Official Documents is the official reference facility for Command and departmentally sponsored House of Commons Papers. From May 2005 onwards, all Command Papers and House of Commons Papers, as well as Key Departmental Papers, are available for free on the site in PDF format.
Operating from within the National Archives, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is at the heart of information policy, setting standards, delivering access and encouraging the re-use of public sector information. OPSI provides a wide range of services to the public, information industry, government and the wider public sector relating to finding, using, sharing and trading information.
Command Paper is the collective name given to
different types of papers prepared by the Government and presented to
Parliament with the words "presented to Parliament by command of
His/Her Majesty".
The following documents are all types of Command Paper: Treaties, some
White papers, some Green Papers, some Government replies to Select
Committee reports, reports of Royal Commissions, reports of some major
committees of inquiry, annual reports and statistics of certain bodies
(judicial, penal, immigration). Available online from 2004 forward at http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/menu/browseDocuments.htm
House of Commons Papers include documents which result from the work of the House and its committees. The main categories of papers currently included are: i) Select Committee papers (their reports and evidence etc.) ii) minutes of proceedings of General Committees iii) returns to addresses by the House iv) estimates and appropriation, etc. accounts v) certain annual and other reports and/or accounts required by statute to be laid before the House vi) House returns.
Available online from 2002 forward at http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/menu/browseDocuments.htm
Other important papers sponsored by Government departments are classified as "Other Papers".
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