Lifecycle of Parliamentary Documents: United Kingdom
Compliance with these obligations “is underpinned by effective information and records management.”[1]
C. Coordination
The Government department responsible for creating the parliamentary paper is also responsible for ensuring that, where necessary, it is laid before Parliament and, in all cases, correctly published on gov.uk.[2] As noted above, the paper must be laid in the Journal Office before it is published online.[3] The majority of parliamentary papers are published under a contract that is managed by the National Archives.[4]
The National Archives is responsible “for ensuring that services for the production of these documents are available to government organisations. The services are currently provided through the cross-government Print Vendor Partner Contract, managed by the Crown Commercial Service.”[5] The National Archives has produced extensive guidance as to how papers should be produced and numbered.[6]
In addition to the National Archives, there are a number of government organizations that provide assistance to those producing a parliamentary paper:
- Government Communication Service, which is part of the Cabinet Office and provides information on branding[7]
- Government Digital Service, which is part of the Cabinet Office and assists with making PDFs ready for web use[8]
- Crown Commercial Service, which is an executive agency sponsored by the Cabinet Office and provides assistance on how to use the print vendor partnership contract[9]
- ↑ Houses of Parliament, Parliamentary Information & Records Management Policy (version 3.0, 2014), https://perma.cc/S8FG-AS94.
- ↑ House of Commons Journal Office, Guide to Laying Papers, supra note 7, ¶ 29.
- ↑ Id. See also The National Archives, Parliamentary Papers Guidance, supra note 5, at 23; The National Archives, Laying and Publishing a Paper, https://perma.cc/53X3-KF8E.
- ↑ The National Archives, Parliamentary Papers Guidance, supra note 5, at 11.
- ↑ Id. at 5. Government organizations extend to departments, agencies and public bodies; there are currently 581 of these organizations across the UK government. Departments, Agencies and Public Bodies, gov.uk, https://perma.cc/ZPA5-286H.
- ↑ The National Archives, Parliamentary Papers Guidance, supra note 5, at 22.
- ↑ Branding Guidelines, Government Communication Service, https://perma.cc/GT85-9DC2.
- ↑ Government Digital Service: Our Strategy for Parliamentary Information & Records Management Policy 2024, Government Digital Service Blog (May 20, 2021), https://perma.cc/GK2T-9NYQ.
- ↑ Crown Commercial Service, gov.uk, https://perma.cc/AQD7-D9SX. For information about the print vendor partnership see The National Archives, Parliamentary Papers Guidance, supra note 5, at 11.
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