Information Fair Trader Scheme – Commitment Statement
Updated 12 January 2015
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2015
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-performance-information-fair-trader-scheme/information-fair-trader-scheme-commitment-statement
1. Background
The Environment Agency’s overall objective is to protect and improve the environment for people and wildlife and contribute to sustainable development by implementing the policies of government departments. In doing this we seek to take an integrated approach in which we consider all elements of the environment when we plan and carry out our work. It allows us to identify the best environmental options and solutions, taking into account the different impacts on water, land, air, resources and energy.
2. Commitment Statement
The Environment Agency is committed to trading in information fairly. To show the strength of this commitment, we have received accreditation from the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). We pride ourselves on being open and transparent to our stakeholders. An important part of this is making high quality data and information available for reuse. We are committed to trading data and information fairly with all users of our data. We will do so in accordance with the six pillars of the scheme: maximisation, simplicity, fairness, transparency, challenge, and innovation. We also want to:
• maximise the information available for re-use by licensees, the number and variety of licensees and the number and variety of methods of re-using Environment Agency data and information;
• present publicly available, clear, accurate, accessible and complete information on the processes for licensing, the qualifications for different types of licensing treatment, and conditions such as pricing.
• ensure that the treatment of actual and potential licensees is fair and transparent.
• ensure, through review and audit, that our information trading business processes are effective and robust;
• reduce as far as possible the administrative burden on people who re-use public sector information and ensure that the processes for trading information are similar to those of the rest of the public sector; and
• have robust and fair complaints processes. If OPSI decide to investigate a complaint, we will allow the OPSI investigation team to see the relevant staff and records.
This statement is regularly reviewed. If you have any queries on this public task statement you can contact us. If you have a complaint about the Environment Agency under the Re-use Regulations, you can submit it using our general complaints handling process (or direct to our Licensing Manager).