HL Deb 19 February 2003 vol 644 cc187-8WA
Lord Goodhart

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have any plans to ensure that the publication of Acts of Parliament in the government website is of practical value to users by (a) incorporating in Acts as published on the website any amendments made by subsequent legislation; and (b) indicating which provisions of an Act are currently in force. [HL1569]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

Acts of Parliament are published on the HMSO website in the form in which they are enacted. The website makes clear that no amendments are incorporated and that users should check the status of any piece of legislation. A notice on the website also draws attention to the development of the statute law database, which for any piece of legislation will indicate whether it is in force and the amendments which have been made by subsequent legislation. A new system for delivery of the statute law database is currently under development and scheduled to go live during July. The editorial team continue with the updating process, and it is forecast that by July the database will incorporate all amendments to the end of 2002. It is planned that a published version of the database will be made available to the Government Legal Service later this year and to the general public early next year.