National Vegetation Classification database

Thank you for submitting a request for information from Lancaster University under the Freedom of Information Act.

We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and this will be within a maximum of twenty working days from the working day following receipt.

We wil endeavour to provide information in the format requested, although there may be occassions where this is unfeasible.

If we do not hold the information you have requested, we will confirm this to you.

Should we require further clarification in order to respond to your request, or if the request is chargeable, we will contact you. If you have supplied an email address, contact will be via email, otherwise, this will be by letter.

We appreciate your patience while we deal with your request. If you have an enquiry regarding your request, email: [email address]

Your request ID is: 603. Please quote this in all enquiries.

The personal information you have supplied will be used only to process your request; some details will be retained for our records after the request has been answered. This information will not be passed on to other parties unrelated to the University unless we are required to do so by law, or where it would be necessary to answer the request in full (in which case we would seek your consent for any transfer).

Regards

Steve Miller
Freedom of Information Contact

Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YW
United Kingdom
Telephone (01524) 65201
Fax (01524) 594725

Dear Ms Davis

I write further to your Freedom of Information request id 603.

Unfortunately neither Lancaster University or Professor Rodwell are in a
position to grant or deny permission for the use or dissemination of
information within the Vegetation Samples Database.

We anticipate that the JNCC should be able to advise whether it is
necessary to gain permission for reuse from the original contributors
and their relevant associated agencies.

Please find below an extract from an email we received from Professor
Rodwell in relation to your enquiry which further explains the status of
the database in question.

Regards
Claire Stevenson
Records Manager
Your request ID is: 603. Please quote this in all enquiries.

Extract from Professor Rodwell's email:

'Of the 33000 data records assembled for the National Vegetation
Classification, around 13000 were collected by project staff on research
contracts funded by the Nature Conservancy Council. These data have
always belonged to the organisations which have now replaced this
agency, coordinated by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
Presumably only their decision is therefore needed for access to this
proportion of the data.

The remaining 20000 data records belonged to many different individuals
and agencies and in 1975, when the work began, only a small fraction of
these were in the public domain as published work. I therefore
contacted all these individuals and agencies (for example, the Macaulay
Land Use Research Institute in Aberdeen) separately and obtained written
permission for us to use their data.

When the data were later encoded at Lancaster into a single database
under a new contract for what is now the JNCC, I again obtained
permission from all the original contributors that we might do this.
Lancaster University was given the sole right at that time to use the
entire database for research purposes. The JNCC may have allowed access
to the data for other uses. I do not know whether they contacted the
original owners of the data for permission to do this.

All the data records are labeled with their source and the JNCC has a
list of all the contributors. In fact, I thought this question of
access had been resolved already because last year, there was a proposal
to make all the data accessible on the web through the National
Biodiversity Network.'

The University aims to comply fully with its obligations under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 and to ensure that the service it
provides for those wishing to gain access to information is helpful and
effective.
The personal information you have supplied will be used only to process
your request; some details will be retained for our records after the
request has been answered. This information will not be passed on to
other parties unrelated to the University unless we are required to do
so by law, or where it would be necessary to answer the request in full
(in which case we would seek your consent for any transfer).
Process for Making a Complaint
If you feel the service you have received does not meet our aims or your
expectations, please write to:
Paul Graves
Director of Governance and Planning
Lancaster University
Bailrigg
Lancaster
LA1 4YW

Copyright notice
The information supplied in response to your request is the copyright of
Lancaster University and/or a third party or parties, and has been
supplied for your personal use only. You may not sell, resell or
otherwise use any information provided without prior agreement from the
copyright holder.