Edinburgh: 28 April 2010

The Queen’s Printer for Scotland (QPS) has published the annual report titled: THE QUEEN’S PRINTER FOR SCOTLAND - Report covering the period 1 January to 31 December 2009 (References: April 2010. SG/2010/81. ISBN 9780108882494. 40 Pages)

Carol Tullo, the Queen’s Printer for Scotland states in the letter to the Minister:

“This report sets out the detail of another constructive period of activity on the range of statutory, legislative and information policy responsibilities that fall within the portfolio of the Queen’s Printer for Scotland. These deliver the authentic and authoritative record of legislation within robust processes and principles for the responsible publishing and dissemination of this core information that underpins government. The efficiency and improved service of the statutory publishing, benefiting from electronic transmission, is noticeable in the statistics. The shift from paper to online delivery illustrates the changes in user preferences and the investment in web services reflected in this report.

The section of the report covering Public Sector Information policy issues not only includes information about my direct responsibilities in relation to the management of the copyright in the works of the Scottish Administration but also provides context on the key European and UK policy issues which relate to the re-use of Scottish Public Sector Information generally.”

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Section 2 of the report titled: Management of Public Sector Information provides statistics on public sector information re-use in Scotland and states:

“The PSI Click-Use Licence continues to be a highly effective means of facilitating the re-use of government information. At the end of December 2009 over 19,500 were in place across the world. The provision of an online licence, the terms of which are expressed in plain English, has proved to be a key milestone in making a wide range of information available for re-use.”

“Whilst the PSI Click-Use Licence has proved a great success a new non-transactional form of licensing for Crown copyright is being developed to be launched in 2010. This reflects a move to establish a licence that is interoperable with the internationally recognised Creative Commons model. It is envisaged that the Scottish Government will be directly involved in the piloting of the new licence. Preliminary discussions about the new licence plans for 2010 have taken place with Scottish Government officials.”

“PSI Progress

2.9 The European Commission continues to monitor compliance with the European Directive on the Re-use of Public Sector Information which was implemented UK wide under the re-use of Public

Sector Information Regulations (SI 2005 No. 1515) (PSI Regulations). The OQPS has a central co-ordinating role to play in ensuring compliance and developing best practice.

2.10 During 2009 there has been a wide range of activity on the information policy front. These are covered in detail in The United Kingdom Report on the Re-use of Public Sector Information 2009: unlocking psi potential.

2.11 The Commission published a formal Review of the PSI Directive in May 2009. The principal aim of this exercise was to review the application of the PSI Directive and to highlight the potential for re-use of PSI in the digital age. The Commission summarised the key points for action in Member States, which are to

• ensure full and correct implementation and application of the Directive;
• terminate exclusive arrangements as prescribed by the Directive;
• apply licensing and charging models that facilitate re-use of PSI; and
• ensure fair competition between public sector organisations and re-users.

The Commission cited the progress made by the UK.”

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