A Service Level Agreement (SLA) with GiGL gives our partners full access to GiGL data and services. As an SLA partner you receive copies every three months of GiGL’s core datasets for your area, plus a buffer, in full resolution GIS format. And you can request ad hoc tailored data extracts for your projects at any time. These data are only available to GiGL data use licence holders at full resolution with comprehensive attributes; a licence is provided with your SLA. In addition, we provide you with standardised copies of third–party datasets for context, including statutory sites data for your area.
As well as providing original data, GiGL can help you to interpret, analyse and summarise datasets, and make custom maps and stats for your partner projects. We can also advise you on data collection and processing, and answer GIS queries.
You can share GiGL data with your contractors too. Please contact us first to arrange appropriate licencing.
Read more about the benefits of joining the GiGL partnership or get in touch with GiGL’s Partnership Manager, Julie, to discuss becoming a GiGL partner.
If you’re an SLA partner looking to commission work or request data, please fill in our online request form.
Data Exchange
Your SLA keeps you updated with changes to the GiGL core datasets for your area. We send you regular updates in the form of a quarterly “data exchange”. The GiGL team are continually adding to, updating and improving our databases, so the data exchange ensures that you have the most up-to-date information available for your work. You can also contact us in between data exchanges for checks or data updates.
The “data exchange” is also a two-way process. We will regularly ask you for updates to survey data and policy information you manage, so that we can add those to the London-wide databases on your behalf. Our officers are skilled at data entry and validation and we work with you and other London experts on verification. This process ensures your data are managed safely and appropriately within London’s standard environmental data holdings and reflected in data outputs for other licenced users and within our planning reports. It also helps our Local Planning Authority and land manager partners to meet the Mayor of London’s expectations for data management in the London Environment Strategy.
The GiGL databases combine data from multiple sources in a standardised and verified format – so as well as getting back versions of your own data that have been cleaned and checked, you receive a wealth of information about your area that has been collected by other organisations and individuals in our network, including recording schemes, Local Authorities, NGOs and developers.
London-wide organisations receive data for the whole of Greater London. Other organisations receive data for their area of interest plus a 500m buffer, helping to put their area into the wider environmental context.
As an SLA partner, you can integrate the GiGL data into your own in-house systems, map and analyse them. We offer customised data exchange files for partners who use particular subsets of the data on a regular basis (e.g. bats for planning screening) – please don’t hesitate to ask. The data is only for internal use by your organisation, but if publication is needed we can assist by finding appropriate options and licencing.
Please contact Partnership Officer, Molly, for further information about the GiGL Data Exchange.
Specific Requests
GiGL partners can contact us with specific requests, including (but not limited to): tailored datasets for particular sites and projects; assistance in interpreting the data; custom PDF maps for reports; data analysis and summary statistics; survey form design; answering queries on the history of a particular site or survey; advice and assistance with using GIS software.
We process partner requests within 10 working days, and usually faster. When this is not possible because of the complexity of the request or the nature of the project, we will arrange a suitable project outline and timeline with the partner.
GiGL services are available throughout the year for SLA holders and incur no extra cost. (Though please note that projects with external funding or multiple partners – e.g. HLF funding bids – may not be covered by the SLA of an individual participating organisation, and will usually require a GiGL SLA or project funding of their own).
For more information about our services for partners please see here.
Sharing Data with Contractors
SLAs are designed to support your ongoing requirements for evidence. Many organisations directly engage consultants or other organisations to support their strategic work on a project basis. We can share relevant GiGL datasets with your contractors and advice on using the data, providing that the contractor first completes a Data Use Licence with us and that they are delivering work to you not covered by your SLA. There is no additional charge for this service.
And don’t forget that GiGL might be able to carry out some, or all, of the work you are contracting either under your SLA or as a separate contract, please enquire.