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Official Publications: UK

A guide to parliamentary, governmental and intra-governmental information

Official Publications

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UK Parliament

Search Parliamentary Material: search for documents on parliament website

Hansard: official record or debates of parliament from 1802 to current day

Erskine May: treatise or rules of parliamentary procedure

Parliament TV: live stream House of Commons, House of Lords and Committees

Overton

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Overton is a grey literature database including public policy documents, guidelines, think tank reports and working papers. Use it to find public policy documents on a topic and to find research impact, including the citation of academic publications, researchers and institutions. 

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Key UK Databases

Public Information Online (PIO)
Database of official publications of UK and devolved parliaments. Includes: House of Commons papers (1951-), House of Lords papers (1801-), Command papers (1835-), Bills (1919), Bill Tracker, Public General Acts (1900-), Private Acts (1991-), Hansard debates (1803-), Civil Service Yearbook, and non-parliamentary materials from government departments and agencies.

UK Parliamentary Papers (UKPP)
Database of officials publications of the UK parliament. Includes: House of Commons papers (1715-), House of Lords papers (1800-1910), Public Petitions to Parliament (1833-1918), Command Papers (1802-) and Hansard debates (1803-).

UK Government Web Archive
Archive of government documents, websites and social media from 1996 to current day 

UK Libraries and Archives

Parliamentary Archives: official archives of the House of Commons and House of Lords

British Library (BL): extensive collection of UK government official publications

National Archives (TNA): official archive of the UK, includes Discovery archive search engine, guides to archival research, and selected digitised collections, including The Cabinet Papers.

Library Research Briefings

Parliamentary libraries provide politically impartial information services to all members of the parliament. They research and publish briefing papers on current affairs and draft legislation for members, but make publications available to the general public. 

Official Activity

They Work For You: reports on the work of politicians in parliament

What Do They Know: supports and publishes Freedom of Information Requests (FOIs)

UK Historical Publications

British History Online (BHO)
Digital archive of historical publications. Includes Parliamentary Rolls of Medieval England, Calendars (index and summary) of Close rolls, Patent Rolls and State Papers, House of Commons Journals (1547-1699), House of Lords Journals (1509-1793), Greys Debates (1666-1694), Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, and Victoria County Histories.

State Papers Online (SPO)
Historical archive of domestic and foreign state papers from 1509 to 1782. Includes: Part 1: The Tudors: State Papers Domestic; Part 2: The Tudors: State Papers Foreign; Part 3: The Stuarts and Commonwealth: State Papers Domestic; Part 4: The Stuarts and Commonwealth: State Papers Foreign; and Eighteenth Century Part 1: State Papers Domestic, Military and Naval.

London

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London.Gov.UK

Official website of the Mayor of London, the London Assembly and the Greater London Authority.