Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations (RPSI) 2015

RPSI means using public sector information for a purpose other than the initial task it was produced for.

This means an individual, a company or other organisation taking information that we (the Council) have produced and republishing it, or using it to produce a new product or resource, sometimes combining it with other information. This is sometimes, not always, on a commercial basis. RPSI is intended to encourage re-use of public sector information.

RPSI is about permitting re-use of information and how this is made available, it is not about accessing information, which is dealt with under information access legislation, for example, Freedom of Information requests

Requesting information

To make a request for re-use to Coventry City Council, you must submit the request in writing, with your name and address for correspondence, and specify the information that you want to re-use and the purpose you intend to use it for.

Please note that you do not need to make a request if we have already made the information available under the Open Government Licence (OGL), which would be stated alongside the information, but you must follow the terms of the OGL.

How to apply

Please send all RPSI requests to:

Information Governance Team
Coventry City Council
Room 57
Council House
Earl Street
Coventry
CV1 5RR
Or
infogov@coventry.gov.uk

What happens when we receive your request?

1. Once we receive your request to re-use information, we will respond within 20 working days. This time limit can be extended if the information is extensive or the request raises complex issues, but we will inform you of this within the 20 day period.
2. We must permit re-use in response to a request. However, the RPSI does not apply to information that would be exempt from disclosure under information access legislation such as Freedom of Information. We do not have to permit re-use of exempt information and information we have withheld.
3. If the council has not previously disclosed the information requested, then we will deal with this as an access request under the appropriate legislation (as a Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Regulations request) in order to decide whether the information is exempt. This will be the first stage of dealing with the request and once responded to, we will then deal with the re-use request.
4. We will make the information for re-use available in the format and language in which it is held by us. If we don’t already hold it in an open and machine readable with metadata, but it is possible and appropriate to make it available in this way, then we will do so. This means open formats, such as CSV, which are preferable to proprietary formats such as XLS.