U.K. Parliamentary Papers constitutes a major resource for the historical record of Britain, its former colonies including Canada and the United States, and the wider world. It facilitates researchers’ exploration of the British perspective on historical and contemporary events through a vast and authoritative archive of official government documents from 1801to the present. Through U.K. Parliamentary Papers, researchers can seamlessly access the 19th, 20th and 21st century papers, plus the Hansard parliamentary debates.
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP) includes digital versions of these sessional papers for the 19th century forward. They fall into the following three categories:
• Bills - drafts of legislation, to be reviewed through various parliamentary stages. If the Bill passes through these stages, it will become an Act of Parliament.
• House Papers - documents resulting from the work of the House and its Committees.
• Command Papers - Government papers (from Ministers) conveying information or decisions the Government wishes to draw to the attention of the House, presented by Command of Her Majesty .
• Hansard - Official Report of debates in Parliament, from both the House of Commons and House of Lords, from 1803 to 2005.
HCPP does not include the House of Commons Journal, or daily business papers, such as Order papers and Votes and Proceedings.