Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of proposals to (a) integrate geospatial data into the National Data Library and (b) review licensing barriers to its use.

This Government has been clear that it wants to maximise the benefits from public sector data assets to deliver better public services and cutting-edge innovation. The National Data Library will provide simple, secure and ethical access to our key public data assets for researchers, policy makers and business.

Work is underway to design the National Data Library, including consideration of the data to be included and how it should be licensed, and decisions on its design and implementation will be set out in due course.