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1. Introduction
The Official Report is responsible for
(a) the timely production of edited verbatim reports of the proceedings of the House, including Westminster Hall, General Committees and some Select Committees
(b) the processing and printing of written answers and written ministerial statements
(c) the operation of the annunciator service
The Official Report is, as stated in “Erskine May”,
“a full report, in the first person, of all speakers alike, a full report being defined as one `which, though not strictly verbatim, is substantially the verbatim report, with repetitions and redundancies omitted and with obvious mistakes corrected, but which on the other hand leaves out nothing that adds to the meaning of the speech or illustrates the argument.’”
2. Reports
A. Reading reports before publication
(i) Chamber and Westminster Hall
Reports of speeches made in the Chamber and Westminster Hall are available for Members to read in the Managing Editors’ room in the main Hansard offices. Those offices are located on the mezzanine level, near the Ladies Gallery lift and stairs. Members may read their own speech, but are not allowed to read the speeches of other Members. Members may also request copies of their speeches to be sent to them by e-mail; any suggested amendments must be discussed with the Managing Editors by telephone. Civil servants may read their Ministers’ speeches. Reports are usually available for checking one and a half hours after a Member finishes speaking – the time is shown on the request slip sent to Members. Reports of Chamber proceedings are sent for pagination on a three-hour rolling deadline, reducing to about an hour after the House rises. Reports of Westminster Hall proceedings are sent for pagination on a four-hour rolling deadline. Corrections may be suggested, as long as they do not substantially alter the meaning of what the Member said. Editorial staff are available to offer advice on suggested changes. Once copy has been sent for pagination, it is not possible to alter it before publication. Members, and civil servants reading their Ministers’ speeches, may request a hard copy of their speeches. This will be available once the copy is ready to be sent for pagination.
Online versions of Hansard reports of proceedings in the Chamber and Westminster Hall are available on the same day, within three to four hours of delivery. These are the final versions of speeches that will appear in the Daily Part the following day. The reports can be accessed by clicking on the link “Today in the Commons” in the Hansard section of the parliamentary website http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmtoday/home.htm. The website is updated throughout the day as additional sections of debate are added to it.
(ii) General Committees
From the beginning of the 2006-07 Session, Standing Committees became known as General Committees. The General Committees on Bills are called Public Bill Committees. Reports of speeches made in General Committees are available for Members, and civil servants, to read in the Hansard Committee offices on the fifth floor at 7 Millbank. The guidance on reading speeches applying to Chamber and Westminster Hall speeches also applies to General Committee speeches.
Depending on the work load, most reports of General Committee debates are published overnight. Reports of morning sittings are generally available on the internet at 12.30 pm the following day, with reports of afternoon sittings available later. Information on checking times and publication schedules is available from the following people:
Deputy Editor (Committees), phone ext 3065
Managing Editor (Committees), phone ext 5291/6846
B. Suggesting corrections to reports following publication
(i) Chamber
All Chamber reports are proof-read within eight working days of publication. Those suggesting corrections are asked to submit them, in writing, to the following person within that time:
Deputy Editor (House), Official Report, House of Commons, London SW1A OAA, phone ext 1480
Corrections are made for the Bound Volume, which is the archive version of the Hansard report. When the Bound Volume is produced, the internet version of debates is updated to include those corrections.
Requests for urgent corrections should be made to the Deputy Editor (House). Such corrections are inserted under the heading “Corrections” at the end of the Hansard report.
(ii) Westminster Hall and General Committees
Westminster Hall reports are proof-read within eight working days of publication. General Committee reports are usually proof-read within two to four weeks of the end of a sitting.
Those suggesting corrections are asked to submit them, in writing, to the following person within those times:
Managing Editor (Committees), Official Report, House of Commons, London SW1P 3JA, phone ext 5291/6846
Corrections to Westminster Hall debates are made for the Bound Volume in the same way as for the House. Corrections to General Committee reports are made to the internet version and correction slips are issued with the Committee Bound Volumes.
C. Obtaining reports
The Vote Office can provide Members with up to six copies of Hansard on the day of issue.
Commons debates since October 1988, Standing Committee debates since November 1997 and General Committee debates are available on the internet through the parliamentary web site http://www.parliament.uk/.
Reprints of speeches can be obtained from The Stationery Office. There is a small charge for this service based on the number of copies required and the number of pages. Members applying for reprints should use the form “Application for copies of speeches” which is available from Official Report administration offices. Special bound copies can be produced for maiden speeches if required.
D. Select Committees
Reports of proceedings at Westminster of the Public Accounts Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee are provided to the Clerk of the relevant Select Committee by 1000 on the fourth working day after the meeting, with expedited reports being provided withing 24 hours of the meeting and overnight expedited reports being provided by 1000 on the next working day.
E. Division results
The Department provides the Whips’ offices with an electronic version of Division lists and a copy of Division reports as soon as they have been processed.
3. Written ministerial statements
Government departments deliver written ministerial statements to the Official Report, where they are given headings, scanned and converted into electronic format and in some cases rekeyed. They are published in the Daily Part on the day of receipt. They are also available online on the day of receipt and can be accessed by clicking on the link “Today in the Commons” in the Hansard section of the parliamentary website.
4. Written answers
Government departments deliver parliamentary questions and answers to the Official Report, where they are given headings, sorted, collated and processed. They are scanned and converted into electronic format and in some cases rekeyed. Every effort is made to ensure that questions and answers are published in the Daily Part on the day of receipt, but at times of high volume publication may be delayed.
The deadlines for receipt of questions and answers in the Official Report are:
(a) Monday and Tuesday 6 pm
(b) Wednesday 5 pm
(c) Thursday 4 pm
(d) Friday 2 pm
Those suggesting corrections to written questions and answers, and written ministerial statements, are asked to submit them, in writing, to the following person within eight days of publication:
Managing Editor (Written Answers), Official Report, House of Commons, London SW1A OAA, phone ext 5258
Corrections are made for the Bound Volume. When the Bound Volume is produced, the internet version of debates is updated to include those corrections.
5. Pagination
The Hansard Production Unit provides XML and HTML files of House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard reports to The Stationery Office for the preparation of internet and hard copy reports of proceedings.
6. Annunciator services
Annunciator staff provide constantly updated information on the subject of debate, the stage of a Bill’s progress, the person speaking, constituency, the time that person began speaking, Divisions, etc. The information is displayed on screens throughout the parliamentary estate and in Government Departments.
A rotating screen, or carousel, provides information on the business for the week or remainder of the week, daily committee sittings, statements, urgent questions and grouping of questions. As the carousel uses the same screens as for business in the Chamber, it is available only when the House is not sitting.
Westminster Hall debates are covered either within the carousel, when the House is not sitting, or by a scrolling message on the bottom of the screen, when the House is sitting.
Other information available is available through the in-House teletext system -- Channel 6 or 7, press Text:
Page Information
100 Main index
110 Hansard index
113-131 Sequence of pages showing weekly business
181-186 List of previous speakers (186 being the latest)
188-191 List of previous Divisions (191 being the latest)
444 Channels available
During sitting hours, urgent medical/security messages are displayed on the screens by scrolling message.
When the House is not sitting, at week-ends or during recesses, Security Control can operate the House of Lords and House of Commons annunciator systems and display relevant messages.
Incorrect information should be reported to annunciator staff on extension 4730.
Faults with television sets should be reported to Rediffusion on extension 4747.
7. Performance objectives
In the production of its publications, the department has the primary performance target of overnight printing of the reports of the proceedings in the House and Westminster Hall, of written ministerial statements and written answers and, subject to the work load, of the reports of General Committees.
The department has the following performance objectives:
A. House reporting:
1. Not more than one “significant” error per 13 columns of debate and written answers – “significant” errors include mishears and misunderstanding of the argument;
2. Copy sent to printers on a rolling three-hour deadline, reducing to one and a half hours after the rise of the House;
3. 75 per cent. of written answers received by the stipulated time processed on day of delivery;
4. Daily Parts corrected for Bound Volume production within the rolling deadline of eight working days.
B. Committee reporting:
1. Not more than one “significant” error per 13 columns of debate;
2. Delivery to the printers of the equivalent of seven morning Committees on Tuesday and Thursday and four morning Committees on Wednesday – those totals include Westminster Hall reports – in time for overnight publication;
3. Westminster Hall copy sent to printers on a rolling four-hour deadline;
4. Westminster Hall reports corrected for Bound Volume production within the rolling dealine of eight working days;
5. Committee reports proof-read by Committee sub-editors within four weeks of the completion of the Committee.
C. Administration:
The section aims to obtain best value for money in the procurement of the services and resources required by the department. It also aims to source cost-effective and flexible temporary staff to meet the fluctuating and often heavy work load, particularly in the committee and written answer sections. The section produces weekly and daily work rotas that ensure a fair and efficient deployment of staff and take account of the working time directive.
