Re-use of Public Sector Information Policy

Statement of Public Task

1. Our Background

2. Our Public Task

3. Access

4. Licensing

5. Dealing with Re-use Requests

6. Charging

7. Complaints Procedure

8. Review


Statement of Public Task

The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales’ (RCAHMW) Public Task under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 (‘the Regulations’) consists of the obligations of the RCAHMW and the duties of its officials:

The RCAHMW produces, holds, and uses documents within its Public Task:

  • in any and all formats and media
  • in physical and digital form, both online and offline
  • on the RCAHMWs’ premises and externally.

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1. Our Background

The Royal Commission is the investigation body and national archive for the historic environment of Wales.

Find out more about us on our About Us pages. 

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2. Our Public Task

Our responsibilities are set out in our Royal Warrant.

Accordingly we:

  • Research, survey, and record archaeology, buildings, landscapes and maritime remains from prehistory to the present;
  • Curate Wales’ rich archive of the historic environment in the National Monuments Record of Wales (NMRW), a major cultural resource of over 2 million photographs, 125,000 drawings and hundreds of thousands of other documents and digital datasets;
  • Make the NMR accessible through a full public enquiry service, public search room and library;
  • Support people to learn about our rich heritage through outreach activities, such as lectures, open days, exhibitions, and tours; through online resources, and publications;
  • Provide impartial advice and information to help people manage the historic environment sustainably and ethically, and in line with national and international statute, policy and conventions;
  • Set national and international standards for recording and investigation in the sector, and to pursue innovation and creative approaches to interpreting the historic environment;
  • Pursue opportunities to generate external funding for our work, and develop ways to earn income from our own assets. This includes the sale of publications; data sets, copies of images and other records.
  • Work with partners in the sector and related disciplines to record, investigate and interpret the historic environment, pursue funding opportunities, and share data, information and standards.

To fulfill our public task we create, collect, compile and make available the following types of material:

Digital Datasets – geographically referenced data on archaeological, architectural, industrial and maritime sites, monuments, and landscapes, GIS data and catalogue metadata relating to hard copy and digital archives.

Archive Records – the categories of archive record we undertake to collect are set out in our National Monuments Record of Wales Collection Policy.

Reference Library – see our Library Collection Policy for details.
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3. Access

The information held within the NMRW is made freely available under the Government Non-commercial License (NCGL) and can be accessed in multiple ways:

RCAHMW policy documents are freely available under the Open Government Licence (OGL) and may be accessed through our website.

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4. Licensing

The records held within the NMRW originate from various sources and hold multiple copyrights. Much is owned by the Crown and is managed and administered by RCAHMW on its behalf through our delegation of authority. This material is made available through the Non-Commercial Government Licence (NCGL) and holds value added status.

For commercial re-use of Crown copyright material held within the NMRW a licence will need to be requested. The RCAHMW will charge a commercial rate for material where the applicant intends to re-use it for commercial purposes. In this case, a request for re-use will incur a charge in accordance with the procedures outlined below. Charges are reviewed annually against the Re-use Regulations and comply with them. RCAHMW makes charges above marginal cost in line with exceptions 15 (3) (a) and (c).

Site data held on Coflein and the Historic Wales portal is freely available under the Open Government Licence.
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5. Dealing with Re-use Requests

All requests to re-use material held by the NMRW must be made using the order form. Once a completed form has been received, the enquirer will be given a quote (as per current published price list (LES16)) – which will include the cost of the goods, post and packing and the licence fee (if appropriate, as per current published licence fees (LES17)). Upon confirmation, an invoice will be sent out and, once paid, the goods and licence agreement will be forwarded.

The RCAHMW is committed to dealing with all requests within 15 working days.

A priority search service is offered (subject to availability) whereby searches for archive material are undertaken and results sent out within 2 working days. Please see price list (LES16) for costs.

A priority search service is offered (subject to availability) whereby searches for archive material are undertaken and results sent out within two working days will be turned around within 5 working days. Please see price list (LES16) for costs.
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6. Charging

As an accredited member of the Information Fair Trader Scheme the RCAHMW complies with the standards set out by the Welsh Government’s ‘Managing Welsh Public Money’ (which allows RCAHMW to charge for copies and use of information). Please see price list (LES16) and licence fees (LES17) for details.
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7. Complaints Procedure

The RCAHMW has a Complaints Policy which outlines the procedure for making a complaint and how it will be dealt with. This procedure will be applied in the event of any complaint received about requests for re-use of RCAHMW information. Re-users and licensees are welcome to comment on the public task statement and that their views will be considered when the statement is next reviewed. If re-users are not satisfied after filing a complaint, you are welcome to refer the complaint to the Information Commissioner under the re-use regulations.
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8. Review

The RCAHMW will review this policy every four years and is due to be considered again in 2027.

Questions, comments and complaints may be submitted through the RCAHMW Contact Us page. If re-users are not satisfied after a complaint, they will have the option of referring this to the Information Commissioner under the re-use regulations.

2023

Mae’r polisi hwn hefyd ar gael yn y Gymraeg | This policy is also available in Welsh.

Open Government Licence logoThis document is available under the Open Government Licence.


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