- Home
- Legal Research Software
- Legislation.gov.uk
On the recordRead 9 Oct 202620 facts
Legislation.gov.uk
On the record
- Accessibility
- Users can request large print or braille copies of most enacted and revised legislation, except content available only as scanned PDFs.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- API
- The Legislation API supports access to legislation content and metadata, search, lists, feeds, and multiple formats.legislation.github.io · read 9 Oct 2026
- API and fair use
- The site provides an API with data formats described on its Formats page, and asks non-browser users to identify scrapers or crawlers with a legitimate user-agent string.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- API limit
- The API fair use policy currently limits each IP address to 3,000 requests every 5 minutes and requires a user agent.legislation.github.io · read 9 Oct 2026
- Change tracking
- The site lists changes that have not yet been applied to revised text, and warns that revised legislation may not be fully up to date.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Coverage
- The site carries most types of UK legislation, including primary legislation from 1988 onward and secondary legislation from 1987 onward, with stated exceptions and gaps.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Coverage limits
- The site notes that some legislation is absent because it is not available in a web-publishable format, and that its holdings are not complete for every type and year.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Feeds
- Free Atom subscription feeds provide updates on newly published legislation, with feeds available for several UK jurisdictions and legislation types.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Formats
- Most legislation since 1988 is available in formats including HTML, plain text, and PDFs with accessible text.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Official publication
- Legislation.gov.uk is the official place of publication for newly enacted UK legislation.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Open data
- The site states that its content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated, with some EU-derived content under separate reuse terms.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Operator
- The National Archives manages the website on behalf of HM Government.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Privacy
- The privacy notice says the site generally does not use cookies and that usage information is used to assess compatibility and improve the service.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Publication timing
- The site aims to publish new legislation simultaneously with, or within 24 hours of, its publication in printed form, though complex documents may take longer.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Legislation.gov.uk provides online access to UK legislation and accompanying explanatory documents.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Reuse
- The site encourages commercial and non-commercial reuse of API data under open licences, subject to its fair use policy.legislation.github.io · read 9 Oct 2026
- Revised legislation
- The site provides access to revised legislation as it stood at specific points in time.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
- Revised texts
- The editorial team incorporates amendments and other effects into revised legislation, and the site provides point-in-time versions for documents.legislation.gov.uk · read 9 Oct 2026
