HL Deb 24 January 1990 vol 514 c1157WA
Lord Rippon of Hexham

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many pages of statutes were enacted in 1988 and 1989, whether these figures have ever been exceeded, and if so when.

The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Belstead)

The changeover to A4 format for statutes in 1987 has made the comparison sought difficult to carry out. The figures below show the number of pages of legislation in the years since 1974, with the last three years converted for the purposes of comparison:

Number of Pages of Legislation (Excluding Consolidation and Scottish Acts)
1974* 1,360
1975 1,690
1976 1,400
1977 790
1978 830
1979* 580
1980 1,470
1981 1,330
1982 1,360
1983* 660
1984 1,485
1985 1,558
1986 2,174
1987* 1,131 (A4 943)
1988 2,170 (A4 1,809)
1989 2,581 (A4 2,151)
*Election years