Office of Public Sector Information

TheOffice of Public Sector Information(OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation ofHis Majesty's Stationery Office(HMSO) and of other public information services of theUnited Kingdom.The OPSI is part ofthe National Archivesof the United Kingdom and is responsible forCrown copyright.

The OPSI announced on 21 June 2006 that it was merging with the National Archives. The merger took place in October 2006. The OPSI continues to discharge its roles and responsibilities from within the structure of the National Archives.

Controller of HMSO and Director of OPSI[edit]

The Controller of HMSO is also the Director of OPSI. HMSO continues to operate from within the expanded remit of OPSI. The Controller of HMSO also holds the offices of Kings's Printer of Acts of Parliament, King's Printer for Scotland and Government Printer for Northern Ireland.

By virtue of holding these offices OPSI publishes, through HMSO, theLondon Gazette,Edinburgh Gazette,Belfast Gazetteand all legislation in the United Kingdom, includingActs of Parliament,Acts of the Scottish Parliamentandstatutory instruments.

The Controller of HMSO is appointed by Letters Patent to the office of King's Printer of Acts of Parliament. This office is separate from the functions of OPSI. Historically the role of King's (or Queen's) Printer extended to other official publishing responsibilities, e.g. the rights to print, publish and import theKing James BibleandBook of Common PrayerwithinEngland,WalesandNorthern Ireland.The current holder of this office isCambridge University Press.

History[edit]

HMSO was established as a new department ofHM Treasuryon 5 April 1786, whenJohn Mayorwas appointed as its first superintendent.^[1]The creation of the office was a result of the advocacy ofEdmund Burkefor reforms of the corrupt, expensive and inefficient Royal Household and the Civil Service. Before the establishment of HMSO, the Crown would grant patents (exclusive rights) for the supply of stationery; the patentee could buy these supplies cheaply and then charge highly inflated prices.^[2]

At first, HMSO was the agent for various government departments^[2]but, from 1822, all government departments were required to buystationerythrough the open competitions andtendersoperated by HMSO.^[1]

HMSO also took over as official publisher for both houses of Parliament fromHansardin 1882.^[1]^[3]

In 1889, HMSO was grantedletters patentunder which it was appointed as Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament ( "printer to Her Majesty of all Acts of Parliament" ). These letters patent also appointed the Controller of HMSO as administrator of the rights of Crown copyright. HMSO also took over publication of theLondon Gazettein the same year.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In 1986 HMSO celebrated its bicentenary.

Since 1947, it has printed 86 million copies ofThe Highway Code.It is one of the biggest publishers in the world, having published 9,300 titles last year^[when?]and holding 49,000 titles in stock. It produces nearly 600 pages ofHansardand other parliamentary papers overnight, as well as Bills, Acts,white papers,2.3 million passports a year, 28.2 million pension and allowance books a year, and all sorts of other publications from theBritish Pharmacopoeiato guides to long-distance footpaths. In the 1980s, the Stationery Office also supplied 1,500 million envelopes a year (at a cost of £11 million) as well as 18 million ball-point pens and 188 million paper-clips.^[4]

Most of its publishing functions were privatised in 1996 as a separate company known asThe Stationery Office(TSO), but HMSO continued as a separate part of the Cabinet Office. Prior to 1996, it was the publisher of virtually all government material, such ascommand papers,legislation and official histories. After 1996, the Controller of HMSO remained Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament and retained the role of administeringCrown copyright.^[1]^[5]

The privatisation was not the final stage in HMSO's changing role. As part of the implementation of theEuropean Union directiveon the re-use of public sector information, it was decided that there was a need for a dedicated body to be the principal focal point for advising on and regulating the operation of public sector information re-use. That new body, created in 2005, is the OPSI.^[1]^[5]

Published works[edit]

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1900).Papers by Command, Volume 105.H.M. Stationery Office.Retrieved1 April2013.
Great Britain. Foreign Office; MacDonald, Claude M. (1900).Reports from Her Majesty's minister in China respecting events at Peking: Presented to both houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, December 1900.Vol. 364 of Cd. (Great Britain. Parliament). H.M. Stationery Office.Retrieved29 September2016.
British and Foreign State Papers.Contributor Great Britain. Foreign Office. H.M. Stationery Office. 1905.Retrieved1 April2013.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: others (link)

References[edit]

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^fOffice of Public Sector Information web site."The History of Her Majesty's Stationery Office".Archivedfrom the original on 3 May 2008.Retrieved9 June2008.
^^a ^b ^c"William Sharp - Obituary - The Register".The Times.28 March 2002. p. 43.
^^a ^b"Technology: A history of rights".The Guardian.Guardian Technology Pages. 6 September 2007. p. 3.The modern bureaucracy of Crown copyright dates from 1786, with the formation of a new Treasury department, His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). In 1882, HMSO was made the official publisher to both Houses of Parliament, which still retain copyright on official proceedings. In 1889, Queen Victoria granted the controller of HMSO Royal Letters Patent as "printer to Her Majesty of all Acts of Parliament". The Letters Patent appointed the controller to hold Crown copyright. This grant and the office of the Queen's Printer continues today. In 1980, HMSO became a trading fund. In 2000, the government repositioned HMSO to regulate Crown copyright licensing. This role was taken on by the Office of Public Sector Information, now part of the National Archives.
^Richard Boston, "How the Government issues the tissue",The Guardian(London), 2 May 1986, p. 15.
^^a ^b"Her Majesty's Stationery Office" in Jonathan Law and Elizabeth A. Martin (eds),A Dictionary of Law,Oxford University Press, 2009, via Oxford Reference Online, accessed 5 November 2011.

External links[edit]

The Stationery Office website
eContentplus Thematic Network to support the implementation of the European Directive on Public Sector Information (PSI) Re-use
The (OpenPSI project), an OPSI-led community effort to create a UK government linked data service that supports research.

[HMSO-1] Office of Public Sector Information web site."The History of Her Majesty's Stationery Office".Archivedfrom the original on 3 May 2008.Retrieved9 June2008.

[Times20020328p43-2] "William Sharp - Obituary - The Register".The Times.28 March 2002. p. 43.

[Guardian20070906p3-3] "Technology: A history of rights".The Guardian.Guardian Technology Pages. 6 September 2007. p. 3.The modern bureaucracy of Crown copyright dates from 1786, with the formation of a new Treasury department, His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). In 1882, HMSO was made the official publisher to both Houses of Parliament, which still retain copyright on official proceedings. In 1889, Queen Victoria granted the controller of HMSO Royal Letters Patent as "printer to Her Majesty of all Acts of Parliament". The Letters Patent appointed the controller to hold Crown copyright. This grant and the office of the Queen's Printer continues today. In 1980, HMSO became a trading fund. In 2000, the government repositioned HMSO to regulate Crown copyright licensing. This role was taken on by the Office of Public Sector Information, now part of the National Archives.

[4] Richard Boston, "How the Government issues the tissue",The Guardian(London), 2 May 1986, p. 15.

[OROADL-5] "Her Majesty's Stationery Office" in Jonathan Law and Elizabeth A. Martin (eds),A Dictionary of Law,Oxford University Press, 2009, via Oxford Reference Online, accessed 5 November 2011.

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