Owen Boswarva's blog

This is the latest in a series of blog posts about the campaign for open address data in the UK. Previous posts are listed at the bottom.

In this post, I describe a new open address dataset released by Bassetlaw District Council.

Background

As described in previous posts, I have recently been requesting Council Tax address datasets from a number of local authorities in England, and asking for permission to re-use the data under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

I have created a landing page on my Datadaptive site with download links and other information about the Council Tax address datasets released as open data so far:

www.datadaptive.com/addr/

Release from Bassetlaw District Council

The latest council to release its Council Tax address list is Bassetlaw District Council in the East Midlands region of England.

In its initial response the Council disclosed a list of addresses with postcodes and Council Tax bands, but withheld the Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs) on the basis that they were already accessible in national lists available from Ordnance Survey. Following an internal review, the Council also disclosed its local reference numbers for the properties on the list. But the Council has continued to withhold the UPRNs corresponding to the properties on the list, on the new basis that the information is "not held" within the meaning of the FOI Act:

"Regarding UPRNs, on review I have clarified how the requested information is held. The Council holds a list of domestic properties and associated Council Tax bands within its Council Tax system. However, that system does not contain Unique Property Reference Numbers (UPRNs).

"UPRNs are held separately within the Council's address gazetteer. The Council does not hold a single recorded dataset that brings together the Council Tax property list and the corresponding UPRNs.

"Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Council is required to disclose recorded information that it holds. It is not required to create new information in order to respond to a request. Providing UPRNs alongside the Council Tax dataset would require the extraction of data from separate systems and the creation of a new combined record. Accordingly, the Council does not hold the requested information in the form sought, and section 1(1)(a) of the Act applies."

I am sceptical of this reasoning and I think the ICO might be too. It is commonly understood that a public authority may need to pull together information from more than one system in order to fulfil an information request – the fact that the information may not be held in a pre-prepared combined format does not mean the information is "not held". However, if there is no common reference in the two systems and the addresses cannot be easily matched, the Council might have been able to argue that the work required to append the UPRNs to the Council Tax property records would exceed the appropriate cost limit.

The Council has granted permission for re-use of the disclosed information under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

You can download my correspondence with the Council: CT_address_list_Bassetlaw_3431991_[NO_DATA_correspondence_only].zip (0.73 MB).

Thanks to Council staff for facilitating the disclosure and open licensing of this data.

Why you can't have the dataset – or maybe you can?

I am not publishing Bassetlaw District Council's address dataset here, due to the non-specific but lingering risk of further unsubstantiated claims of infringement from Ordnance Survey and GeoPlace LLP. You can read more about that issue in my recent blog post.

However, there is nothing to stop you asking the Council directly for a copy of the data file. For tips on submitting access to information and re-use requests see this other blog post. My requests to Bassetlaw District Council were submitted on 1 April 2026 and the Council's reference is 3431991.

More about Bassetlaw District Council's address dataset

Bassetlaw District Council has disclosed its Council Tax address dataset to me in the form of an Excel workbook 'All CTAX Properties with Band.xlsx' that contains 58,493 records. Each record includes the full address and postcode (combined in a single field), local property reference, and Council Tax valuation band, for a domestic property in the Bassetlaw District Council area.

The dataset appears to be well-maintained although there are some inconsistencies in the formatting of the addresses. Based on metadata the information seems to have been produced from Council systems on 22 May 2026.

As the Council has not disclosed the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN) corresponding to each property on the Council Tax list, the records cannot be geocoded at property level using open data sources.

Previous posts related to the campaign for open address data in the UK

Warwick District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 June 2026)

Horsham District Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (29 May 2026)

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (28 May 2026)

Kirklees Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (27 May 2026)

Luton Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (26 May 2026)

Open addresses: my submission to the Seventh UK National Action Plan for Open Government call for evidence (24 May 2026)

Reply to Ordnance Survey lawyers about Council Tax address datasets published as open data (22 May 2026)

Council Tax address datasets: progress update, next steps, and how to request missing datasets yourself (15 May 2026)

Ordnance Survey demands removal of nearly all Council Tax address datasets previously released as open data (12 May 2026)

Gedling Borough Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 May 2026)p>

North Tyneside Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data (1 May 2026