Request for information - Ref No: FOI241237
Request
We received your request on 12 April 2024.
We have handled your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000.
A copy of your request is set out in the extract below:
“Please could you answer the following (and provide disclosure insofar as it exists):
- Are there any policies or procedures in place for Local Authorities to update Ordnance Survey with any changes made to the definitive map, and specifically any Local Authority Orders which are made?
- Has Stockton on Tees Borough Council (and therefore from an email address ending “@stockton.gov.uk”) contacted you in relation to any changes or updates since 1 April 2013 in the areas of Whitton, Stillington, Thorpe Thewles and Carlton (all in the Stockton on Tees area). If so, please could you provide copies of any such correspondence.
It is hoped given this request is limited to a single local authority and limited geographical area it will not be considered onerous and excessive and is a simple electronic search. However, if it is considered to be onerous, please limit the search to the following periods:
- 1 April 2013 to 30 June 2014
- 1 November 2020 to 30 October 2021.”
Our response
I confirm that Ordnance Survey does hold some of the information you have requested. Where the information is not held this is stated.
Taking each request in turn, I confirm the following:
1. Are there any policies or procedures in place for Local Authorities to update Ordnance Survey with any changes made to the definitive map, and specifically any Local Authority Orders which are made?
Please see the following documents:
Note, in particular, paragraphs 2.8, 4.29, 5.60 and 5.61 of the DEFRA Rights of Way Circular.
2. Has Stockton on Tees Borough Council (and therefore from an email address ending “@stockton.gov.uk”) contacted you in relation to any changes or updates since 1 April 2013 in the areas of Whitton, Stillington, Thorpe Thewles and Carlton (all in the Stockton on Tees area). If so, please could you provide copies of any such correspondence.
Information not held. We do not believe we have had any contact from Stockton on Tees Borough Council in relation to any changes to rights of way within the areas of Whitton, Stillington, Thorpe Thewles, or Carlton since 1 April 2013.
Internal review
Your enquiry has been processed according to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. If you are unhappy with our response, you may request an internal review with our Internal Review Officer by contacting them, within two months of receipt of our final response to your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, as follows:
Internal Review Officer
Customer Service Centre
Ordnance Survey
Adanac Drive
Southampton
SO16 0AS
Please include the reference number above. You may request an internal review where you believe Ordnance Survey has:
- Failed to respond to your request within the time limits (normally 20 working days)
- Failed to tell you whether or not we hold the information
- Failed to provide the information you have requested
- Failed to explain the reasons for refusing a request
- Failed to correctly apply an exemption or exception
The Internal Review Officer will not have been involved in the original decision. They will conduct an independent internal review and will inform you of the outcome of the review normally within 20 working days, but exceptionally within 40 working days, in line with the Information Commissioner’s guidance.
The Internal Review Officer will either: uphold the original decision, provide an additional explanation of the exemption/s applied or release further information, if it is considered appropriate to do so.
Appeal to Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
If you are still dissatisfied after our internal review, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You should make complaints to the ICO within six weeks of receiving the outcome of an internal review. The easiest way to lodge a complaint is through the ICO website.