The OS ESG is available in two formats:
GeoPackage – Full Supply only
Comma-separated values (CSV) – Full Supply and Change-Only Updates (COU)
The GPKG and CSV formats conform to the AddressBase Premium specification.
It is not available in Geography Markup Language (GML) format.
GeoPackage is an open standard data format as defined by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). GeoPackage is designed to be a lightweight format that can contain large amounts of varied and complex data in a single, easy-to-distribute and ready-to-use file.
Please be advised that older versions of GIS software may need updating before being able to display and interact with GeoPackage files.
COUs are not available in GeoPackage format.
The ordering area is all of Great Britain for GeoPackage format or you can select areas of interest (AOIs).
GeoPackage offers users the following benefits:
The single file is easy to transfer and offers the end-user a rich experience.
Attribute names are not limited in length, making it user-friendly.
The file size limit is very large at 140TB, so lots of data can be easily accommodated (please note that a file size limit may be imposed by the file system to which the file is written).
It supports raster, vector and database formats, making it a highly versatile solution.
It is an OGC standard.
In most cases, it is a plug and play format.
CSV files are a delimited text file that uses commas or other characters to separate individual elements of a feature. It is used to store data, often in the form of a table. These tables can be freely loaded into databases and programs, allowing for the easy loading and updating of data holdings.
Full Supply and COUs are available in CSV format.
The ordering area is all of Great Britain for CSV format or you can select AOIs.
In the CSV supply of OS ESG:
There is one record per line in each file.
Fields are separated by commas.
String fields are delimited by double quotes.
No comma is placed at the end of each row in the file.
Records are terminated by Carriage Return / Line Feed.
Double quotes inside strings are escaped by doubling.
COUs are available in this format.
Where a field has no value in a record, two commas are placed together in the record (one for the end of the previous field and one for the end of the null field). Where the null field is a text field, double quotes are included between the two commas, for example -, “”,
The CSV data is transferred using Unicode encoded in UTF-8. Unicode includes all the characters in ISO-8859-14 (Welsh characters).
The transfer is normally in a single file, but the data can be split into multiple files using volume numbers. The OS ESG records are provided within continuous files cut at approximately 1 million lines, as referred to above.
The product will be refreshed on a monthly basis.
The OS ESG references unique street reference numbers (USRNs) in AddressBase Premium; however, there is a disconnect in publication schedules between the two products, with the OS ESG publishing monthly and AddressBase Premium publishing every six weeks.
The following table shows the corresponding publication schedule alignments between the two products:
Please note that the publication schedule alignments between the two products MAY change for future releases, especially as we add more datasets to the OS ESG.
This overview introduces the OS ESG and gives context for all users – highlighting key features, providing examples of potential uses, and listing details such as supply formats, currency, etc.
The OS Emergency Services Gazetteer (OS ESG) is a single centralised source of critical information that allows first responders to precisely identify locations when the need is greatest.
It was developed in collaboration with the Emergency Services, who provided invaluable feedback. It provides enhanced data, such as road and motorway junctions, that improves incident response, incident reporting and situational awareness.
The OS ESG offers a national view for Great Britain (i.e. England, Wales and Scotland). It is published in the AddressBase Premium format and aligns fully with requirements specified during extensive user engagement.
The OS ESG does not provide data for Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey.
The key features of the OS ESG product are:
Easy to filter and apply features: The OS ESG is easily filterable so you can select the features that you are interested in based on the classifications allocated to those features.
Enhanced data for incident response and reporting: The gazetteer provides a single centralised source of information which allows for easier, faster and more precise identification of incident locations.
The OS ESG enables emergency responders to be more accurately informed, improving emergency response times and public safety:
Quick and accurate gazetteer searches
Supports incident reporting and planning (for example, giving more accurate emergency response times)
Enhanced data sharing across emergency services
Supports incident and risk analysis and modelling (for example, analysing trends and patterns of road traffic collisions to both help identify risk and support incident planning)
Improves operational reporting
The OS ESG is published in the AddressBase Premium format, aligning with requirements specified during user engagement. This is to ensure ease of use for the Emergency Services already consuming OS Address data in this format.
The OS ESG only includes the BasicLandPropertyUnit (BLPU), LandPropertyIdentifier (LPI) and Classification components, not the full AddressBase Premium model.
The following datasets are available within the OS ESG:
This contents of this table are subject to change with future releases of the product.
This overview includes the following section:
A helpful introductory Lightning Talk on the OS ESG is available on our 'More than Maps' site (a self-serve platform that provides a one-stop shop for all your OS technical geospatial support, including tutorials, demonstrators and case studies).
For information on how to open, use and understand a GeoPackage dataset, please refer to our . Further detailed information on GeoPackage can be taken from the .
This means different record types (for example, s and s) can be found in the same CSV file.
The CSV header files are available to download from the .
The OS ESG product is supplied as an online download from the . You can select a data format (GeoPackage or CSV) during the download process.
OS ESG release | Corresponding AddressBase Premium Epoch |
---|
Dataset Name | Dataset Description |
---|---|
Name and Location of Road Junctions
Road Junction features will be provided for junctions where two or more named or numbered roads intersect. For junctions which have an official name or number, the official names will be provided where identified.
Geographical Names
A subset of Geographical Names features, such as named water and named geographic features, will be provided in the OS ESG. Extensive features greater than 20km² will not be provided.
March 2024 | Epoch 108 |
April 2024 | Epoch 109 |
May 2024 | Epoch 110 |
June 2024 | Epoch 110 |
July 2024 | Epoch 111 |
August 2024 | Epoch 112 |
September 2024 | Epoch 112 |
October 2024 | Epoch 113 |
November 2024 | Epoch 114 |
December 2024 | Epoch 114 |
January 2025 | Epoch 115 |
February 2025 | Epoch 116 |
March 2025 | Epoch 117 |