Official publications

Official statistics

  • OFFSTATS - official statistics on the web

Useful links

British Government Publications Collection (BGPC)

The British Government Publications Collection is located on Level 3 West. It contains official publications published by TSO/HMSO and by government departments and agencies.

You can get assistance from the IT & Library Support Desk on Level 2 Centre, or the Social Sciences Liaison Office on Level 3 Centre

Staff

  • Ben Watson: Official Publications Librarian
    email: B.Watson@kent.ac.uk
    telephone: (01227 82) 3111
  • Angela Lopez-Real: British Government Publications Assistant
    email: A.S.Lopez-Real@kent.ac.uk
    telephone: (01227 82) 7866

Indexes to official publications

Printed
  • TSO Annual Catalogues up to 2008 are shelved in the Reference section at the entrance to Level 3 West, Monthly Catalogues are in the Law Library Office
Online
  • TSO/UKOP: United Kingdom Official Publications database. Subscription service (UKC only) This is usually the best starting point - click the account login tab on the home page
  • TSO/The Stationery Office: to access information on in print titles
  • The Daily List: British government publications back to 2000
  • News Distribution Service:press releases from UK Government
  • BOPCRIS: index to British official publications 1688-1995
  • Official Documents: all Command Papers and House of Commons Papers, as well as key Departmental Papers published May 2005 onwards
  • Official Documents Archive: a selection of full text White papers and Green papers, Consultative documents, etc. published between 1994 and 2005

Parliamentary papers

Parliamentary papers are not normally separately listed in the Library catalogue. In order to trace individual publications you must use one of the sources listed above.

Arrangement of Parliamentary Papers

The print sequence is ordered:

  • British Sessional Papers Microcard edition
  • HL: House of Lords Papers and Bills
  • House of Lords Hansard 1937-2008
  • HC: House of Commons Papers 1801-1955/6 (incomplete), 1956/7-2008
    (1801-1978/9 shelved in Open Store)
  • House of Commons Hansard 1839-
  • Hansard: Standing Committee debates
  • HCB: House of Commons Bills - (shelved in Open Store)
  • C: Command Papers to 1899
  • Cd: Command Papers 1900-1918
  • Cmd: Command Papers 1919-1956
  • Cmnd: Command Papers 1956-87
  • Cm: Command Papers 1987-
  • Treaty Series
  • Law Commission: includes Law Com. reports, and Law Commission consultation and working papers, and Scottish Law Com.reports

House of Commons and House of Lords Papers and Bills are arranged numerically by Parliamentary session, and the sessional year is always indicated in the number (e.g. HC 2005-06 93)

Command Papers are arranged in straight numerical sequences, with numbering running from 1-9999.

The Treaty Series have both Command Paper and Treaty Series numbers, but are arranged in a separate sequence by TS number.

From mid 2008 only Command Papers and the Law Commission series are maintained in print format

Departmental publications

Publications published by government departments and agencies are all listed on the Library catalogue. They are arranged by department or subject area. The precise location is indicated by a shelf-mark, and the departments are arranged in alphabetical order.

Some earlier departmental publications, although catalogued, are unclassified and are kept in the Open Store. Please ask BGPC staff for assistance.

Sessional papers

The Library holds reprint sets of 18th and 19th century parliamentary papers published by the Irish University Press. These are shelved in the North reading room adjacent to the European Documentation Centre (EDC).

Indexes to the collection are in the BGPC Reference collection at the entrance to Level 3 West.

Other sites