Using, publishing and sharing TVERC data

Using data

Partners may use the GIS datasets for the duration of the annual agreement only (one year). The annual agreement covers access to TVERC data, not ownership of the data.

The only exception is that a copy of the TVERC data may be kept on file by the Partner solely for the purpose of auditing previous decisions (for example at a planning appeal or examination), but may not be used for any new decisions.

A Partner using old data would also risk making decisions in breach of wildlife legislation and planning policy.

Data ownership

Partners do not own the vast majority of TVERC data and are restricted in what they can do with the data and to whom they can share that data with.

The data TVERC hold in our database is owned by whoever has made the record (i.e. the person who saw the badger, surveyed the wildlife site or mapped the habitat). The annual charges TVERC make to partners is for access to GIS datasets (and other services) and do not result in the partner owning the data.

TVERC is run as a partnership whereby all data-users contribute to the annual costs of collating and managing the TVERC database. The data TVERC hold in our database takes time to collect and manage. This work is carried out by both volunteers and paid staff to ensure the data we hold and provide to you is of a high quality and we can keep our charges as low as possible. As a non-profit organisation, TVERC uses our income to sustain the services we provide to the local recording community, who in turn share their data with us, so we can share it with you!

Publishing data

Material derived from the information supplied by TVERC (i.e. tables, graphs, maps) can be made publically available. Such material may be presented within publications and reports produced by partners, subject to an acknowledgement of TVERC as the source of information e.g. This [document/table/map] incorporates biodiversity data supplied by Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC), and is copyright to TVERC and/or its partners.

GIS files cannot be made publically available, unless the data-owner(s) have given permission. Any information that can be published is already publically available.

Passing on data to contractors

Data can be passed onto contractors working on behalf of a Partner, provided:

1. Data is used solely for that work

2. Data is not shared with anybody else

3. Data is deleted once the work is completed

4. A contractor’s licence is issued

5. TVERC is informed

Passing on GIS data to a third party contractor working on behalf of a Partner will require a contractor’s licence to ensure the data is used appropriately.

This can be done in two ways:

Partner issues a contractor’s licence to the third party, ensuring they are aware of the restricted use of the data and requirements as above. Partner organisation is responsible for ensuring contractors adhere to the agreements within the licence and are liable for any breaches.

Please copy TVERC (tverc@oxfordshire.gov.uk) into the email when sending the licence, as we need to know how the data is being shared to ensure compliance with individual data sharing agreements. TVERC can supply a partner’s contractor’s licence template.

TVERC issue the contractor’s licence. This will incur an admin fee of £100 plus VAT. If TVERC are asked to supply the GIS layers, or make adjustments to the layers, to send to a contractor, this would incur a cost to cover TVERC staff time.

If a Partner is not able to pass on the data, the contractor can request the data directly from TVERC through our Data Search service where the charge will be reduced by 50%.