Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether public sector organisations in Northern Ireland will be eligible for the terms of use for postcode address finder from 1 April 2015.

Northern Ireland public sector organisations will be not eligible for the Postcode Address File (PAF) Public Sector Licence agreed between the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) and Royal Mail. The PAF Public Sector Licence covers public sector bodies in England and Wales and will come into full force on 1 April 2015. Bodies whose remit is mainly or wholly within Northern Ireland, Scotland, and other Crown dependencies or foreign territories are excluded from the agreement between BIS and Royal Mail.

Royal Mail discussed the creation of an equivalent to the PAF Public Sector Licence with the Northern Ireland Land & Property Services. The view was that most of Northern Ireland's Government Departments were only interested in addresses within Northern Ireland and that there was no need for a central agreement.