Feed for UK ActsOPSI Website FAQs
Questions
- Can I print off legislation which is featured on the OPSI website?
- Why is legislation split over many pages?
- How do I find amendments to Acts and Statutory Instruments?
- How do I find EU legislation?
- What legislation is available in PDF?
- Why do you only display legislation back to 1988?
- I can't find any Bills on your site
- Where can I obtain very old, out of date publications/legislation?
- Can we add a link to you from our website?
- Where can I obtain legislation?
- Where can I obtain a Departmental Circular?
- I have a query regarding an item of legislation
- How do I find out more information on a particular Act?
Questions and Answers
Q. Can I print off legislation which is featured on the OPSI website?
A. Yes.
Q. Why is legislation split over many pages?
A. Legislation is split, or chunked, to speed up download times. Some of the Acts and Statutory Instruments are very large and, for visitors with slower modems or connections, the download times would be unacceptable. By chunking the information over a series of pages, the download time is greatly reduced.
From October 2005 onwards all new legislation is also available online in PDF format which enables users to download legislation as one complete document.
Q. How do I find amendments to Acts and Statutory Instruments?
A. All legislation published on this website is published as enacted or made.
The Annual Chronological Table of Statutes and the Chronological Tables of Local and Private Acts provide information of the status of individual Acts and Measures and references to the Acts and Statutory Instruments by which the Act or Measure has been amended, extended, restricted or otherwise affected. Copies of these tables are generally available from your local reference library. Chronological Tables referring to Local and Private Acts are available on this website.
The Statutory Publications Office is currently developing a Statute Law Database (SLD). Their aim is to update all Acts of the UK and the Scottish Parliaments incorporating all of the amendments made since enactment.
Q. How do I find EU legislation?
A. Go to www.europa.eu.int
Q. What legislation is available in PDF?
A. All legislation from the present day to 2002 is available in both PDF and HTML formats. Selected primary legislation to 1999 is also available in PDF.
Q. Why do you only display legislation back to 1988?
A. The website was launched in 1996. Initially, legislation was only available from that year. In 2000 we took the decision to include older legislation for which we had electronic files. These files only dated back to 1988. Prior to this, legislation is only available in its original print format.
Q. I can't find any Bills on your site
A. They are available on the Parliament site
Q. Where can I obtain very old, out of date publications/legislation?
A. The British Library runs a photocopying service of official publications which they hold.
Q. Can we add a link to you from our website?
A. Yes, we encourage the use of links to our website, as this in turn encourages the use of official information. Please note, that as a government site we cannot display a corresponding link back to your site.
Q. Where can I obtain legislation?
A. Legislation from 1988 onwards is available on this website from the legislation section.
Printed copies can be purchased from bookshops, or by ordering them from TSO Ltd
Q. Where can I obtain a Departmental Circular?
A. Information can be found from the relevant department or its successor - try Directgov search facility in the first instance.
Q. I have a query regarding an item of legislation
A. We are not involved in the creation of legislation and are therefore unable to respond to questions relating to its content. E.g. ’why does this Act say this at section 3?’ or ’What does paragraph 5 on page 7 mean’.
The Explanatory Notes which are produced for new Acts of Parliament, Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly may provide answers to these questions but generally it will be for an individual Government Department to provide answers to such questions.
The Directgov search facility will assist in finding the appropriate government site.
Q. How do I find out more information on a particular Act?
A. We have no additional information regarding the legislation we display. To find more information on an Act we recommend using the Directgov search facility.
Additional information is commonly requested on the following:
- The Human Rights Act - visit the Ministry of Justice
- The Data Protection Act - visit the Information Commissioner's Office
- Freedom of Information Act visit the Information Commissioner's Office