPG concept and link up with address gazetteers maintained by local authorities.
The next phase of the Oxfordshire project will be to create a dynamic link between the NLPG and the job management system. In the interim the Fire Service is working closely with local gazetteer custodians to ensure that every property is covered. In their day-to-day work Fire Officers come across properties, which may not be in the database, or might have a variation of the address from the same property. These are reported to the Data and Systems Manager within Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, who then contacts the relevant District Council gazetteer custodian to investigate.
"The NLPG is becoming our de facto source of property information," said Jennie Crapper, Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service's Data and Systems Manager. "In addition to our core Job Management System the NLPG is being referenced for our Fire Safety Audit forms. Our CAD system and hydrant database will be the next systems to be linked. In another area of activity we have been using the Fire Service Emergency Cover (FSEC) Toolkit to assist us in developing our Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP). In its next iteration FSEC will be called the âRisk Management Toolkit' and become an extension of FiReControl referencing the NLPG for its property information. As a result of becoming familiar with the NLPG and collaborating closely with those responsible for addressing within Oxfordshire, we are in an ideal position to benefit from what is clearly the best source of property information available," continued Jennie Crapper.
"Now that the Emergency Services are embracing the NLPG with such vigour thereis no way back said Michael Nicholson, Managing Director of Intelligent Addressing. "The future of the NLPG is assured, the possibilities are endless and every citizen will benefit from this new era of data and information sharing."
02 April 2008

Notes to Editors:
The NLPG was initiated in 1999 to become the master address dataset for England and Wales and the central hub for the 376 address creating Local Authorities and their Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPGs). Based on unique property reference numbers (UPRNs) the underlying principle of these gazetteers is to provide a single definitive address database for all departments and systems across a local authority in order to cut costs, improve efficiency and service delivery.
The dataset enables various local authority departments - from revenue collection and environmental health, to social security, the electoral roll and education - to now offer true âjoined up' government. The benefits also go beyond service delivery. Fraud prevention, tax collection and disaster planning all benefit from the fact that each property is given a âUnique Property Reference Number' which transcends (property) numbers, names, descriptions (such as âThe Nursing Home') and postcodes. UPRNs are assigned for the full life of the plot and/or building.
The project was given a significant boost in 2005 with the introduction of the Mapping Services Agreement, which committed all Local Authorities to bringing their gazetteers up to standard and to start submitting regular updates to the NLPG hub for use by national and regional organisations. Collaboration with DNA-S (Definitive National Addressing for Scotland) who use the same BS7666 processes and database schemas means that the a British addressing infrastructure is now a reality.
Intelligent Addressing is a specialist private sector consultancy (an SME) employing recognised experts in addressing. It was originally set up to help develop the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) on behalf of local government and now manages the NLPG and NSG central data hubs under the terms of the Mapping Services Agreement (MSA) with local government.
Intelligent Addressing Contact:
Gayle Gander, Head of Marketing | T: 0207 747 3500 | E: [email protected] | www.intelligent-addressing.co.uk | www.nlpg.org.uk | www.thensg.org.uk
Editorial enquiries and colour separation requests:
William Allbrook T: 01666 826641 F: 01666 824668
The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) The IDeA works in partnership with all councils, to enhance the performance of the best, accelerate the speed of improvement of the rest, and develop the sector as a whole. IDeA has brokered the Mapping Services Agreement (MSA) with Intelligent Addressing to develop the NLPG and NSG, through the Local Government Information House (LGIH), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Agency. Working in partnership with the local government community developing national infrastructure projects that enable councils to deliver local services more effectively, LGIH acts as an intermediary between the public and the private sector enabling it to negotiate with private companies on behalf of local authorities in order to provide key parts of a technical infrastructure for improved service delivery.
The NLPG is run by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and Intelligent Addressing (IA) on behalf of local government
IDeA contacts:
Steve Brandwood, Programme Manager | T: 020 7296 6615 | E: [email protected]
Media: Paul Bailey | T:020 7296 6529