Work began in March 2004 to create a single address database to be used by all departments within St Edmundsbury Borough Council. Studies have shown that within each Local Authority an average of 80 address databases exist ranging from an unofficial list of 30 properties used in a council pilot scheme to 50,000 properties receiving polling cards.
Without a common standard for recording addresses these databases are not consistent and result in certain council services not reaching some properties in the borough.The Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) will bring together these databases in a move towards e-Government and provide a single, up-to-date and maintained address database improving many services provided to the people of the borough.
The LLPG uses British Standard BS7666 to record address information and will incorporate a Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) for each property. This will allow a cross-reference to different council systems, for example Council Tax and Electoral roll and go some way to improve the response times to public requests for property information. The standard also uses a grid reference to enable each property to be mapped spatially using GIS (Geographical Information Systems). This helps to locate isolated properties and view attribute data such as planning applications and tree preservation orders.
Statistics from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) have revealed that in the year 2001-2, approximately £825 million worth of council tax and non-domestic rates was not collected nationally.It is hoped that with the creation of a Local Land and Property Gazetteer, St Edmundsbury will benefit from the recovery of Council Tax and will also see improvements in the speed of local searches, staff working practices and savings in expenditure which will ultimately improve the quality of life for everyone in the borough.
The work is being carried out as part of St Edmundsbury’s commitment to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to have all council services e-enabled by 2005. The LLPG will eventually be linked to the larger National Land and Property Gazetteer from which other national organisations will feed, for example Royal Mail, the emergency services and Ordnance Survey will all benefit from a more accurate address database.
For more information contact the LLPG Custodian on 01284 757367 or visit the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) website.
