Legislation.gov.uk

Spec sheet

Purpose

Legislation.gov.uk provides online access to UK legislation and accompanying explanatory documents.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

API

The Legislation API supports access to legislation content and metadata, search, lists, feeds, and multiple formats.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.github.io

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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Support

The site team handles queries about publishing enacted and revised legislation and accepts feedback by email; it says it can assist only with English-language enquiries.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Accessibility

Users can request large print or braille copies of most enacted and revised legislation, except content available only as scanned PDFs.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

API limit

The API fair use policy currently limits each IP address to 3,000 requests every 5 minutes and requires a user agent.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.github.io

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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Feeds

Free Atom subscription feeds provide updates on newly published legislation, with feeds available for several UK jurisdictions and legislation types.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Formats

Most legislation since 1988 is available in formats including HTML, plain text, and PDFs with accessible text.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Official publication

Legislation.gov.uk is the official place of publication for newly enacted UK legislation.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Operator

The National Archives manages the website on behalf of HM Government.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

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.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Reuse

The site encourages commercial and non-commercial reuse of API data under open licences, subject to its fair use policy.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.github.io

Revised legislation

The site provides access to revised legislation as it stood at specific points in time.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Revised texts

The editorial team incorporates amendments and other effects into revised legislation, and the site provides point-in-time versions for documents.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Search

Users can search by title or keywords and browse legislation by type and category; advanced search includes content keywords and geographic extent.Read 9 Oct 2026 · legislation.gov.uk

Where Specifiction places it

• Legal Research Software#26 of 317.0