Mapping services agreement (MSA)

Local Government Information House (LGIH) manages the procurement, contracting and licensing framework for the delivery of digital mapping, geographical and spatial information services on behalf of all local government. The Mapping Services Agreement (MSA) is the biggest joint procurement of its kind and brings over £100 million in savings to local government.

LGIH was collectively given the remit by:

• the Local Government Association
• the Welsh Local Government Association
• the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)
• the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers’ Association (now the Chief Fire Officers Association)
• the Association of National Park Authorities
• the Association of Passenger Transport Authorities.

This remit was to negotiate and let a framework of contract agreements via open tender under an Official Journal of European Communities (OJEC) notice (restricted procedure). These were for mapping, data products and other associated services.

The data and services delivered under the MSA are used to underpin more than 80 per cent of what local government does. Standardisation of base geographic information is vital to joint public sector working and service transformation.

The MSA contractual framework arrangement is open to all authorities. It enhances the National Street Gazetteer (NSG) and National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) processes and replaces the previous Ordnance Survey Service Level Agreement (SLA).

The three suppliers awarded contracts under the MSA are:

• Intermap Technologies Inc.
• Intelligent Addressing Limited
• Ordnance Survey.

The MSA brings the following benefits to local government:

• bulk procurement discounts
• central procurement has provided the leverage to obtain preferential licensing terms for local government to meet all business and data exchange needs with other authorities
• a reduced procurement cost to local government has been secured by managing the procurement process centrally
• performance monitoring has been put in place to ensure service providers deliver appropriate levels of service – these performance measures have been linked to financial penalties
• a managed migration to new product lines is in place that would otherwise have cost local government millions of pounds more
• a managed solution to multi-organisation data licensing will remove risk of copyright infringement by authorities
• access to gazetteer services which will assist in meeting implementing electronic government (IEG) commitments.

Useful links

Intermap Technologies website

Intelligent Addressing Limited website

Ordnance Survey website