At the LGA’s annual conference in October, GeoPlace was joined by Nottingham City Council in the Innovation Zone, to demonstrate the immense value that data on addresses can bring to local government.
Each local authority maintains a Local Land and Property Gazetteer containing a unique property reference number (UPRN) for every addressable location. Similarly, the ‘unique street reference number’ (USRN) is used across highway authorities to maintain a comprehensive list of publicly and privately maintainable streets.
This highly accurate addressing data provides essential location information to emergency services, central government, banking, insurance, and other commercial buyers through the suite of Ordnance Survey products. By fully integrating address and street data, using the UPRN and USRN, local authorities can unlock tangible, calculable benefits.
For example, a single database of business rate payers can be linked to waste, licensing, customer services, and fraud prevention using the UPRN, driving efficiency, improving customer satisfaction and minimising risk.
The LGA believes that UPRNs are key to almost everything that is delivered or achieved by councils.
Every authority has common focal points, such as housing, education, welfare and highways. When the UPRN is added to each department’s data, the whole organisation benefits, as it becomes a simpler exercise to link inter-departmental information.
Clean, well-structured data is also imperative for artificial intelligence and machine learning: UPRN and USRN make this an affordable reality without the need for extensive technical expertise or process change.
GeoPlace and location strategy consultants ConsultingWhere worked closely with Nottingham City Council to quantify the return on investment from address and street data integration.
The findings showed that, for every £1 invested, the potential is to generate efficiency savings and increase revenue organisation-wide by up to £6 – with a predicted net present value of £5.7 million over the period 2023 to 2026.
Sarah Abbott, Geographic Information System Manager at Nottingham City Council, said: “Our investment in the UPRN has meant we have demonstrated huge efficiencies and evidence of delivering a best-value service, with a positive return on investment.
“Senior managers better recognise the value of our location data and understand opportunities for future improvements as resources allow.
“The council is connected through data – the UPRN is an enabler in so much of what we need to improve connectivity and underpin digital services.
“Resources and time are precious, but address data is an existing resource for all local authorities, with huge potential.”
With hard evidence in hand, local authorities can now justify strategic investment in this area.
As GeoPlace is jointly owned by the LGA and Ordnance Survey, we are uniquely placed to advise on successful data integration, bringing the right people and resources together.
In fact, as part of our commitment to this cause, we are pleased to offer a free integration report for every authority in England and Wales.
To find out more about your readiness to take advantage of the UPRN and USRN, simply email [email protected] and quote ‘LGAFIRST’.
- Geoplace is the central source of information for all UK addresses and streets. It is a joint venture between the LGA and Ordnance Survey.