Written question asked by Lord Berkeley (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 January 2010.

Hydrographic Office

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office has raised its charges for the provision of hydrographic information to publishers of maritime charts by up to 100 per cent; and what assessment they have made of any safety issues arising from mariners using out of date navigation data due to the higher costs of purchasing new charts.

Answer: The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has made no change to the licensing fees charged for reuse of its chart data in navigational products in 2009; as such there is no impact on safety. UKHO has restructured the licence fees charged for the reuse of data in publications and merchandising products for non-navigational use. The licence agreement for this purpose does not allow use for navigation and requires the licensees to include a notice to that effect in their product, so there is no impact on safety. This restructuring of licence fees was necessary for UKHO to be fully compliant with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005, which require all reusers of data to make a fair contribution to the costs of creating the data. As a result some licensees, who have not been contributing enough, will now pay more and others, who have been overcontributing, will pay less. There is no overall change in revenue to UKHO.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 845; 716 c55WA
Session: 2009-10
Subjects: Fees and charges Licensing Information Navigation Safety Seas and oceans Hydrography UK Hydrographic Office
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk