Postcode Address File: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:26, 7 January 2022

Revision as of 20:55, 20 July 2022

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{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}

The '''Postcode Address File''' ('''PAF''') is a database that contains all known "Deliverydelivery Pointspoints" and [[postcodes in the United Kingdom]]. The PAF is a collection of over 29 million Royal Mail postal addresses and 1.8&nbsp;million [[postcode]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=PAF Stats|url=http://www.poweredbypaf.com/category/paf-stats/|website=Powered By Paf|publisher=Royal Mail Group Ltd|access-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309140048/http://www.poweredbypaf.com/category/paf-stats/|archive-date=9 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is available in a variety of formats including [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] download and compact disc, and was previously available as [[Digitaldigital Audioaudio Tapetape]]. As owner of the PAF, Royal Mail is required by section 116 of the [[Postal Services Act 2000]] to maintain the data and make it available on reasonable terms. A charge is made for lookup services or wholesale supply of PAF data. Charges are regulated by [[Ofcom]]. It includes Smallsmall Useruser Residentialresidential, Smallsmall Useruser Organisationorganisation and Largelarge Useruser Organisationorganisation details. There have been requests as part of the [[Open Data in the United Kingdom|Open Data]] campaign for the PAF to be released by the government free of charge.<ref>{{cite news|first=Charles |last=Arthur |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jan/22/postcode-petition-fails-blocked-number-ten |title=Developers dismayed as No.10 blocks free postcode file |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 January 2010 |access-date=10 June 2013}}</ref>

==Usage==

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Royal Mail provide licensing advice on their website.

==Public Sectorsector Licencelicence==

Public Sectorsector Organisationsorganisations can now{{when}} apply to use PAF under the Publicpublic Sectorsector Licencelicence Useuse Termsterms. The Publicpublic Sectorsector Licencelicence will be fully implemented on 1 April 2015.

Royal Mail has worked along with the Department of Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) & the Scottish Governmentgovernment to develop the Publicpublic Sectorsector Licencelicence. The Publicpublic Sectorsector Licencelicence is being centrally paid for by these organisations so individual public sector organisations will no longer need to return PAF licence fees to Royal Mail.

The eligible public sector organisations will be able to use PAF within their organisation and on their website for non-commercial purposes. In addition, licensed public sector organisations will be able to share data with other licensed organisations and work collaboratively on data-led projects. The following types of organisations will be eligible:

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==Alias data==

The '''Alias"alias File'''file is a supplementary file containing additional data which are not part of official postal addresses, including details that have changed over time, or have been amended by the public and then used. This file is used to identify these elements and [[cross-reference]] with the official postal address.

The Aliasalias Filefile holds four types of record: Localitylocality, Thoroughfarethoroughfare, Deliverydelivery Pointpoint Aliasalias, and Countycounty Aliasalias:

*The Localitylocality record – old short forms, local names, and 'postally-not-required' (PNR) details.

*The Thoroughfarethoroughfare record – contains replacement street and road names for a given locality, thoroughfare or dependent thoroughfare combination.

*The Deliverydelivery Pointpoint Aliasalias record – holds additional information at given addresses, such as trading names and building names.

*The Countycounty record – holds [[Counties of the United Kingdom|traditional]], [[Administrative county|administrative]] and [[Postal counties of the United Kingdom|postal county]] information.

Royal Mail, in their guide to the data products<ref>[ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/public/ctf/rm/PAF_Digest_Dec_03.pdf PAF Digest]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, p12</ref> imply that the county alias information was provided when Royal Mail removed the former postal county from the main file.

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The accounts for the PAF for 2005/6 disclosed an income of £18million, 8.6% of which was profit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/policy-and-consultations/consultations/postcode-address-file--management-of-information/PAF_decision_doc.pdf|title=Royal Mail's Future management of PAF|date=April 2007|access-date=5 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930011745/http://www.psc.gov.uk/postcomm/live/policy-and-consultations/consultations/postcode-address-file--management-of-information/PAF_decision_doc.pdf|archive-date=30 September 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Following a Governmentgovernment consultation,<ref>[http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/ordnancesurveyconsultation DCLG: Policy options for geographic information from Ordnance Survey: Consultation] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091230115507/http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/ordnancesurveyconsultation |date=30 December 2009 }}</ref> on 1 April 2010 Ordnance Survey released co-ordinate data for all Great Britain postcodes (but not their address elements) for re-use free of charge under an attribution-only licence, as part of [[Ordnance Survey#Open data releases|OS OpenData]].

==See also==

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==External links==

*[http://www.poweredbypaf.com PAF from Royal Mail]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180926234202/https://www.poweredbypaf.com/how-the-royal-mail-postcode-address-file-paf-helps-organisations-verify-their-customers-identities/ A quick Introduction to PAF]

* [http://www.poweredbypaf.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Latest-Programmers_guide_Edition-7-Version-6.pdf Technical guide to using the PAF file] – A document that explains the PAF file in some detail.

*[https://www.poweredbypaf.com/product/alias/ Alias File from Royal Mail]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130515000556/http://data.gov.uk/dataset/code-point-open GB postcode geolocation file (excludes Northern Ireland)]

*[http://www.poweredbypaf.com/licensing-centre/public/data/documents/public-sector-organisation-psl-information-pack.pdf Public Sector Licence Information Pack]

*[https://vimeo.com/123197532 Watch Royal Mail’s PAF video]

{{UK postal system}}