• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Glossary
• Guide to Revised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk
• Statutory Instrument Practice

Help

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Legislation content on this website

• What legislation is held onlegislation.gov.uk?
• Will I find new legislation onlegislation.gov.uk?
• Why isn't the legislation I amlooking for on this site?
• How can I access legislationthat isn’t available on legislation.gov.uk?
• What legislation is available asrevised?
• How up to date is the revised content onthis website?
• How will I know if the legislation Iam viewing is up to date or if there are changes (e.g.effects or amendments) that have not yet been applied to it?
• How up to date are the lists ofoutstanding changes in the Changes to Legislation box atthe top of legislation items?
• Who produces the latest revisedversion of the legislation?

Using legislation.gov.uk

• How do I open a whole Act onlegislation.gov.uk?
• I don't understand the tooltips, wherecan I get more help using the site?
• What are annotations?
• Can I search by subject?
• How can I give feedback onlegislation.gov.uk?

Help with legislation

• Where do I get helpunderstanding a particular legislation item or area oflegislation?
• Can you help me to find the lawon a particular subject?
• How do I get advice about a legalproblem?
• Where can I find out about thehistory of a legislation item and the legislativeprocess?
• How do I refer to legislation in anacademic work or publication?

Legislation content on this website

Q. What legislation is held on legislation.gov.uk?

A. Legislation.gov.uk carries most (but not all) types of legislationand their accompanying explanatory documents. For a full list oflegislation types held on legislation.gov.uk seeBrowse Legislation. For further details of how complete ourdata set is for each type, click on a legislation type from theBrowse Legislation page and see the colour coded bar for each year.

• All primary legislation from 1988 – present day is available onthis site (see‘Why isn't thelegislation I am looking for on this site?’ fordetails of any known legislation we do not carry). Most pre-1988 primary legislation that is still in force is available on this site, as well as most local, private and personal Acts. In some cases weonly have the original published (as enacted) version and norevised version. This occurs if the legislation was whollyrepealed before 1991 and therefore was not included in therevised data set when it was extracted from Statutes in Force.In other cases we may only have a revised version if theoriginal (as enacted) version is not available in aweb-publishable format.
• All secondary legislation from 1987, including UK Statutory Instruments, Scottish Statutory Instruments and Northern Ireland Statutory Rules. In addition we hold a selection of secondary legislation from 1948-1986, and selected pre-1948 Statutory Rules and Orders.
• Legislation originating from the EU, as set out inSchedule 5 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16), as amended by theEuropean Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020. We captured and published legislation originating from the EU up to 11.00 p.m. on 31 December 2020. EUR-Lex holds EU legislation as it currently applies in the EU.

Q. Will I find new legislation on legislation.gov.uk?

A. Yes. Legislation.gov.uk is the official place of publication fornewly enacted legislation. The aim is to publish legislation onlegislation.gov.uk simultaneously with, or at least within 24 hours,of its publication in printed form. Any document which is especiallycomplex in terms of its size or its typography may take longer toprepare and so a PDF version will be published first. Legislationdetailed on theNew Legislation page is listed bydate published to this website.

Q. Why isn't the legislation I am looking for on this site?

A. There are two reasons why the item you are looking for is not onthis site:

1. It may be that we do not carry the item of legislation you arelooking for because it is not available in a web publishableformat. This is the most likely reason if you are looking for anold legislation item that was repealed before our base date of1991 or was for some other reason not included in the earlierhard-copy editions of the revised statutes (see below‘What legislation is availableas revised?’). You may be able to obtain aprinted copy fromThe BritishLibrary which runs a photocopying service of officialpublications (including legislation) which they hold, or try theParliamentary Archives website.
2. You may be looking for a piece of EU legislation that is not published on legislation.gov.uk. Not all legislation originating from the EU was selected for publication on legislation.gov.uk.Selecting legislation originating from the EU to publish on legislation.gov.uk sets out our selection criteria. TheEU Exit Web Archive has captured the versions of EU legislation, and a wider selection of documents, up to 11.00 p.m. on 31 December 2020. EUR-Lex holds EU legislation as it applies in the EU.

Q. How can I access legislation that isn't available on legislation.gov.uk?

A. Where legislation is not available on legislation.gov.uk, it maybe possible to view or obtain a copy from one of the sources listedbelow.

TheEU Exit Web Archive collection contains a wider selection of documents from EUR-Lex in English, French and German, captured up to 11.00 p.m. on 31 December 2020. This includes Treaties, legislative acts, the Official Journal of the European Union, case law and other supporting materials, and judgements of the European Court of Justice.

Most law, university and major public libraries will hold publishedannual bound volumes of both primary and secondary legislation.Older primary legislation (pre- the 1900s) is normally found ineither the “Statutes of the Realm” or “Statutes atLarge”. Prior to the Statutory Instruments Act 1946 (c.36),secondary legislation was known as Statutory Rules and Orders(SROs). From 1894 until 31 December 1947 SROs were a numbered annualseries. SROs existed prior to 1894 but were un-numbered. Thepublication of annual volumes of SROs began in 1890. Prior to thisthere was no systematic publication of these Rules, Orders andRegulations. Sometimes they would appear in an Official Publicationsuch as the London Gazette or a Parliamentary Paper or a StationeryOffice Publication, while a portion of them can only be found inpapers printed by the Department concerned or in text books.Information regarding SROs can be found in the publication entitled Table of Government Orders.

In Northern Ireland Primary and subordinate legislation not available on legislation.gov.uk can be found in the Annual Volumes of legislation for Northern Ireland. For revised Northern Ireland Primary legislation please refer to the Statutes Revised (Northern Ireland) 2nd Edition 1981 or contactSPOLegislation@executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk who can generally help users find older Northern Ireland Statutory Rules and pre-1921 Northern Ireland legislation.

British History Online has the text fromStatutes of the Realm of Public Acts dating between 1628-1701 (excluding 1629 to 1640 during which time Parliament was not summoned to sit) and the text of theActs and Ordinances of the Interregnum from 1642-1660.

The Research and Enquiries Room Library atThe National Archives holds bound volumes of legislation as do the Social Sciences Reading Rooms at theBritish Library. Other major libraries holding UK Legislation are:The Bodleian Library, Oxford;The University Library, Cambridge;The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh;The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth;The Main Library - The Queen's University of Belfast andThe Library of Trinity College, Dublin. TheLaw Society offers access to its Library free of charge to Solicitors in the UK and Wales as well as offering paid for day pass access to people who are not members of the Law Society (please note day passes must be applied for in advance and access is limited to hard copy resources only).

Official copies of all Acts are lodged withParliamentary Archives. The Parliamentary Archives website also has guidance on theRecords of the House of Lords and House of Commons. The Parliamentary Archives are open to the public however visits are by appointment only and must be made at least two working days in advance. Please contact Parliamentary Archives by email:archives@parliament.uk or phone: +44 (0)20 7219 3074) to arrange a visit.

The repositories at The National Archives hold a variety of legislation which can be viewed in the Reading Rooms. Please see the guidanceLooking for Records of Parliament available on The National Archives website as well asPrivy Council since 1386 which includes information about how to locate local statutory instruments (also see information on local statutory instruments further down this section). To view original documents, you will need to obtain a reader's ticket by bringing two forms of identification with you when you visit. For further details please see theBefore You Visit pages on The National Archives website where you can also find details aboutOrdering Documents in Advance.

A list of major collections of local legislation in the United Kingdom can be found on the website athttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/changes/chron-tables/local/intro (scroll down to the page to Section 6). Many of these may also hold general legislation. This area of the website also provides access to theChronological Table of Local Acts and theChronological Tables of the Private and Personal Acts. The Chronological Table of the Statutes for general primary legislation is not yet available in electronic format. Users wishing to reference this publication should visit a major public, university or law library.

Local Statutory Instruments (SIs) are not normally printed and we only recently started uploading PDFs of local non-print SIs onto the website. There is no intention of retrospectively uploading older non-print SIs as most are not in electronic format. Photocopies of UK and Welsh local non-print Statutory Instruments from 1922 to 2006 can be ordered from The National Archives by using theonline contact form stating that you would like a copy of a local statutory instrument held in repository reference TS37 citing the SI Year, Number and Title wherever possible. Requests for local non-print Statutory Instruments not yet deposited in the repository (i.e. post 2006 SIs) and not available on the website should be emailed to:siregistrar@nationalarchives.gov.uk. Local Scottish Statutory Instruments are lodged withThe National Archives of Scotland (email:enquiries@nas.gov.uk – phone: +44(0)131 535 1352 (Legal Search Room)). For local Northern Ireland Statutory Rules, please contact the Statutory Publications Office in Belfast on +44(0)28 9052 3237 or emailSPOLegislation@executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk.

Printed copies of enacted legislation and other official publications can be purchased fromThe Stationery Office Limited (TSO) (email:book.orders@tso.co.uk – phone: +44 (0) 870 600 5522. Printed copies of revised versions of legislation are normally only available through specialist legal publishers.

Q. What legislation is available as revised?

A. Most types of primary legislation (e.g. Acts, Measures, N.I. Orders in Council) and selected secondary legislation (e.g. Statutory Instruments) are held in ‘revised’ form:

• Public General Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament (1801 to date)
• Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain (1707 – 1800)
• Acts of the English Parliament (1267 – 1706)
• Acts of the Old Scottish Parliament (1424 – 1707)
• Acts of the Scottish Parliament (1999 to date)
• Acts of Senedd Cymru (2020 to date)
• Acts of the National Assembly for Wales (2012 to 2020)
• Measures of the National Assembly for Wales (2008 – 2011)
• Acts of the Irish Parliament (1495 – 1800)
• Acts of the Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921 – 1972)
• Measures of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1974)
• Orders in Council made under the Northern Ireland Acts (1972 to date) (effectively the primary legislation for Northern Ireland under direct rule, though in the form of Statutory Instruments)
• Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly (2000 – 2002 and 2007 to date)
• Church of England Measures (1920 to date)
• UK Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
• Scottish Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
• Welsh Statutory Instruments (2018 to date)
• Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland (2018 to date)
• European Regulations (1958 to 31 December 2020)
• European Decisions (1953 to 31 December 2020)
• European Directives (1959 to 31 December 2020)

Secondary legislation made in 2018 onwards is being revised. Revised versions of some earlier secondary legislation is also held on legislation.gov.uk. This work has mainly been carried out by in collaboration with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Coverage is now also being expanded further to include secondary legislation made under s. 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.

By ‘revised’ we mean that amendments made by subsequentlegislation are incorporated into the text. Most types of secondarylegislation are not revised and are held only in the form in which they were originally made.

The originating text of the revised content was derived mainly from the publication Statutes in Force (SIF), a ‘loose-leaf’ style official edition of the revised statute book arranged according to subject matter. SIF was regularly updated with the effects of new legislation made until 1 February 1991. The date of this final revision became the ‘base date’ from which the revised content has been taken forward on the web. SIF did not generally include certain categories of legislation, such as Statute Law Revision Acts, Statute Law (Repeals) Acts and Acts extending only to Northern Ireland. (For further details, see theGuide to Revised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk at page 6). The other main source of revised legislation held on legislation.gov.uk is The Northern Ireland Statutes Revised, the official revised version of the primary legislation of Northern Ireland. The content of the numbered volumes and their supplements covering the period from 1921 onwards has been incorporated into legislation.gov.uk as it stood at 31 December 2005.

Where available, we have published legislation originating in the EU as revised versions and we incorporated amendments made by the EU up to IP completion day (31 December 2020). Amendments made by UK legislation to retained EU legislation are treated by legislation.gov.uk in the same way as amendments to other UK legislation. The amendments are published inChanges to Legislation as soon as possible, and are carried out when they come into force and revised versions of changed documents are created. We also create point in time versions of documents to show how they have changed over time. However, due to the high volume of Statutory Instruments containing EU Exit amendments published in the period up to and around 31 December 2020, the usualeditorial practice and timescales will not apply toEU Exit amendments.

Q. How up to date is the revised content on this website?

A. The vast majority (over 99%) of the Acts on Legislation.gov.uk are up to date.

Secondary legislation made in 2018 and onwards is also kept up to date. Selected pre-2018 secondary legislation is also kept up to date, with more secondary legislation in scope to be revised in future.

Legislation originating from the EU is being brought up to date with amendments made by the UK.

Our aim is to update revised legislation with new amendments within a maximum of three months of the coming into force date of the new amendments. In most cases, though, this is done much more quickly. In all cases, the “changes to legislation” message tells you if there are any outstanding effects.

Q. How will I know if the legislation I am viewing is up to date or if there are changes (e.g. effects or amendments) that have not yet been applied to it?

When you access a revised item of legislation, in the first instance a 'Changes to Legislation' message will appear at the top of the Table of Contents. This will either state that there are no known outstanding changes to the legislation you are viewing or that there are some outstanding changes yet to be applied by the Legislation.gov.uk Editorial Team. On opening the content of any revised item of legislation that has outstanding changes and effects waiting to be applied to it by the editorial team the outstanding effects are listed at the top of the provision.

Q. How up to date are the lists of outstanding changes in the Changes to Legislation box at the top of legislation items?

A. The changes to legislation (e.g. effects and amendments) displayedat the top of the page when you are viewing revised legislation areadded as soon as possible after the new legislation is received.However, theChanges to Legislation facility on the website isupdated with the effects of new legislation only after a series ofpreparatory editorial processes have been completed. These processestypically take from four to eight weeks to complete depending on thevolume of new legislation. In some cases, such as where an Act isvery large or heavily affecting, or a large number of Acts havereceived Royal Assent at the same time, it may take longer.

In the case of legislation originating from the EU, a significant number of corrective amendments from UK legislation came into force at 11:00 p.m. on 31 December 2020. It will not be possible to complete all of the relevant updates within the usual timeframe. SeeRevising legislation originating from the EU for more information.

Q. Who produces the latest revised version of the legislation?

A. Responsibility for the revised UK legislation content on legislation.gov.uk lieswith the Legislation Editorial Team at The National Archives inLondon and the staff of the Northern Ireland Statutory PublicationsOffice in Belfast. For further details, go to the 'About Us'tab at the top of any web page on the site. Increasingly, in thefuture, revision work will be carried out by external expertparticipants as well as in-house editors, though our in-house revieweditors will continue to ensure the high quality of the publishedoutput. (For further information, see above‘Will the revised legislation ever be brought up todate?’)

Using legislation.gov.uk

Q. How do I open a whole Act onlegislation.gov.uk?

A. Once you have completed a search on legislation and have selectedan item of legislation, you will be taken to the Table of Contentsfor that item of legislation. From this page you can open thelegislation at any level by selecting opening options on theleft-hand menu. It is also possible to use ‘printoptions’ to generate a PDF of the whole Act.

Q. I don’t understand the tooltips where can Iget more help using the site?

A. A fullGlossary of terms used on this siteboth in the help tips and within the functionality is available atthe foot of this page.

TheGuide toRevised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk gives an overviewof the approach the legislation.gov.uk Editorial Team takes whenapplying changes and effects to the latest revised versions oflegislation.

If you can not find the answer you are looking for on this pagepleasecontact us.

Q. What are annotations?

A. Annotations are notes that appear at the foot of a piece oflegislative text on legislation.gov.uk. They are mainly used toprovide the authority for amendments or other effects on thelegislation, but they may also be used to convey other editorialinformation.

Each annotation has a reference number and the nature of theinformation it contains is conveyed by the annotation type. Forinstance,F-notes identify amendments wherethere is authority to change the text, andI-notes contain information about the coming into force ofa provision. For further details, see theGuide toRevised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk.

Q. Can I search by subject?

A. It is not currently possible to search all legislation on thissite by subject. It is however possible to browse secondarylegislation by Subject Heading from the Browse Legislation tab.Subject Headings are assigned to SIs when they are drafted andrelate to their enabling power.

Q. How can I give feedback onlegislation.gov.uk?

A. We would welcome any feedback or comments you have aboutlegislation.gov.uk.Please email us your feedback.

Help with legislation

Q. Where do I get help understanding aparticular legislation item or area of legislation?

A. To obtain further information on a particular legislation item orarea of legislation, you shouldcontact thegovernment department responsible for the legislation. Youcan determine the department responsible for a particular piece oflegislation by looking at the signature block on the StatutoryInstruments (SIs) relating to the legislation. For Acts, if theyhave an accompanying Explanatory Note (found under the "ExplanatoryNotes" or "More Resources" tab) the introductory paragraph normallyidentifies the government department that sponsored the Act throughParliament. Please note Explanatory Notes for Acts in the UnitedKingdom were only introduced in 1999. Additionally certain financialActs do not usually have Explanatory Notes, including AppropriationActs and Consolidated Fund Acts. Acts that have been introduced toParliament by the House of Lords often do not have accompanyingExplanatory Notes. Some Departments have changed names over theyears, so you may need to make a determination as to whichdepartment you believe currently has the remit for the particulararea of responsibility you are interested in.

Some UK SIs also have an accompanying Explanatory Memorandum (not theExplanatory Note at the end of the SI) where you will find aparagraph that contains contact details for that particular piece oflegislation. This is normally Paragraph 13 for most SIs or Paragraph9 for older SIs). You can find Explanatory Memoranda by clicking onthe 'Explanatory Memorandum' or 'More Resources' tabs within thelegislation.

You can findgovernment department contact details on the centralisedgovernment website-GOV.UK. GOV.UK also has a wealth of information on a variety of subjectswhich may assist you with your query.

A great deal of legislation (such as building regulations, planning,local roads and parking, licensing, noise, etc) is actuallyadministered by local councils who are normally the best point ofcontact for advice on these matters. You can also findlocal council contact details on the GOV.UK website.

Q. Can you help me to find the law on aparticular subject?

A. We regret that we are unable to carry out any research on yourbehalf. Legislation.gov.uk exists as an online resource enablingusers to carry out their own research using the search facilitiesprovided. You should bear in mind that the law on any given subjectmay be contained in many different statutes or statutory instrumentsand there may be other sources of relevant law, such as case law,that are not held on legislation.gov.uk. For example, you might wantto know what the law is concerning ‘direct debits’ andsearches on legislation.gov.uk using these terms produce no results.In fact, the law concerning direct debits is not directly governedby statute law at all – it is founded in the common law ofcontract and is mainly regulated by a non-statutory set of rulestogether with case law. Our staff do not have the legal knowledge toanswer this sort of question and we do not have the resources tocarry out the necessary research ourselves on users’ behalf.You may be able to obtain assistance with researching a legalsubject by contacting a law library.

Q. How do I get advice about a legalproblem?

A. We are unable to provide you with any legal advice, not evenadvice concerning the correct interpretation of legislation as we donot have any legal expertise at our disposal. Our role is to publishlegislation and our task in relation to the revision of legislationis purely an editorial one.

You can obtain advice about legal problems from Citizens Advice, which provides free information and advice to people inEngland and Waleson legal, money and other problems. There are also Citizens AdviceServices forScotland andNorthern Ireland.

Citizens Advice also provides a self-help website, calledAdviceGuide, which offers advice forEngland,Scotland,NorthernIreland andWales.

Advice for queries related to specific topics (for example consumerrights, trading standards, employment rights, debt, fraud, adoption,tenants rights, etc.) is often best obtained through specialistorganisations, regulatory bodies, or ombudsman services who dealsolely with this subject and have in-depth knowledge of whatlegislation applies in what circumstances. Details of relevantorganisations can usually be found by searching either theAdviceGuide websites listed above or on theGOV.UK website

In some cases it is best to obtain professional legal advice.Law Centres provide anindependent legal advice and representation service across the UK.Advicenow is anindependent, not-for-profit website providing accurate, up-to-dateinformation on rights and legal issues.

The Law Society for Englandand Wales represents solicitors and provides information onfinding a solicitor and theSolicitors Regulation Authority which regulates solicitorsin England and Wales, provides information on what to expect whenusing a solicitor.The LawSociety of Scotland represents and regulates solicitors inScotland and can help you find a solicitor in Scotland andThe Law Society of NorthernIreland represents and regulates solicitors in NorthernIreland and can help you find a solicitor in Northern Ireland. TheLegal Ombudsmanhas formal powers to resolve complaints about lawyers andsolicitors.

Q. Where can I find out about the history ofa legislation item and the legislative process?

A. Acts start out as Bills and only become part of the statute bookonce they have passed all stages of Parliamentary procedure andreceive Royal Assent. Once they have received Royal Assent, Acts arepublished under the authority of the King’s Printer to thiswebsite. Information about a Bill’s passage can be found onthe individual national Parliamentary and Assembly websites for theUKParliament,Scottish Parliament,Northern Ireland Assembly and thethe Welsh Parliament. These websites also contain information on theirparticular legislative process and procedures. The history of theparliamentary debates relating to Bills in the UK Parliament can befound inHansard the edited verbatim report of proceedings of boththe House of Commons and the House of Lords.

For legislation originating from the EU, seeEU Legislation and UK Law for more information.

Q. How do I refer to legislation in academicwork or publication?

A. The way in which legislation should be referred to in academicwork and publications depends on the referencing style adopted bythe academic institution or publishing house in question. Forexample, many universities use style guides based on the HarvardReferencing Style. The particular style requirements of eachinstitution or publisher may differ, however, and you should alwayscheck with your faculty or publisher how they expect you to refer tolegislation in your work. Bearing this in mind, you may find thefollowing information useful:

Title, year and number

The formats described here reflect generally accepted practice amonglegislators and legal practitioners.

Glossary

Where a term defined below begins with a capital letter, thisindicates that the term usually begins with a capital letter when itis used in legislation or in annotations.

For more detailed information about the revised legislation on thewebsite, including editorial practice, see theGuide toRevised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk.

Act

A law enacted by a parliament or similar legislative body. Inthe UK, Acts may be made by the UK Parliament, the ScottishParliament, the Welsh Parliament, or the NorthernIreland Assembly. Historically, Acts were also made by theparliaments that met before the UK came into existence andby the Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921 to 1972).

Acts are a form of primary legislation.

affected provision

A provision (e.g. a section) subject to one or more changesor effects.

affecting provision

A provision that gives rise to one or more changes oreffects.

amendment

An effect that changes the text of legislation. The term‘amended’ is also sometimes used onlegislation.gov.uk to indicate an effect that changes themeaning of the legislation even though the text itself isnot changed.

annotation

A note that appears at the foot of a provision (or under theassociated heading if relating to a higher-level division)and which gives authority for an effect or extra informationabout the provision in general or a specific part of thatprovision.

Each annotation has a reference number and the nature of theinformation it contains is conveyed by the annotation type.For instance, F-notes identify amendments where there isauthority to change the text, and I-notes containinformation about the coming into force of a provision.

base date

The term we use for the starting point from which therevision of legislation on legislation.gov.uk (andpreviously on the UK Statute Law Database) has been carriedforward. It is the date to which the text of the earlierhard copy editions had been revised when used as theoriginating text for the electronic version.

For most types of revised legislation on legislation.gov.uk,the base date is 1 February 1991.

The originating text for most types of legislation wasderived mainly from ‘Statutes in Force’ (SIF),an earlier official edition of the revised statute book. Thefinal revision of SIF incorporated all effects oflegislation made or enacted up to 1 February 1991, but theeffects of a small number of consolidation Acts enactedafter the base date, in 1991 and 1992, were alsoincorporated.

For the revised legislation of Northern Ireland onlegislation.gov.uk, the base date is 1 January 2006.

The originating text for this legislation was ‘TheNorthern Ireland Statutes Revised’, the officialedition of the revised statute book for Northern Ireland.The final revision of that text incorporated all effects oflegislation made or enacted up to 31 December 2005.

blanket amendment

An effect that is framed in such a way as to affectlegislation generally rather than any specific enactment.

C-notes - Modifications etc (not altering text)

‘C’ stands for ‘Cross-notes’, socalled because of the way in which they were presented inthe hard copy predecessors to the revised content onlegislation.gov.uk. This annotation type is used to denotethe effect when the meaning, scope or application of an Actor provision etc. is changed in some way, but without therebeing any authority to alter the text. Typical expressionsof effects of this kind are ‘modified’,‘applied’, ‘excluded’,‘extended’, ‘restricted’,etc.

changes

The terms ‘changes’ and ‘changes tolegislation’ are sometimes used on this site insteadof the term ‘effects’.

Chapter

1. The sequential number of an Act (except an Act of theScottish Parliament) is called a ‘Chapternumber’. For example, the Police Reform Act 2002is Chapter 30 in the year 2002. ‘Chapter’is usually abbreviated:
   Police Reform Act 2002 (c.30)
2. A numbered level of division within an Act or otherlegislation. Chapters generally come below Parts butabove cross-headings in the hierarchy.

Church Instrument

A type of secondary legislation made by the Archbishops ofCanterbury and York under authority contained in ChurchMeasures.

"coming into force" date

The date on which a legislative provision or an effect comesinto force. Also known as the commencement date.

commencement

The coming into force of a provision or an effect.

The commencement of a piece of legislation may be determinedby a provision of the legislation itself, referred to as the‘commencement provision', or it may be determined bya special type of Statutory Instrument known as a‘Commencement Order’.

confers power

This term is used where a provision confers power to makesecondary legislation.

cross-heading

In primary legislation, an italic heading that indicates thesubject matter of a provision or group of provisions beneathit. In the hierarchical structure of legislation, it comesbelow Part or Chapter level but above the level of thelowest level of provision, such as the section in anAct.

It is called a cross-heading because it is usually centred,running across the page. However, in the new style ofdrafting adopted for most primary legislation since 2001,cross-headings in Schedules (but not in the main body) areranged left.

Note that in secondary legislation there are elements calledcross-headings that may appear differently to those inprimary legislation and do not necessarily serve the samefunction.

division

A term we use to denote any one of the hierarchical levelsinto which a piece of legislation may be divided.

For instance, the two main divisions of an Act are the mainbody and the schedules, and these are preceded by the longtitle, the short title and any other introductory text.Lower levels of division within the main body and schedulesmay include Parts, Chapters and cross-headings. The lowestlevels of division in an Act are sections (in the main body)or paragraphs (in the schedules).

For further information see Structure of Legislation.

E-notes – Geographical Extent information

This annotation type contains information about thegeographic extent of the Act or relevant part of it.

E-notes are at present used very sparingly, mainly toindicate some complexity or change in the extent which isnot adequately reflected in the extent provision of the Act(although they have been used more extensively in the past).They are also used where there are multiple versions of aprovision created for different geographical extents.

effect

Any impact that one legislative provision may have onanother. The most familiar type of effect is an amendmentthat changes the text of the affected legislation, but thereare also types of effect that do not change the text, suchas where a provision is said to be ‘modified’or ‘applied’. Other events, such as thecommencement of a provision, are also treated as effects forthe purposes of legislation.gov.uk.

Note that a piece of legislation, such as an Act, may containinternal effects. For example, a provision in an Act maymodify or apply some other provision in the same Act. Theseinternal effects are not generally annotated. The mainexception is where an Act amends its own text, which mayhappen, for example, when an Act repeals itself, or part ofitself, at some future date. Also, certain internal effectsto do with commencement and extent may be recorded.

Executive Note

An Executive Note sets out a brief statement of the purposeof a Scottish Statutory Instrument and provides informationabout its policy objective and policy implications. It aimsto make the Scottish Statutory Instrument accessible toreaders who are not legally qualified. Executive Notesaccompany any Scottish Statutory Instrument or DraftScottish Statutory Instrument laid before the ScottishParliament from July 2005 onwards. From July 2012 onwards,these are replaced by Policy Notes.

exercise of power

This expression may be used in annotations in a provisionthat confers power to make secondary (or subordinate)legislation to record the making of instruments under thatpower.

Explanatory Note

Text created by the government department responsible for thesubject matter of the Act (or Measure) to explain what theAct sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible toreaders who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Noteswere introduced in 1999 and accompany all Public Acts exceptAppropriation, Consolidated Fund, Finance and ConsolidationActs.

Text called an Explanatory Note also appears following thelegislative text of Statutory Instruments, ScottishStatutory Instruments or Statutory Rules of NorthernIreland. For Welsh Statutory Instruments the ExplanatoryNote precedes the body of the Instrument in print format butfollows the legislative text in html format. The ExplanatoryNote is intended to give a concise and clear statement ofthe substance of the instrument. The instrument may also beaccompanied by an Explanatory Memorandum, Executive Note orPolicy Note.

Explanatory Memorandum

An Explanatory Memorandum (EM) sets out a brief statement ofthe purpose of a Statutory Instrument or Statutory Rules ofNorthern Ireland and provides information about its policyobjective and policy implications. It aims to make theStatutory Instruments or Rules accessible to readers who arenot legally qualified. EMs accompany any StatutoryInstrument or Draft Statutory Instrument laid beforeParliament from June 2004 onwards and any Statutory Rulelaid before the Northern Ireland Assembly (or UK Parliamentduring the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly)since June 2004.

extent

See ‘geographical extent’.

F-notes - Amendments (Textual)

F’ stands for ‘Footnotes’. Thisannotation type is used for amendments, including repeals,where there is authority to change the text.

geographical extent

The geographical area within the UK to which legislationapplies.

The term ‘extent’ when used in legislation refersto the jurisdiction(s) for which it is law. Thus, the extentmay be the whole of the UK or one or more of the threejurisdictions within the UK: England and Wales; Scotland;and Northern Ireland. Note that ‘England’ and‘Wales’ are not separate jurisdictions. The term‘extent’ is currently used more loosely onlegislation.gov.uk for searching purposes, to help usersfind legislation relevant to each of the four geographicalparts of the UK. For this reason, it may denote a limitedterritorial application within a wider technical extent. Forexample, the extent of the legislation may be ‘Englandand Wales’ but it only applies to Wales. In duecourse, changes will be made to the way in which‘extent’ information is presented onlegislation.gov.uk so that information about extent andlimited territorial application within a wider extent willbe displayed separately.

Currently, each ‘extent’ is represented by oneof, or a combination of, England (E), Wales (W), Scotland(S) and Northern Ireland (NI). Thus, a UK extent is E+W+S+NIand a GB extent is E+W+S. This information can be displayedwithin revised legislation when it is being viewed byselecting ‘show geographical extent’ in theleft-hand column.

Every version of every provision, and every higher level ofdivision, within a piece of legislation is assigned its ownextent. In the case of higher levels of divisions the extentwill be set wide enough to include the extent of all theprovisions within it.

In some limited cases there may be multiple versions createdto represent differing geographical extents (previouslyreferred to as ‘concurrent versions’ on the UKStatute Law Database). Two or more versions of a provision(or other level of division of legislation) are createdwhere a substitution of text (or of the whole provisionetc.) affects only part of the original geographical extentof the provision. Such versions have the same start date andcontinue to run alongside one another.

For instance, if there is a substitution of text in aprovision that extends to the whole of the UK, but thesubstitution affects Wales only, two versions result: onefor the provision in its unamended state to cover England,Scotland and Northern Ireland, and one for the provision asamended to cover Wales.

hierarchy

‘Hierarchy’ and ‘hierarchicalstructure’ are terms we use to denote the levels ofdivision within a piece of legislation on legislation.gov.ukand the relationship between them. For example, the level ofa cross-heading in an Act comes below the Part level in thehierarchy, but above the section level.

I-notes - Commencement information

‘I’ stands for ‘In-force’. Thisannotation type contains information about the coming intoforce of a provision and will typically state whether it ispartly or wholly in force, give the date or dates ofcommencement and cite relevant provisions of the Act and anycommencing instruments.

At present, I-notes are used only if there is some complexityin the commencement. If the provision came into force on oneday for all purposes, no I-note will be created and thein-force date will be the same as the start date of theearliest version of the provision.

insertion

Describes a specific type of amendment where new text isinserted into existing text. If the new text is to be placedat the end of the existing text, the term‘added’ may be used instead.

introductory text

A term we use to denote the text elements at the top of anitem of legislation, below the title (or short title) butabove the main body. In an Act, this will typically consistof the long title, the date the Act received the RoyalAssent, and a conventional form of words to give effect tothe Act called the ‘words of enactment’.

Latest available (revised):

The latest available revised version of the legislationincorporating changes (i.e. amendments and other effects)made by subsequent legislation and applied by thelegislation.gov.uk editorial team. Changes we have not yetapplied to the text can be found listed under‘Changes to Legislation’.

legislation

The generic term for laws of any type. The terms‘piece of legislation’ and ‘item oflegislation’ are used within some of our helpinformation to mean a whole legislative document of anytype, for example an Act or Statutory Instrument.

long title

Acts and Measures have two titles, the ‘shorttitle’ and the ‘long title’. The‘long title’ sets out the purposes of the Act,sometimes at great length, whereas the ‘shorttitle’ is a more convenient short form by which theAct will usually be known. For example, the Petroleum Act1998 (short title) has a long title that reads:

‘An Act to consolidate certain enactments aboutpetroleum, offshore installations and submarinepipelines.’

On legislation.gov.uk, the long title forms part of theintroductory text of the legislation.

M-notes - Marginal citations

This annotation type is so called because it used to appearin the margin of the King’s Printer’s copy ofprimary legislation. M-notes recite the year and number ofan Act or instrument mentioned in the text.

"made" date

The date on which a Statutory Instrument, or other item ofsecondary legislation, is formally brought into being. Itmay come into force at a different date. Secondarylegislation is usually said to be ‘made’, asopposed to Acts and other primary legislation which areusually said to be ‘enacted’. For this reason,the phrase ‘made or enacted’ may be used onthis site when referring to legislation generally.

Measure

1. A type of primary legislation passed by the GeneralSynod of the Church of England – see 'Churchof England Measures' in theGuide to Revised Legislation onlegislation.gov.uk.
2. A type of primary legislation passed by the short-livedNorthern Ireland Assembly in 1974 (the present NorthernIreland Assembly passes Acts) – see 'Acts ofthe Northern Ireland Assembly (and other primarylegislation for Northern Ireland)' in theGuide to Revised Legislation onlegislation.gov.uk.
3. A type of primary legislation passed by the NationalAssembly for Wales from 2008 to 2011– see'Measures of the National Assembly for Wales' intheGuide to Revised Legislation onlegislation.gov.uk. The Welsh Parliament, may now pass Acts.

Order in Council

A type of legislation, made by the King on the advice of thePrivy Council (a body consisting of Ministers of the Crown).These Orders may be made under powers contained in statute,in which case they take the form of Statutory Instruments,notably those to legislate for Northern Ireland duringperiods of direct rule. (Note, however, that many Orders inCouncil are made under the residual prerogative of theCrown. These are known as ‘Prerogative Orders’ and are notcarried on legislation.gov.uk.)

Order of Council

Such Orders differ from Orders in Council in that they aremade by the Privy Council without the need for any approvalby the King. Otherwise, similar considerations apply. Theymay be made under statutory powers (as StatutoryInstruments) or under the prerogative, and in the lattercase they are not carried on legislation.gov.uk.

Original (As enacted or as made):

The original version of the legislation as it stood when itwas enacted or made. No changes have been applied to thetext.

P-notes - Subordinate legislation made

‘P’ stands for ‘Power exercised’.Where a provision of primary legislation confers power tomake subordinate legislation and that power is exercised(i.e. an instrument is made in pursuance of it), thatexercise may be recorded in a P-note. The annotation willcite any instruments made under that power.

At present, the P-note annotation type is used only inrespect of the making of commencement orders (distinguishedby a ‘C’ series number after the number of theinstrument) or other exercises of a power to appoint aday.

paragraph

A provision, usually numbered, constituting onlegislation.gov.uk the lowest level of division in aSchedule. (But note that the term ‘paragraph’may also be used in legislation to denote certain levels ofsub-division within a provision.)

Part

A division of the main body or a schedule in an item oflegislation, usually forming part of a numbered sequence ofParts.

A Part may be further subdivided hierarchically intoChapters, cross-headings and numbered sections (orparagraphs, if in a schedule).

Policy Note

Policy Notes replaced Executive Notes in relation to ScottishStatutory Instruments during July 2012, and serve the samepurpose.

power

Generally used on legislation.gov.uk to mean a power to makesecondary (or subordinate) legislation contained in aprovision that ‘confers power’. The making ofan item of secondary legislation in pursuance of such apower is referred to as an ‘exercise ofpower’.

preamble

Words appearing near the beginning of an Act after the longtitle, stating the reasons for passing the Act. The use ofpreambles is optional and they are now rare. Any preamblewould appear in the introductory text.

primary legislation

General term used to describe the main laws passed by thelegislative bodies of the UK (e.g. an Act of the UKParliament). It is to be distinguished from secondarylegislation.

prospective

A term we use to indicate that a provision or an amendmenthas not yet come into force.

prospective version

A version of a provision (or other level of division oflegislation) with no start date, created as a result of anamendment that has not yet come into force.

provision

The term provision is used to describe a definable element ina piece of legislation that has legislative effect. Mostcommonly in the help documentation and messages on this siteit will be used to refer to a section (or correspondingelement such as a paragraph in a Schedule or an article inan Order) but it can also refer to higher level divisionssuch as Parts or Chapters.

Regnal years

Regnal years refer to the year of the sovereign’sreign for the session of parliament in which the Act waspassed and may be referenced when citing legislation madepre-1963.

repeal

Describes a specific type of amendment where existing textceases to have effect and may also be removed from thelegislation. Repeals may also relate to a whole Act. Theamending legislation may alternatively (or, in many cases,additionally) specify that words or provisions ‘shallbe omitted’ or ‘shall cease to haveeffect’.

repeals schedule

A schedule in an item of legislation, usually at the end, inwhich the legislative provisions repealed by thatlegislation are listed.

revised legislation

We use the terms ‘revise’,‘revised’ and ‘revision’ torefer to the editorial process of incorporating amendmentsand carrying through other effects into legislation.

Schedule

An item of legislation may have one or more schedulesfollowing the main body. Where this is the case, theSchedules (collectively) constitute a major structuraldivision within the legislation. Within this higher level ofdivision, there may be either a single Schedule or a seriesof numbered Schedules. (Note that the term'schedule' is not usually spelt with a capital'S' in Acts of the Scottish Parliament.)

Scottish Statutory Instrument

A type of secondary legislation made under authoritycontained in Acts of the Scottish Parliament.

secondary legislation

Delegated legislation, such as a Statutory Instrument, madeby a person or body under authority contained in primarylegislation. It is also referred to as ‘subordinatelegislation’.

section

A provision, usually numbered, constituting onlegislation.gov.uk the lowest level of division in the mainbody of an Act or other primary legislation.

short title

The title by which an Act or Measure is usually known. It isto be distinguished from the long title, which sets out thepurposes of the legislation.

start date

The start date of a version is the earliest date for which ithad effect to any extent or for any purpose.

statute

An item of primary legislation, such as an Act orMeasure.

statute book

A term we use to denote the totality of the statute law inforce at any particular time.

Statutory Instrument

A type of secondary legislation made under authoritycontained in Acts of Parliament.

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

A type of secondary legislation, they are the NorthernIreland equivalent of Statutory Instruments.

Stop Date

The date on which a version is succeeded by a new version orotherwise ceases to have effect.

subordinate legislation

See secondary legislation.

sub-provision

Any sub-division of a provision.

substitution

Describes a specific type of amendment where existing text isreplaced by new text.

successive versions

A successive version of a provision (or higher level ofdivision of legislation) is a new version that replaces anearlier version. A new version is created whenever the textis amended.

Timeline of Changes

Facility on legislation.gov.uk providing access to revisedlegislation as it stood at specific points in time. Thedates displayed on the timeline of any given provision arethe start dates of the versions of that provision generatedby successive amendments, or there may be an indication thata version is prospective. The timeline can be used tonavigate through the versions to see how the provision beingviewed has changed over time or may change in thefuture.

version

1. On this site ‘version’ may refer to the‘as enacted’ version of the legislation orthe ‘latest available (revised)’ version.This information will be displayed in the ‘WhatVersion’ area when viewing legislation.
2. ‘Version’ is also used in the context ofrevised legislation to refer to one of any number ofversions of a provision (or higher level of division oflegislation) that may exist in any number of differentversions, usually created as a result of amendments madeto it. These versions can be viewed by showing theTimeline of Changes.

Welsh Statutory Instrument

A type of Statutory Instrument relating specifically to Walesmade under authority contained in Acts of Parliament, inMeasures of the National Assembly for Wales, or in Acts ofthe National Assembly for Wales or Acts of Senedd Cymru.

words of enactment

Formal words of legislative intent appearing at the beginningof an Act after the Long Title. Words of enactment appear inthe introductory text.

X-notes - Editorial information

The X-note annotation type is used sparingly to alert usersto anything they may need to be aware of in using the text.They have been used, for example, to explain potentialdifficulties arising from variations in pre-SLD editorialpractice over the years or to point to uncertainties in thetext of very old Acts.

Guide to Revised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk

The Guide to Revised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk providescomprehensive and detailed information about the revised legislationon the website, including the editorial practice followed inupdating the revised legislation.

Guide toRevised Legislation on legislation.gov.uk (1897Kb)

Statutory Instrument Practice

Statutory Instrument Practice (SIP) is a technicaldocument for lawyers and drafters involved in preparing and making Statutory Instruments. Among other things it setsout the different Classes of Statutory Instruments and various Parliamentary processes. It is neither a textbook ofthe law nor a guide to drafting.

Statutory Instrument Practice (SIP) (618Kb)