Approved Suppliers are organisations offering value added products derived from Census output and which demonstrate that they meet agreed standards of data analysis and dissemination. Benefits of the scheme include:
ensuring the continued quality of value-added services which complements the output of the Census organisations whilst also helping to maintain the good name of the Census.
the Census organisations will monitor the use of Census output by the 'Approved Suppliers' to ensure that standards are maintained;
the Census organisations will publish a list of companies/organisations who meet the accepted criteria as resellers of Census output ('Approved Suppliers');
'Approved Suppliers' will be able to state that they have been designated 'Approved Suppliers' by meeting required criteria set by the Census organisations, and will be able to display an 'Approved Suppliers' logo on products;
'Approved Suppliers' will be able to use the trading advantage of their status.
It is not compulsory for all value-added resellers to become an Approved Supplier. Anyone with a 'Core click-use' Licence or a Distribution Licence can be a value-added reseller of Census output, but an Approved Supplier must have a Distribution Licence. The Census organisations will publish a list of Approved Suppliers via their Website and issue information about each Approved Supplier, but will not recommend any specific supplier.
The Census organisations' would make efforts to monitor the use of Census output and will investigate any potential breaches brought to their attention.
Coverage
In order to ensure a consistent approach in dealing with the Approved Suppliers, the scheme will operate on a UK-basis only, with ONS acting on behalf of GROS and NISRA and dealing with the bulk of the administration. All three Census organisations will consider and approve each company that is offered the status "Approved Supplier".
Costs
The Approved Supplier scheme will run on a cost recovery basis with all costs incurred by individual Census organisations being recovered. Charges will be recalculated each year by re-costing using the same criteria and tasks. No charge will be made for the up-front negotiations of the Approved Suppliers Scheme, e.g. the initial discussions and investigative work carried out before the scheme was initiated. In exceptional circumstances the Census organisations reserve the right to re-negotiate charges and membership if the Approved Supplier causes unexpected extra work relating to the scheme. This unexpected work would not cover queries relating to Census output or anything else that is not directly related to the Approved Suppliers scheme.
Standards
The Census organisations propose that the assessment process will consist of the following:
a) the requirement to return a company profile;
b) the requirement to submit a copy of the company accounts for the last financial year;
c) an evaluation of whether or not the company might damage the good name of the Census organisations;
d) evaluation of whether or not there is a risk that the company's activities might damage the public's perception of the confidentiality of census output; and
e) demonstration of technical and statistical competence at an assessment visit made to the proposed 'Approved Supplier's head office in the UK.
Meetings
An initial assessment meeting will be held with all applicants and annual-monitoring meetings will follow, commencing in year two. These meetings will be carried out at the organisations head office by the Census organisation that covers that region, e.g. ONS will visit all those with Head Offices in England and Wales and GROS will visit those with Head Offices in Scotland. In exceptional circumstances when the applicant does not have a head office or regional office in the UK alternative arrangements will be considered and/or negotiated. Pricing implications would be considered when negotiating arrangements. All Approved Suppliers would need to satisfy the Census organisations that they continue to meet the standards c, d and e at all future annual monitoring meetings. Failure to meet these standards would result in the Approved Supplier being withdrawn from the Scheme.
Publicity
The ONS website contains a list of the Approved Suppliers plus a link to their Websites. The other Census organisations' websites will at the very least contain mention of the scheme and a link to the relevant page on the ONS Website.
A user guide containing publicity information supplied by each Approved Supplier is also available from Census Customer Services.
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