Proposal or Plans to phase out the OPSI brand and The Office of Public Sector Information

Dear Mr Corbin,

Thank you for your request of 11th August 2009 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you two rights of access when you write to us asking for information. You have the right to know whether we hold the information that you are looking for, and you have the right to have the information given to you. These rights may only be overridden if the information you are looking for is covered by an exemption in the Act.

You wrote to us requesting information regarding “The National Archives plans and or proposals to phase out The Office of Public Sector Information and or the OPSI brand….”. You stated that the information requested should cover the period from 1st June 2009 to the date of our response.

To clarify, the merger of OPSI and The National Archives in October 2006 aimed to bring together two organisations both working on government information issues to create a stronger, integrated organisation. The Director of OPSI, heads up our Government Information Policy function. This has significantly strengthened our work on PSI reuse, by enabling a larger pool of individuals to work on the issues involved in the wider context of government’s information management policy.

We are constantly reviewing how we best deliver our information leadership within government and outside government so that these issues have the maximum possible impact and effect for improving services and capability.

In your request you specifically ask for the following information. I will address each point in turn:

1. A list of the Management Board meetings minutes that refer to any plans or proposals to phase out the OPSI brand and or The Office of Public Sector Information.

There are no Management Board meeting minutes which refer to the OPSI brand or any proposal to phase out the OPSI brand.

2. A list of Executive Team minutes that refer to any plans or proposals to phase out the OPSI brand and or The Office of Public Sector Information.

There are no Executive Team minutes which refer to the OPSI brand or any proposal to phase out the OPSI brand.

3. A copy of the impact assessment undertaken with respect to the phasing out of the OPSI brand and or The Office of Public Sector Information.

No such assessment has been carried out.

4. A copy of the cost benefit analysis undertaken with respect to the phasing out of the OPSI brand and or The Office of Public Sector Information.

No such review has been carried out.

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our response to your request for information and/or wish to appeal against information being withheld from you please send full details within two calendar months of the date of this letter to:

The Quality Manager
Public Services Development Unit
The National Archives
Kew, Richmond
Surrey TW9 4DU

You have the right to ask the Information Commissioner (ICO) to investigate any aspect of your complaint. Please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning his investigation.

If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Your sincerely,
Lynsey Aylmer

Lynsey Aylmer
Freedom of Information Centre
Information Policy and Services Directorate
The National Archives

If you would like to contact us again regarding
this request, please contact the helpdesk:

via e-mail: By replying to this e-mail
or (020 8876 3444)
Remember to quote your call reference number: F0022257 in any
correspondence, as this will assist us in providing you with a
quick response.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

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Dear Mr Corbin,

Thank you for your request of 31st August 2009 under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you two rights of access when you write to us asking for information. You have the right to know whether we hold the information that you are looking for, and you have the right to have the information given to you. These rights may only be overridden if the information you are looking for is covered by an exemption in the Act.

In your enquiry you specifically ask for “information on any plans or proposals to phase out:

1. The OPSI Brand

2. The Office Public Sector Information

3. The OPSI Brand AND The Office of Public Sector Information”

To clarify, our response to your earlier FOI request (F0022257) applied to both the OPSI brand, the Office of Public Sector Information and to a combination of both of these. Apologies if this was not made clear in our response to you on 26th August 2009.

In this request you also asked for the following information:

(a) Does "The Office of Public Sector Information" have a legal base? i.e. is it a public body that is defined in primary or secondary legislation? If YES please provide the legal base references and titles.

(b) Is the term OPSI registered?

The Office of Public Sector Information is not a registered name. It describes a policy organisation within government with a remit that is set out at www.opsi.gov.uk. Established in May 2005, OPSI was formed from an existing management unit within the then Cabinet Office, to deliver the central PSI policy unit ready for the UK implementation of the EU directive on the re-use of PSI with effect from 1st July 2005. OPSI includes all the former statutory and legal responsibilities and obligations of the former organisation, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, that continues as a legal entity and operates from within OPSI. OPSI itself is part of The National Archives, merged in October 2006.

As a creation of the machinery of government changes required to effect the new PSI legislation, OPSI is referred to in the regulations and will be picked up as a recognised body in related legislation where appropriate. There is no statutory definition as it is an operational part of the civil service and its functions are described and set out in the annual UK PSI Reports and the website.

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our response to your request for information and/or wish to appeal against information being withheld from you please send full details within two calendar months of the date of this letter to:

The Quality Manager
Public Services Development Unit
The National Archives
Kew, Richmond
Surrey TW9 4DU

You have the right to ask the Information Commissioner (ICO) to investigate any aspect of your complaint. Please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning his investigation.

If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Lynsey Aylmer

Lynsey Aylmer
Freedom of Information Centre
Information Policy and Services Directorate
The National Archives

If you would like to contact us again regarding
this request, please contact the helpdesk:

via e-mail: By replying to this e-mail
or (020 8876 3444)
Remember to quote your call reference number: F0022571 in any
correspondence, as this will assist us in providing you with a
quick response.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to.

show quoted sections