Addresses list for England and Wales

The National Address Gazetteer will end the need for public services and businesses to pay for two overlapping "address books" maintained by councils and Ordnance Survey.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the new comprehensive register would be more efficient and save money for both the public and private sectors.

It is being developed by Ordnance Survey and the Local Government Group and is expected to be ready for market review by April.

The database will be made "free at the point of use" to all public services. An address list is required by the emergency services to reach people in distress, as well as for things like benefits administration, arranging school buses and maintaining voting registers.

Businesses, such as utilities and insurance companies who require an address list, will only have to subscribe to one in future.

Mr Pickles said: "It's crazy we don't have one single address list in this country.

"It makes no sense that both the public sector and businesses have to bear the unnecessary expense of licensing two sets of data, especially in these straitened times.

"In particular, it is vital that the emergency services can get to people as quickly as possible.

"Having only one 'address book' will make that job easier, deliver vital savings that can be put towards frontline services and bring real benefits for business."

Baroness (Margaret) Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said it was a "landmark agreement" that would help councils and public services build "a better, more accurate picture of where people live."