Introduction

This is a base vocabulary for UK local government, designed to help local authorities publish machine readable data including:

• core metadata - type, name
• contact information
• senior executives
• main departments/units with contact details
• ability to link to services delivered
• hooks for cost-centres to tie in to payments information
• committees with links to meetings and minutes

The vocabulary builds upon or connects to:

• Organization ontology: http://www.w3.org/ns/org#
• Central government ontology: http://reference.data.gov.uk/def/central-government/
• Payments ontology: http://reference.data.gov.uk/def/payment#

The proposed namespace for this vocabulary is: http://reference.data.gov.uk/def/local-government#

License

The ontology source is made available under the Public Domain Dedication and License v1.0 whose full text can be found at: http://www.opendatacommons.org/licenses/pddl/1.0/.

This work, the documentation page, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Stuart Harrison for comments and suggestions on earlier drafts.

Summary of Vocabulary

Vocabulary index

Classes: lg:Chairman lg:ChiefExecutive lg:CommunityCouncil lg:CouncilComittee lg:CountyCouncil lg:Department lg:DeputyLeader lg:Directorate lg:DistrictCouncil lg:EnglishUnitaryAuthority lg:Leader lg:LocalAuthority lg:LondonBoroughCouncil lg:Mayor lg:MetropolitanDistrictCouncil lg:NonPrincipalCouncil lg:ParishCouncil lg:ScottishUnitaryAuthority lg:SuiGenerisAuthority lg:TownCouncil lg:UnitaryAuthority lg:WelshUnitaryAuthority

Properties: lg:chiefExecutive lg:committeeMeeting lg:councilCommittee lg:department lg:directorate lg:district lg:localCouncil lg:minutes lg:providesService

Types of local authority

Class: lg:LocalAuthority Sub class of: org:FormalOrganization statsGeo:LocalAuthority [ proposed ]

Any form of local authority including councils, districts and unitary authorities. Relevant descriptive properties to consider include:

• owl:sameAs links to statistics.gov.uk and others as desired (e.g. OpenlyLocal, dbpedia)
• rdfs:label
• statsGeo:coverage link to the region served
• skos:notation "xxxx"^^statsGeo:StandardCode giving the SNAC code
• open:primeSite with a VCard to give the location and contacts details for the main council site
• foaf:homepage, foaf:mbox, foaf:phone (may be the same as primeSite VCard)
• foaf:holdsAccount if appropriate
• gov:hasPosts for senior officers, especially chief execution
• lg:councilCommittee to indicate committees, especially those for which meeting minutes are available

Class: lg:CountyCouncil Sub class of: lg:LocalAuthority [ proposed ]

The upper tier of English two-tier local authorities. County councils cover large areas and provide most public services, including schools, social services, and public transportation. Each county is divided into several districts denoted using lg:district.

Class: lg:DistrictCouncil Sub class of: lg:LocalAuthority [ proposed ]

Local tier of English two-tier authorities. District councils cover sub-regions of the county council of which they are part. They provide more local services, including council housing, gyms and leisure facilities, local planning, recycling and trash collection.

Class: lg:UnitaryAuthority Sub class of: lg:LocalAuthority [ proposed ]

Any form of single tier local authority which provides both large scale services (e.g. schooling) and local services (e.g. leisure facilities)

Class: lg:MetropolitanDistrictCouncil Sub class of: lg:UnitaryAuthority [ proposed ]

A form of unitary authority covering part of an English metropolitan area other than London (currently Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, West Yorkshire).

Class: lg:LondonBoroughCouncil Sub class of: lg:UnitaryAuthority [ proposed ]

A unity authority covering a region of London. While London Boroughs are regarded as Unitary some London-wide services such as Transport and Policing are provided by the Greater London Authority.

Class: lg:EnglishUnitaryAuthority Sub class of: lg:UnitaryAuthority [ proposed ]

An English Unitary Authority outside of the large metropolitan areas. May also have Borough or City status.

Class: lg:WelshUnitaryAuthority Sub class of: lg:UnitaryAuthority [ proposed ]

An Welsh Unitary Authority, all local authorities in Wales are currently Unitary.

Class: lg:ScottishUnitaryAuthority Sub class of: lg:UnitaryAuthority [ proposed ]

An Scottish Unitary Authority, all local authorities in Scotland are currently Unitary.

Class: lg:SuiGenerisAuthority Sub class of: lg:UnitaryAuthority [ proposed ]

Local authorities pre-dating local government reforms, i.e. the City of London and the Isles of Scilly.

Class: lg:NonPrincipalCouncil Sub class of: lg:LocalAuthority [ proposed ]

A local council, below the level of District Councils (or Unitary Authorities). Includes Town, Parish and Community councils.

Class: lg:ParishCouncil Sub class of: lg:NonPrincipalCouncil [ proposed ]

A local council, may be responsible for services like allotments, public toilets, parks and ponds, war memorials, and local halls and community centres. Sometimes described as the third tier of local government.

Class: lg:TownCouncil Sub class of: lg:NonPrincipalCouncil [ proposed ]

A local council, may be responsible for services like allotments, public toilets, parks and ponds, war memorials, and local halls and community centres. Sometimes described as the third tier of local government.

Class: lg:CommunityCouncil Sub class of: lg:NonPrincipalCouncil [ proposed ]

A form of local council in Wales or Scotland, broadly similar to English Town/Parish Councils, thought Scottish Community Councils typically have fewer powers.

Inter-organization relationships

Property: lg:district ( lg:CountyCouncil -> lg:DistrictCouncil ; sub property of: org:hasSubOrganization [ proposed ] )

Indicates a district council which is part of this county council.

Property: lg:localCouncil ( lg:LocalAuthority -> lg:NonPrincipalCouncil ; sub property of: org:hasSubOrganization [ proposed ] )

Indicates a non-principal or 'third tier' council below this Authority

Property: lg:directorate ( lg:LocalAuthority -> lg:Directorate ; sub property of: org:hasUnit [ proposed ] )

Indicates a directorate of a council.

Property: lg:department ( lg:LocalAuthority -> lg:Department ; sub property of: org:hasUnit [ proposed ] )

Indicates a department of a council. Note that departments are often part of larger directorates.

Departments and internal structures

Class: lg:Department Sub class of: org:OrganizationalUnit [ proposed ]

An administrative or internal unit of the council. If the department is part of some larger Directorate then this fact may be indicated using org:subOrganizationOf and org:hasSubOrganization. A department may have its own contact details denoted by an org:Site with a org:siteAddress VCard.

Class: lg:Directorate Sub class of: org:OrganizationalUnit [ proposed ]

An administrative or internal unit of the council. May contain smaller units, typically called Departments. A directorate may have its own contact details denoted by an org:Site with a org:siteAddress VCard.

Property: lg:providesService ( lg:Department -> skos:Concept [ proposed ] )

Indicates a service (describe using SKOS) which is provided by a department, ideally taken from ESDToolkit classification.

Committees

Class: lg:CouncilComittee Sub class of: gov:Commitee [ proposed ]

A kind of organization that consits purely of meetings. Use org:memberOf, gov:chairOf, gov:deputChairOf to indicate membership. Use gov:termsOfReference to give the purpose and terms of reference of the committee. Use lg:committeeMeeting to indicate meetings.

Property: lg:councilCommittee ( lg:LocalAuthority -> lg:CouncilCommittee [ proposed ] )

Indicates a committee which is associated with this Local Authority.

Property: lg:committeeMeeting ( lg:CouncilComittee -> event:Event [ proposed ] )

Indicates a meeting of the committee, a kind of event. Use event:time, event:place, event:agent to give details of the meeting.

Property: lg:minutes ( event:Event -> foaf:Document ; sub property of: event:product [ proposed ] )

Indicates minutes or similar documentation and records arising from a meeting (of a committee).

Posts for senior officers

Class: lg:ChiefExecutive Sub class of: gov:Post [ proposed ]

Post of Chief Executive. The instances (different for each local authority) should link to the Authority using gov:postIn and to the individual currently holding the post using gov:heldBy/gov:holdsPost

Class: lg:Leader Sub class of: gov:Post [ proposed ]

Post of council leader. The instances (different for each local authority) should link to the Authority using gov:postIn and to the individual currently holding the post using gov:heldBy/gov:holdsPost

Class: lg:DeputyLeader Sub class of: gov:Post [ proposed ]

Post of deputy council leader. The instances (different for each local authority) should link to the Authority using gov:postIn and to the individual currently holding the post using gov:heldBy/gov:holdsPost

Class: lg:Chairman Sub class of: gov:Post [ proposed ]

Post of council chairman. The instances (different for each local authority) should link to the Authority using gov:postIn and to the individual currently holding the post using gov:heldBy/gov:holdsPost

Class: lg:Mayor Sub class of: gov:Post [ proposed ]

Post of Mayor, covers Lord Mayors and elected Mayors. The instances (different for each local authority) link to the Authority using gov:postIn and to the individual currently holding the post using gov:heldBy/gov:holdsPost.

Property: lg:chiefExecutive ( lg:LocalAuthority -> foaf:Agent ; sub property of: org:hasMember [ proposed ] )

A short cut indicating the person who currently holds the post of Chief Executive of this local authority