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Key Starting Points

UK

Search Tools
Selected UK government sites
Elections
Parliaments and Assemblies
Tracking UK Legislation

European Union

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Key Starting Points

Governments on the WWW www.gksoft.com/govt/
By far the most extensive collection of links to national and local governments, government departments and political parties that we have found to date. Covers over 220 countries and territories. Available in English and German. Unfortunately, no longer updated.

Oultwood International Local Government Index www.oultwood.com

Political Resources on the Net www.politicalresources.net
Listings of political sites available on the Internet sorted by country, with links to parties, organizations, governments, media and election sites.

World Leaders — Central Intelligence Agency
www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/index.html
Governments are listed in alphabetical order according to the most commonly used version of each country's name. The spelling of the personal names in this directory follows transliteration systems generally agreed upon by US Government agencies, except in the cases in which officials have stated a preference for alternate spellings of their names.


UK

Search tools

Directionlessgov www.directionlessgov.com
Comparison of search results from direct.gov.uk and a Google custom search of Directgov. Set up and maintained by members of the Democracy.org.uk Collective

LGSearch lgsearch.net
UK Public Sector Search Engine using a Google custom search engine set up by Dave Briggs, an independent social media consultant who works mainly with the public and third sectors. The sites are broken down into the following categories: Local Government, Central Government, Health, Police & Fire, LG Related, Social Media. Once you have run your search, you can select which types of sites you want to appear by selecting the appropriate category link.

The Government Says www.thegovernmentsays.com
This site pulls together news releases from various UK government departments. Produced and maintained by Democracy.org.uk - "a loose collective of like-minded individuals who believe that there is little wrong with UK society that a healthy mixture of transparency and public engagement won't fix." RSS feed available.

They Work For You - Keeping Tabs on the UK's Parliaments and Assemblies www.theyworkforyou.com
Provides links and search options for Hansard speeches and written answers, organised by date, topic or MP.

Selected UK government and related sites

Number10.gov.uk www.number10.gov.uk
The official site of the UK Prime Minister's Office

DirectGov www.direct.gov.uk
The main starting point for UK Government information.

HM Treasury www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
Press statements, documents, ministers speeches etc. Also the text of the budget. Details of how to receive Treasury press releases by e-mail as they are issued can be found in the News section

HM Revenue & Customs www.hmrc.gov.uk
This is the web site of the new UK government department responsible for, amongst other things, VAT and Income Tax and formed by the merger of the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise. There is information on taxation, legislation, rates and allowances. Also available are publications and press releases as well as self assessment and submitting returns online.

UK Trade & Investment www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
Government organisation that supports both UK companies trading internationally and overseas enterprises seeking to locate in the UK.

United Kingdom Parliament www.parliament.uk
Links to Hansard for both the House of Commons and House of Lords, information about MPs (Members of Parliament) and Peers, committees, research papers, Public Bills before Parliament, questions for oral or written answer (Order Book), votes and proceedings, Register of Lords' Interests.

Parliament Live www.parliamentlive.tv
Parliament Live shows live broadcasts of the UK Parliament when in session. There is also an archive that can be keyword searched.

London Gazette www.london-gazette.co.uk
The London Gazette, first published in 1665, is the oldest, continuously published newspaper in the United Kingdom. It contains a wide range of office notices including State, Parliamentary and Ecclesiastical notices, Transport and Planning notices as well as Corporate and Personal Insolvency notices. Supplements cover Honours and Awards, Premium Bonds, Armed Forces Promotions and Re-gradings, Companies' information and a Quarterly Index. There is free access to a selection of sections. Full access available by subscription.

Elections

United Kingdom Election Results www.election.demon.co.uk
This fast-loading, no-nonsense site compiled by David Boothroyd has detailed data on UK parliamentary elections since 1983; miscellaneous election statistics such as smallest majorities since 1918, top and bottom ten turnouts, list of members expelled since the Restoration (1660); European Parliamentary elections since 1994; and Labour Party National Executive Committee election results. Has not been updated since 2005.

Northern Ireland Elections Site www.ark.ac.uk/elections/
An excellent site providing information about elections that have taken place in Northern Ireland since 1885. There are also descriptions and links to political parties and useful books.

Parliaments and Assemblies

UK Houses of Parliament www.parliament.uk

Scottish government - Scottish Executive www.scotland.gov.uk

National Assembly for Wales www.wales.gov.uk

Northern Ireland Assembly www.niassembly.gov.uk

Tracking UK Legislation

Tracking legislation through parliament can be done relatively easily. The difficulties start when you want to find amendments to existing legislation and up to date copies of amended Acts. For example, the Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts.htm provides free access to Public General Acts as originally passed by the UK Parliament but does not republish them when they are amended. For the consolidated amended full text, you will usually have to resort to priced services such as Westlaw.uk (www.westlaw.co.uk) and LexisNexis (www.lexisnexis.co.uk).

For new legislation and amendments, there are several free resources. UK Parliament Bills before Parliament can be found at http://services.parliament.uk/bills/. A complete list of public bills introduced in Parliament in the current session, together with information about their progress through Parliament appears in the Weekly Information Bulletin (www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmwib.htm). The Bill Index (bills.parliament.uk) provides links to the full text of bills, the Hansard debate and any proposed amendments.

Probably the easiest way to identify and keep tabs on new and impending legislation is the excellent They Work for You (www.theyworkforyou.com). You can browse the categories or search by keyword.


European Union (EU)

Europa europa.eu
Information on EU goals and policies, directives, green and white papers. There is a directory of Commission offices, profiles of commissioners, who does what, agencies and bodies in the EU. See also the Euro-Parliament site on www.europarl.eu which provides an overview of the workings of the European Parliament, press releases, political composition and committees.

Eur-Lex eur-lex.europa.eu
"The Portal to European Union Law". Provides access to the Official Journal, treaties and legislation. Now incorporates CELEX which is no longer updated.

TED ted.europa.eu
Full coverage of open calls for tender and updated daily (Supplement to the Official Journal).

Cordis cordis.europa.eu
Cordis (Community Research & Development Information Service) is "the European Commission's information service on European Research and Innovation activities". There news and information on all aspects of the EU's research and development in all areas.

EU Business www.eubusiness.com
EUbusiness is an independent EU information service. Services include a daily overview of European political and business news, information on EU legislation and EU business developments, EU finance, information on EU programmes relevant to industry sectors. There are also progress reports on draft legislation, help on how to do business in European countries.

EIRO European industrial relations observatory on-line www.eiro.eurofound.ie/
The European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) is a major project of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. EIRO initiates, collects, stores, disseminates and provides access to information and analysis on developments in industrial relations in the EU Member States and at European/international level.



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This page was last updated on 19 August, 2009 Copyright © 1996-2009 Karen Blakeman
All rights reserved.