British Government Publications: A Quick Guide

  • Academic Liaison Librarian for historical government publications: Clare White
  • Academic Liaison Librarian for modern government publications: Susan Clayton

Introduction

This guide provides a brief overview of British government publications available electronically and within the Government Publications section of the JB Morrell Library. A more detailed guide is available.

See British government publications for the historian (PDF , 207kb) for the use of the collections for historical research.

Please email lib-enquiry@york.ac.uk for further assistance.

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Government Publications section

The Government Publications section in North Room 2 on the ground floor of the Library contains the main print and microform collections. Most of the major series outlined in this guide can be found in this section. Please note that individual items within these series are not listed on the Library Catalogue. Items from the section are for reference use only. Many items are provided on microfiche or microcard. Microform reading facilities are provided in the corridor adjacent to North Room 2 and in the Raymond Burton Library Microform Room.

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Parliamentary Publications

Parliamentary publications are those papers needed by Parliament to conduct its business and which result from its proceedings. Parliamentary papers fall into three groups: sessional papers, debates and legislation.

Sessional Papers

These are the working papers of Parliament used in each session. There are four types of sessional papers: House of Commons Bills, House of Commons Papers, Command Papers, and House of Lords Papers and Bills.

House of Commons Bills

Bills are drafts of proposed Acts of Parliament. They include Public Bills, Private Bills, and Private Members' Bills. Bills are numbered sequentially through each session.

House of Commons Papers

These Papers include reports of House of Commons committees and some official bodies. Papers are numbered in sequence for each session.

Command Papers

This series includes major statements of government policy (also known as "white papers"), some departmental annual reports, and the reports of Royal Commissions. Command Papers are numbered within series of which there have been six to date.

House of Lords Papers and Bills

The House of Lords also produce papers and bills which are numbered in one sequence for each session.

Availability

The Library's main print and microform holdings form part of the Government Publications section as follows:

Irish University Press series

Selected papers 1801-1899
    (bound by subject)

British Sessional Papers House of Commons

1731-1964/65
    (microfiche in North Room 2 corridor)

House of Commons Bills/Papers/Command Papers

1962/63-1978/79
    (bound by subject)
1979/80-1983/84
    (bound by series)
1984/85-2005/6 (microfiche)

House of Lords Papers/Bills

1968/69-1986/87
    (bound volumes)
1986/87-2004/5 (microfiche)

Some papers, for example, important Command Papers, are purchased in hard copy and placed in the main collections. These are listed on the Library Catalogue.

The following major online collections are available.

18th Century British Official Parlimentary Publications (1688-1834)

Eighteenth Century British Official Parlimentary Publications portal
    Includes House of Commons Sessional Papers 1715-1834, House of Lords Sessional Papers 1714-1805

18th, 19th, 20th and 21st Century House of Commons Parlimentary Papers

HCPP:
   Bills, Papers and Command Papers 1688-1834*, 1801-

*also includes some additional materials from House of Lords.

In addition, the following are also freely available.

House of Commons and House of Lords Bills

United Kingdom Parliament:
    Bills currently before Parliament
    Public Bills before Parliament 2002/03-

House of Commons Papers

United Kingdom Parliament:
    Committees pages for Select Committee reports 1997/98
Official Documents
    Command Papers and House of Commons Papers May 2005-
Official Documents Archive
    Selected papers 1994-April 2005

House of Lords Papers

United Kingdom Parliament:
    Committees pages for Select Committee reports, some from 1997/98-

Parliamentary Debates

Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)

From 1803 onwards, the substantially verbatim record of debates for the House of Commons and House of Lords has been provided by the Official Report (or Hansard). Hansard is issued in daily and weekly parts, and then cumulated into bound sessional volumes which are the volumes of record.

The period before 1803 is recorded by Cobbett's Parliamentary History. Debates in the House of Lords have been recorded separately since 1909.

Standing Committee Debates

A record of debates of Standing Committees set up to discuss Bills, and other Standing Committee debates.

Availability

The following series are available in the Government Publications section:

Cobbett's Parliamentary History 1066-1803
Parliamentary Debates Series 1-4 1803-1908
House of Commons Hansard Series 5 & 6 1909-1918
1928/29-1937/38 (microcard)
1919-1928/29, 1938/39-
1945/46 (bound volumes, incomplete)
1946/47 - (mainly bound volumes, see online for most recent debates)
House of Lords Hansard Series 5 1909-1918 (microcard)
1961/62 - (See online for most recent debates)
Standing Committee Debates 1960/61-1979/80

Current debates are also available online:

House of Commons Hansard

United Kingdom Parliament:
    Daily editions for last 5 days.
    Bound volumes 1989-
    Searchable from 1988-

House of Lords Hansard

United Kingdom Parliament:
    Daily editions for last 5 days.
    Bound volumes 1994/95
    Searchable from 1995 -

House of Commons Standing Committee Debates

United Kingdom Parliament:
    Debates on Bills and other debates from 1997/98-

Legislation

Acts of Parliament

Public General Acts are the Acts most commonly quoted. These are Public Bills which have received the Royal Assent. They are published separately and later cumulated into annual volumes. Numbering is by chapter number. Since 1963, numbering is within the calendar year; before 1963 it was by parliamentary session indicated by regnal year.

Statutory Instruments

These are the most common form of delegated legislation. They are numbered consecutively through the calendar year and cumulated into annual volumes.

Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales provides an up-to date version of each Act in force, plus annotations relating to debates, amendments and repeals.

Availability

The Library's holdings in the Government Publications section include:

Statutes and Public General Acts Statutes at Large 1225-1840
Statutes of the UK 1801 - (incl annual volumes of Public General Acts 1881- )
Statutory Instruments 1962 - (annual volumes)
Halsbury's Statutes Main volumes, cumulative supplements and updates

Much recent legislation is freely available online:

Public General Acts & Measures of the General Synod

OPSI:
    1988 - Also links to legislation for Northern Ireland, Scotland And Wales 1999 onwards.

Local Acts OPSI: 1991 -
Statutory Instruments OPSI: 1987 -
Statute Law

UK Statute Law Database
    Official revised edition of the primary legislation.

The Library provides further access to legal information via the law databases listed on Metalib.

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Non-Parliamentary Papers

Many documents are produced by government departments for use outside the Parliamentary context.

These may be published by the department or by The Stationery Office (TSO). Items held by the Library are listed on the Library Catalogue. See government department websites for many recent documents (see Directgov links).

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Indexes and Catalogues

A number of print indexes are available in the Government Publications section to help trace items. Examples include the Annual Catalogue, HMSO catalogue, and the TSO catalogue. These index both Parliamentary and non-Parliamentary papers. Specialist indexes are available for earlier time periods.

Online indexes include BOPCRIS which indexes documents from 1688-1995. The University of Southampton WebCat can be used to trace official publications from 1995 (use Advanced Search, Material type British Offical Publications.) TSO provides its own online catalogue.

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Key Websites