The NSG is the definitive list of streets in England and Wales and is used by Local Authorities streetworks departments to coordinate the work that is being performed on the highway within their administrative area. It aims to minimise disruption and ensure public safety. and forms part of the statutory duty of the local authority as defined in the New Roads and Streetworks Act (1991).

Statutory undertakers of highways duties (telecoms and utility companies) notify the highways/streetworks department of the relevant local authority that they wish to perform work on a particular road via reference to a Unique Street Reference Number (USRN).

The LLPG is a BS7 666 compliant address database maintained and used by the Borough Council. As the database is maintained centrally and to a common standard it delivers real efficiencies and improvements in service delivery and interoperability when implemented throughout all parts of the organization.

 

IDeA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Local Government Association, created by and for local government in England and Wales. They are accountable to local government through a board of directors half of whom are local government councillors. They work in partnership with all councils, to “enhance the performance of the best, accelerate the speed of improvement of the rest, and develop the sector as a whole”.

 

IA is a specialist private sector data management consultancy employing recognised experts in addressing. It was originally set up to help develop the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) on behalf of local government and now manages the NLPG and NSG central data hubs under the terms of the Mapping Services Agreement (MSA) with local government.

 

The MSA is a large scale public procurement administered by IDeA, covering the supply of geographic data to Local Authorities in England and Wales under which authorities receive electronic map data and gazetteer services at a significant reduction to the usual cost. As part of the agreement each authority is obliged to designate custodians who are responsible for ensuring that their LLPG and LSG datasets are maintained and supplied on a regular basis to the national hubs.

If an authority does not meet the requirements of the agreement IDeA have the power to take sanctions including invoicing the authority, taking control of the maintenance of the gazetteers and recouping the cost from the local authority and withdrawing MSA services (including all mapping products).

Whilst no specific penalties are stated for non compliance with the New Roads and Street Works Act the Department for Transport has said that the ultimate sanction for authorities who do not fulfill their highway management duties is to have those powers taken away from them.

However, the biggest consequence of not maintaining and using the gazetteers sufficiently is that the authority cannot perform their duties fully and efficiently and reap the many rewards which the gazetteers bring.