Parliament web site to lay down the law

Aim is to make changes proposed by new legislation clearer to the public

Parliament aims to give the public more insight into how it formulates new laws

The UK Parliament is trialling a new way of publishing proposed legislation on its web site that should make it easier for the public to understand the impact of new laws.

Until now, bills have been posted online as they appear before the house – as straight legal text divorced from notes and the existing laws they intend to change.

But parliamentary authorities have now published an experimental version of the Digital Economy Bill that has explanatory notes, and links to clauses in previous legislation that would be amended, interwoven into the text.

This will make it easier to understand what the legislation proposes and the potential impact of any changes, say authorities.

“This latest version allows you to move from the clauses of the bill to the section of the Act the clause will affect,” says a statement from the parliamentary web team.

“We have also made improvements to the layout of the interwoven bill and included explanatory notes. You now have the option to display relevant explanatory text below or alongside each clause of the bill.”

Last year, the House of Commons published the Equality Bill in a trial format, with the text and explanatory notes interwoven, and received positive feedback on the development.

The move follows the recommendations of the House of Commons Procedure committee, which said the change would make it easier for legislators and the public to navigate the text of a bill.

The parliamentary web team is looking for feedback from the public and asking for recommendations on how the service could be improved with a view to publishing all bills in this way.

Authorities are running a wider scheme to make Parliament’s operations more accessible online, following pressure from social media groups.

The online version of Hansard, which records all parliamentary proceedings, is being changed to improve its layout and structure, to make it more interac tive, and to make it easier for third-party web sites to use the content.

And Parliament now has a much higher profile on social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, which authorities hope will drive more people to the site.

Parliamentary committees and Commons debates have been available to watch online for more than five years. The parliament site received 11.1 million visits in 2009, 200,000 more than in 2008.