Using our data
The Council provides a large amount of data and information about the range, type, cost and performance of the services it provides. This is readily accessible through our website in formats (for example as interactive maps and pdf files) that meet the needs of the vast majority of users.
However, publication in this way is only one aspect of transparency. By 'open data' we mean also publishing data and information in specific formats that make it much easier for local community groups, businesses and application developers to re-use it and present it in a variety of new and innovative ways.
Unless otherwise stated, the data in our datasets section is available for you to use under the Open Government Licence which allows sharing and reuse for commercial purposes, and the Ordnance Survey Open Data Licence.
File types
To be considered 'open', data and information should be published in a reusable format, and to make it reusable it needs to be machine-readable. The files provided on this page are in one or more of the following formats:
CSV Files
Comma (or Character) Separated Value files are simple files and are supported by almost all types of spreadsheet and data management software. As such, they are preferable to proprietary file formats such as Microsoft Word or Excel, or Adobe PDF.
XML and RSS feeds
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) files allow information to be shared between computer systems in a structured way. It is the standard means of providing datasets for re-use by other individuals or organisations. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and are distributed in XML format.
We publish the News RSS feeds: www.wandsworth.gov.uk/rss/news
KML and GML files
KML (Keyhole Markup Language) and GML (Geographical Markup Language) are both forms of XML which is used to provide geo-spatial mapping data. KML was originally developed and used to display geographic data in browsers such as Google Earth and Google Maps and is complementary to GML.
Feedback and questions
We welcome any suggestions and feedback on this page and/or the data and information it holds.
Email policy@wandsworth.gov.uk using the subject heading 'open data' if you have any questions or comments.