Sharing data on local areas is set to become much easier thanks to a landmark deal between councils and key government agencies.

Ordnance Survey (OS) has set up a joint venture with the Local Government Group (LGG) to create a single national database, the National Address Gazetteer Database (NAGD), for use by the public and private sectors by acquiring the company that manages the two national land and property databases, the National Land and Property Gazetteer and the National Street Gazeteer.