iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

50 posts

Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 17h

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Surrey Heath Borough Council, in the South East region of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #localgov #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Surrey Heath Borough Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 28/09/2026

Starting online in just one hour - there's still time to join us! pretix.eu/mysociety/3r... #FOI #InternationalRightToKnowDay

pretix.eu

28 September - Delivering ATI in practice: How regulators can help people use their right to information

Mon, Sept. 28, 2026

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Job – Head of Information Rights Unit at the Welsh Government (based in Wales) www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/jobs.cgi... #FOI /EIRs #dataprotection

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Social media users end up on government list for speaking out against Prevent metro.co.uk/2026/09/25/s... UK Government monitoring X for people who publicly criticise Prevent www.rightsandsecurity.org/government-m... Related ICO decision ico.org.uk/action-weve-... #FOI #govcomms

Social media posts criticising government policy are being monitored and investigated by officials, Metro can reveal.

Negative X and Reddit posts from unsuspecting Brits attacking the UK's anti-terror programme Prevent were added to a database of critical online comments.

Metro has obtained a list of nearly 80 critical posts found and logged by the Standards and Compliance Unit (StaCU), which oversees Prevent, between March 2024 and February 2025.

One campaign group whose tweet was recorded in the database said the revelations raised 'serious questions about freedom of expression and the right to dissent and protest' in the UK.

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 25/09/2026

Reserved your spot for Monday's free webinar yet? If you have an interest in #FOI you won't want to miss Aiden Clarkson from the UK's @infocommission.bsky.social & Christian Anker from the Chilean Council for Transparency, both talking about the role of the regulator. pretix.eu/mysociety/3r...

Title: Delivering ATI in practice:

Subtitle: How regulators can help people use their Right To Information

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

FOI release: Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between HM Land Registry and Ordnance Survey www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-lr... Land Registry has disclosed to me the MoU announced in this press release last month www.gov.uk/government/n... (The MoU was developed late last year) #FOI #proptech

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Harlow Council, in the East of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) Without UPRNs, so no map this time #FOI #UKhousing #localgov #opendata

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 23/09/2026

We’ll explore how regulators can help people navigate the system, where oversight can make the biggest difference, and what those working on #ATI can learn from different approaches. Book your free space at pretix.eu/mysociety/3r... #FreedomofInformation #FOI

pretix.eu

28 September - Delivering ATI in practice: How regulators can help people use their right to information

Mon, Sept. 28, 2026

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Oadby and Wigston Borough Council, in the East Midlands of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) Very swift response, all sorted within a week #FOI #UKhousing #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Oadby and Wigston Borough Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Huntingdonshire District Council, in the East of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #localgov #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Huntingdonshire District Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

NHS executive lobbied data watchdog to rewrite criticism before Palantir deal www.ft.com/content/63bf... (£) Published version of Nicola Byrne's post in August 2023 www.gov.uk/government/n... Byrne's term as National Data Guardian ends in March #FOI #NHSdata #patientdata #datasharing #govtech

Emails from August 2023 obtained by the FT through a freedom of information request show Byrne delayed publishing the statement about the FDP after Ming Tang, NHS England's then chief data officer, warned it would "create significant problems" for her.

Tang raised concerns about what she argued was "inflammatory" language and a lack of balance in the statement after Byrne shared an advance copy.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council, in the South East of England, have both released their Council Tax address lists as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (with download links) No UPRNs though #FOI #UKhousing #opendata

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A letter published today confirms DCMS is going ahead with the review of ICO's culture and governance that Liz Kendall announced in July committees.parliament.uk/publications... This follows from the business with John Edwards ICO becomes the Information Commission on 30 Sep #FOI #dataprotection

We can confirm that the independent review is going ahead. Work is underway to select and appoint the reviewer, and to confirm their terms of reference and governance arrangements.

Appointment of the reviewer is subject to standard processes and procedures being completed, such as a conflicts of interest check. It would not be appropriate to comment on potential reviewers, or to set out a definitive timetable, before those processes have concluded.

The review will begin its work as soon as the necessary steps are complete, and we will write to the Committee with the review’s terms of reference, details of the appointed reviewer, and the timetable for the review when they are confirmed, which we expect to be early in autumn.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

UK Parliament report: Procedure Committee proposes overhaul of the Written Parliamentary Questions system committees.parliament.uk/committee/12... WPQs questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques... #FOI #opengov

WPQs system vs Freedom of Information requests: As WPQs serve the vital constitutional function of government accountability to Parliament, they must be treated by the government with at least equal seriousness to FOI requests. The Committee recommends that the Leader of the House reinforce with departments that they must never withhold from a WPQ response information that is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 — and indeed should sometimes go further in WPQ responses than is required under that Act, given the primacy of the constitutional principle of government accountability to Parliament.

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 15/09/2026

The first webinar is on 28 Sept, which is happily also International Right To Know Day! Register, for free, here: pretix.eu/mysociety/3r... #FOI #InternationalRightToKnowDay

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 15/09/2026

We're running a series of three free webinars on Access To Information globally - looking at how campaigners are defending #FOI in their countries, how people are building new Right To Information platforms, and the role of regulators. Sign up for one or more sessions here: pretix.eu/mysociety/3r...

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

My response (as Datadaptive) to the questions in the UK Government's call for evidence on making it even easier for public bodies to charge for re-use of public sector data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-od... The call for evidence closes today www.gov.uk/government/c... #datapolicy #FOI #opendata

There is no way to reconcile the stated objective of making all public sector data "affordable and easy to re‑use" with the plan to increase charging above marginal cost, and indeed the existing widespread practice of charging for high-value datasets is the main barrier to maximising the potential for re-use of public sector data. Charging for re-use and associated terms and restrictions inevitably introduce burdens and friction in the re-use of public sector data, and charging entirely prevents re-use for many use cases – particularly where businesses want to share data directly with customers or combine public data with their own data on the web.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Sandwell MBC, in the West Midlands region of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) This was another one that took a while #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #localgov #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This sounds niche but has broad implications – basically the UK Government wants to make it even easier to charge for re-use of public sector data Hostile to #opendata but will also be of interest to #FOI supporters, since the plan would likely mean more information withheld under section 43

@opendatamcr.bsky.social@opendatamcr.bsky.social

For those that have yet to respond to the Marginal Cost Restriction call for evidence. We have published the read out from the event we did with DCMS last week to help. Hurray the deadline is tomorrow 23.59. Data Intermediaries added as a bonus! www.opendatamanchester.org.uk/read-outs-fr...

opendatamanchester.org.uk

Read outs from data consultation events - Open Data Manchester

Over the last three weeks we have organised two events to help people respond to the UK Government’s ongoing calls for evidence and consultations. We have now published read outs

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

ICO enforcement notice to Derby City Council re "widespread and persistent delays in handling #FOI requests" ico.org.uk/action-weve-... "The Commissioner has grave concerns about the exceptional level of systemic non-compliance demonstrated by the council's performance." Seems bad

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Who pays for the bus timetable in your pocket? www.opendatamanchester.org.uk/who-pays-for... good post by @julianlstar.bsky.social of @opendatamcr.bsky.social UK Government call for evidence www.gov.uk/government/c... Data Valuation Framework www.gov.uk/government/p... #opendata #FOI #datapolicy

The government already knows this

The Data Valuation Framework, published in April, says plainly that because data is non-rival, its uses cannot be identified exhaustively, and that methods based on identified uses will therefore understate the value of the data. Its technical annex goes further, and says that the standard appraisal summaries — benefit-cost ratios and net present social value — can be poor summaries of the value of data projects for exactly this reason.

The same framework lists the things that might make open access the better option: spillovers, market dynamics, how sensitive users are to being charged, and the distributional effects on end users. That list appears in a footnote. The charging side gets three valuation methodologies, a comparison table, and a menu of mechanisms — subscriptions, usage charges, royalties, equity stakes, levies.
One side of the argument has a framework. The other side has a footnote.

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 02/09/2026

Our newsletter goes out this lunch time, looking at the part #FOI played in two very different, but both vital, investigations: the toxic waste dumps in @mchshe.bsky.social's "Buried", and the Trust The Evidence project uncovering facts around the pandemic. Are you subscribed? eepurl.com/gOEVFj

Toxic waste barrels dumped in the overgrowth

A pair of blue, disposable medical gloves on top of a leaflet about coronavirus

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 01/09/2026

Who's been watching 'Buried' with Michael Sheen? We were glad to hear that WhatDoTheyKnow and #FOI had a major part to play, behind the scenes: www.mysociety.org/2026/09/01/b...

mysociety.org

Buried with Michael Sheen: how FOI helped uncover a toxic waste scandal

Are you one of the many who has watched the BBC's two-parter Buried with Michael Sheen? If so, you may have experienced increasing levels of outrage as the actor helps to uncover the scandalous dumpin...

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

"We understand you must feel like giving up – please do!" #FOI #govcomms

The ICO is receiving record volumes of complaints and is currently assigning cases for investigation approximately nine months after their date of initial receipt. Unfortunately due to the number of cases we are receiving and the resources available to us to manage this, we do not expect this situation to improve in the near future.

If you can't wait, we understand. You can withdraw this complaint at any time, just let us know.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Hartlepool Borough Council, in the North East region of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) Without UPRNs, unfortunately #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #localgov #opendata

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The problem with making public data pay for itself www.mysociety.org/2026/08/27/t... post by @juliacushion.bsky.social of @mysociety.org UK Government call for evidence www.gov.uk/government/c... #opendata #FOI #datapolicy #treasurybrain

In our fragmented public data report we recognise that public bodies can already spend considerable time publishing data without seeing much evidence of what happens to it afterwards. Where that data is difficult to find or combine, its potential value isn't realised and the people doing the work have less reason to see publication as worthwhile.

Charging offers one answer to this, in that income is easy to demonstrate, but it decreases the overall value and impact of the data. We'd rather see the government get better at making the wider impact of open data visible: who uses it, what they build with it, where it is reused elsewhere in government, and what difference that makes. Better impact tracking would help teams make the case for investing in open data without needing to turn it into a source of income.

There's also a longer-term problem with using charging to fund new data services. If a team is encouraged to generate income from its data and does so successfully, that income starts supporting the service. At that point, making the data open means finding the money somewhere else. The Postcode Address File is a longstanding example of how difficult this can be to unwind. Once licensing income becomes part of how a service is funded, opening the data and replacing that income become the same problem.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Former Mid and East Antrim Council chief Anne Donaghy convicted of two charges over FoI email deletion www.irishnews.com/news/norther... #FOI #localgov

Donaghy's defence contended she had been concerned about Dame Arlene's personal email address getting into the public domain, as there had been an issue with information being leaked from the council.

However the prosecution argued an audio recording from Donaghy's assistants' Live Scribe pen, during which Donaghy is heard saying "Oh no" when told the FOI team had a copy of the email to Dame Arlene, indicates she had not known a hard copy of the email existed.

Delivering her judgment, Judge McSorley said the question is whether Donaghy had intended by deleting the email to erase a record.

She found Donaghy had been concerned about the perception that she was close to the DUP, and was under mounting political pressure by the point she ordered her personal assistant to delete the email to Dame Arlene.

The judge noted Donaghy's response in the recording to being told of a hard copy of the email was among factors that led her to the "irretrievable conclusion" she had intended to prevent the email being disclosed.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I've updated the above post – Derby City Council has kindly updated the response page in its online disclosure log, so the dataset is now publicly accessible #FOI #opendata #openaddresses

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Borough of Broxbourne Council, in the East of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) Perfect response from this council, no muss no fuss #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Borough of Broxbourne Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

How's that work on "outdated or irrelevant" data in the NDL directory coming along? ONS recently updated records for two assets from 2006 www.data.gov.uk/dataset/9ea2... + www.data.gov.uk/dataset/1daf... … but on enquiry can no longer find the data www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/tran... #FOI #opendata

Both datasets mentioned in your request were published in 2006 by our Neighbourhood Statistics team. We are unable to provide a copy of the requested data, since the supporting service has ceased and we no longer hold these datasets.

Underlying data for the publications referenced were sourced from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), which became NHS Digital, and is now NHS England.

NHS England manage the Data Search and Export Service by Organisation Data Service (ODS), which may assist in finding the information you are looking for.

You may also be interested in our Access to local amenities in England and Wales: October 2024 bulletin, which includes information on the number of dental practices and the number of GP surgeries at Local Authority level in England and Wales.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The detail of the BBC coverage is slightly more nuanced www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... The public learning to use tools that empower the exercise of their procedural rights is in general a good thing, actually #FOI #genAI #digitalliteracy

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Stroud District Council, in the South West of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) Successful outcome despite inauspicious beginnings #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Stroud District Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

UK councils have now released more than ten million address records as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... A progress update on my project at www.datadaptive.com/addr/ #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #localgov #opendata #openaddresses

As of today I am aware of 97 councils in England, Wales, and Scotland that have released their address datasets as open data. Those datasets contain a total of more than ten million address records for residential properties, with the corresponding Council Tax bands. That's roughly a third of Britain's housing stock.

The list includes 40 local address datasets that are currently publicly accessible, which means you can download them for re-use. 27 of those datasets are published on mySociety's WhatDoTheyKnow site, five in council disclosure logs, four on other council sites, and four remain available from online locations administered by me. (A few of the datasets are available from more than one source.)

Those 40 datasets contain a total of slightly under four million address records. Most of the datasets include Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs), which means the property records can be geocoded for mapping and geographic analysis. Datasets are available covering Leeds, Cornwall, Kirklees, Wigan, Camden, and many other areas.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Charging for public sector data is likely to cost us more than it raises peterkwells.com/2026/08/21/c... by @peterkwells.com UK Government call for evidence www.gov.uk/government/c... #opendata #FOI #datapolicy #treasurybrain

To be clear, the proposed changes would not affect data the government cannot already publish – no, this would not make it possible to sell personal data… – instead it's about charging for things like bus timetables or maps of forests and footpaths. Information the government currently makes available for free.

Adding charges will reduce use of public service data, with knock-on effects that make all of our lives a little bit harder. Public sector data is infrastructure. Other services, businesses and decisions are built on top of it. Reducing use of that infrastructure means that we will find it a bit harder to catch the right bus, organisations will find it a bit harder to make decisions that improve the environment, and many other examples.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Derby City Council, in the East Midlands region of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) This is another dataset that took a while to unlock #FOI #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Derby City Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

More #openaddresses from local government: South Hams District Council, in the South West of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (with download link!) #FOI #UKhousing #proptech #localgov #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded South Hams District Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: South Gloucestershire Council, in the South West of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) Unusual case, permission for re-use took eight months #FOI #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded South Gloucestershire Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Eastbourne Council and Lewes District Council, in the South East of England, have both released their Council Tax address lists as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no downloads yet) #FOI #UKhousing #localgov #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Eastbourne Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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joshgerstein.bsky.social @joshgerstein.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

NEW: David Morens, 78, a former top aide to NIAID chief Anthony Fauci, pled guilty today to a felony conspiracy charge for scheming to hide emails about research at a Wuhan lab some suspect as original of Covid pandemic. Rare criminal case over #FOIA www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

politico.com

Former Fauci aide pleads guilty to dodging federal public records laws

David Morens’ former boss, Anthony Fauci, has said he did not participate in a scheme to hide emails about a controversial researcher’s funding.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Uttlesford District Council, in the East of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) Quick turnaround; I only submitted my requests this month #FOI #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Uttlesford District Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

ICO warns of growing backlog and insufficient funds www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/... (England and Wales) Figures and context from ICO in a recent reply to an #FOI request www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/free...

ICO warns of growing backlog and insufficient funds https://www.civilserviceworld.com/professions/article/ico-warns-of-growing-backlog-and-insufficient-funds

Figures and context from ICO in a recent reply to an #FOI request https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/freedom_of_information_delays_st?nocache=incoming-3517189#incoming-3517189

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Spelthorne Borough Council, in the South East region of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) More addresses next week #FOI #UKhousing #localgov #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Spelthorne Borough Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Machinery of Government changes mean you shouldn't expect DSIT (or whoever) to respond to your #FOI request any time soon www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/corr... And don't bother complaining to the ICO, we've already given them a steer

We are writing to inform you that the Department (DSIT) is currently undergoing significant organisational changes as a result of recent
machinery of government changes. These changes involve the transfer of responsibilities, programmes and teams to newly established or other existing departments across government.

Resultantly, there are likely to be delays in the handling and issuing of requests, and some delays may be prolonged while these changes are being
implemented. However, we are continuing to progress cases wherever possible and remain committed to responding to requests as promptly as we
can. We recognise that these delays may be frustrating and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience they may cause.

Throughout this period, we remain in close contact with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

We appreciate your patience and understanding during this period.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: Reading Borough Council, in the South East of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (no download yet) #FOI #UKhousing #localgov #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded Reading Borough Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Outrage as Westminster staff names removed from transparency register www.thenational.scot/news/2645440... Register of Interests of Members' Staff (latest) www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-an... vs Published in 2026 (previous) www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-an... #FOI #opengov #opendata #securitytheatre

THE MOVE to redact the names of 2000 Westminster staff from an official transparency register had been met with outrage by journalists.

The former system, in place since 1993 until this week, saw MP’s staffers names being recorded on a regularly updated document alongside any financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

But a proposal by the House of Commons standards committee to redact the names has now been implemented after evidence sessions held in private with staff unions – citing in large part concerns over the safety of those working for MPs.

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Nine months was also the figure given in ICO's latest quarterly performance report, published in June. At least it hasn't got worse since then? #FOI

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I am fascinated to see that whereas Newcastle-under-Lyme disclosed its Council Tax address list to me in CSV format, it has provided the same dataset to another requester only as an 853-page PDF file www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/re_c... #FOI #opendata #openaddresses #localgov 🤔

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Latest #openaddresses from local government: North Devon Council, in the South West of England, has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad... (with link to download) The Council has now added UPRNs :-) #FOI #UKhousing #localgov #proptech #opendata

Screenshot of geocoded North Devon Council address data visualised in Leaflet with background mapping from OpenStreetMap

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Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Zoom call organised by Open Data Manchester @opendatamcr.bsky.social (with DCMS?) on 3 September: The marginal cost restriction on public sector data re-use – responding to the call for evidence www.tickettailor.com/events/opend... Context www.gov.uk/government/c... #FOI #opendata #datapolicy

Open by default has been the settled position for public sector data in this country for well over a decade. The Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 limit what most public bodies can charge for re-using their data to the marginal cost of providing it — which, for anything digital, is effectively nothing. That restriction is one of the reasons so much public data is simply there, freely available under the Open Government Licence, ready to be combined with anything else.

The UK Government is now asking whether that should change. Its call for evidence explores whether public bodies should be able to charge above marginal cost for a wider range of data assets, to reinvest the revenue in data infrastructure, data quality and public services. The argument is that many public bodies lack the funding and the incentive to make good data available, and that charging could fix both. The counter-argument, familiar to anyone who has been around open data long enough, is that charging narrows the field of who can use data to those who can afford it, breaks the interoperability that comes from a single licence, and shifts value away from the wider public benefit that free re-use generates.

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 03/08/2026

If you've been using AI to make #FOI requests, stop - and read this. @infocommission.bsky.social has some important advice which will benefit both you, and the authority you're requesting from. www.mysociety.org/2026/07/21/n... #FreedomOfInformation

Using AI to write FOI requests? Stop - and read this!

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