BRIEFING PAPER

CBP 7438, 17 June 2019

Acts and Statutory

By Philip Loft
Instruments: the volume of
UK legislation 1850 to 2019
Inside:
1. UK Parliament
2. Scottish Parliament
3. Welsh Assembly
4. Northern Ireland Assembly
5. Pages of Legislation
6. Sessional data

www.Parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.Parliament.uk/commons-library | papers@Parliament.uk | @commonslibrary

 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 2

Contents
Summary 3
1. UK Parliament 4
1.1 Acts 4
1.2 Bills 5
1.3 Private Members’ Bills 6
1.4 Success and Failure: Government and Backbench legislation 6
1.5 Legislative topics 7
1.6 Statutory Instruments 8
1.7 Devolution and UK Parliament Legislation 9
1.8 Legislative Consent Motions 10
1.9 ‘English Votes for English Laws’ 10
1.10 Amendments 10
2. Scottish Parliament 11
2.1 Acts 11
2.2 Scottish Statutory Instruments (SSI) 11
2.3 Success and Failure of Bills 11
2.4 Legislative topics 12
3. Welsh Assembly 14
3.1 Measures and Acts 14
3.2 Welsh Statutory Instruments 14
3.3 Legislative topics 14
4. Northern Ireland Assembly 16
4.1 Acts, Rules and Orders 16
4.2 Legislative topics 17
5. Pages of Legislation 18
5.1 Pages in UK Government Acts 18
5.2 Pages in UK SIs 18
5.3 Annual totals of pages in UK Acts and SIs 19
6. Sessional data 20
6.1 Bills and Acts 20
6.2 Private bills 20
6.3 Delegated legislation – Statutory Instruments 21
6.4 Time Spent Debating Legislation, UK Parliament 23

Cover page image copyright: Anla Mendrek, ‘Volumes’ (19 September 2015) by Anla
Mendrek.
3 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

Summary
While the number of Acts has generally been in decline over the last 40
years, the number of Statutory Instruments (many of which are not
considered by or laid before Parliament) has increased.

This paper looks at the volume of legislation. It covers both primary and
secondary (or delegated) legislation. Figures are shown for calendar years
and Parliamentary sessions, the length of which varies depending on the
timing of general elections and Queen’s Speeches.

The paper is intended to deal with questions frequently asked of the

Library; it does not consider the detailed background to any trends
shown.

UK Public General Acts

Primary legislation consists of Acts of Parliament passed in the
Westminster Parliament and by Acts and Measures passed by devolved
bodies in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The average number of
Acts passed each year increased between 1950 and 1970 but it has
since exhibited a downward trend. An average of 33 UK Acts of
Parliament were passed annually from 2006 to 2018, compared to 62 in
the 1950s.
In 1999 the Scottish Parliament received primary legislative powers, i.e.
the power to pass Acts. From 2000 to 2018, the Scottish Parliament
passed an average of 14 Acts each year.
The National Assembly of Wales has passed 62 Acts and Measures since
2008.
The Northern Ireland Assembly passed 173 Acts from 2000 to its
suspension in 2017. No Orders in Council have been issued since 2016.
Statutory Instruments
Statutory Instruments (SIs) are a form of secondary, or delegated
legislation. They are usually issued by Ministers under the powers
granted by Acts of Parliament. An average of 2,500 UK SIs have been
issued from 1950 to 2019. In 2018, 1,387 UK SIs were issued and 393
Scottish SIs (SSIs).
Sessional data
Statistics on Parliamentary sessions include information on how many
public and private members’ bills were introduced and how many
received Royal Assent. In 2015/16, 26 Government bills were considered
in the House of Commons, 18 of which started in the Commons and 8
of which started in the Lords. 23 of these became law. Of the 188
Private Members Bills that started in the House of Commons or were
brought to the Commons from the House of Lords in 2015/16, 6 gained
royal assent.
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 4

1. UK Parliament
1.1 Acts
NUMBER OF ACTS, 1900-2019
180

UK Parliament Scottish Parliament Welsh Assembly

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

2019
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/, Roger Mortimore and Andrew Blick, Butler's British political fActs
(Palgrave, 2018), 307-310, House of Commons Library

There has been a downward trend in the number of Acts passed in WESTMINSTER PARLIAMENT LEGISLATION
Acts Bills % Success
the UK from 1900 to present. From 1900 to 1939, an average of
1950-2019 4,140 9,478 30%
112 Acts were passed each Parliamentary session. This declined to
1900-1949 5,528 9,840 36%
78 Acts each session in the 1950s and 1960s. Each subsequent 1800-1884 28,053 - -
decade to 2010 has experienced a slight fall compared to the 1688-1800 13,600 20,805 67%
previous. In the 1970s, 73 Acts were passed each session on 1485-1688 2,700 - -
average, falling to 62 in the 1980s, 54 in the 1990s, 47 in the
Sources: Julian Hoppit, ‘Patterns of
2000s. There was then a small rise to 49 Acts each year in the 2010s. Parliamentary Legislation’, Historical Journal
Data relating to 2019 is correct as of June 2019, and includes legislation (1996), John Prest, Liberty and Locality
(Oxford, 1990), Roger Mortimore and
passed in Edinburgh and Cardiff within its totals. Data for the Andrew Blick, Butler's British political fActs
(Palgrave, 2018), 307-310,
Parliament for Northern Ireland (1921-72) is incomplete, and not https://www.legislation.gov.uk/,
included here.
An approximate total of 4,200 Acts have been passed from 1950 to
2019, whilst around 13,200 proposed bills have been presented in
Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff: a success
ACTS PER MILLION, 1900-2017
rate of 32%. Four-year moving average

The chart on the right shows that although 3.5

the total number of Acts has fallen slowly 3.0

since the 1940s, if measured against 2.5

population growth, the fall is even greater. 2.0

From 1950 to 1970, an average of 1.2 Acts 1.5

per million were passed each Parliamentary 1.0

session, but from 2000 to 2019 an average of
0.5
0.8 Acts per million were passed in each
0.0
session. This is compared to a pre-1939
1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

average of 2.6 Acts per million per session.

Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/, Roger Mortimore and Andrew Blick, Butler's
British political fActs (Palgrave, 2018), 307-310, ONS, Mid-year population
estimates, House of Commons Library.
5 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

1.2 Bills
The involvement of Parliamentarians and Governments in legislating
may also be measured through counting the number of bills proposed
in any given session.
The number of bills, of all types, introduced into the Westminster
Parliament have averaged around 150 per session since 1980, a rise
from the average of 115 per session from 1945 to 1970. This compares
to an average of 226 from 1900 to 1939 and 308 from 1870 to 1900.
An average of 148 Public bills were presented from 1801 to 1835 per
session.
NUMBER OF BILLS PRESENTED TO THE WESTMINSTER PARLIAMENT 1850-2019
500

450
Public bills only All bills
400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Notes: Data for some pre-1900 sessions is incomplete.

Sources: Sessional Returns to the House of Commons (1987-2017), Public Bills: Return to Orders (1900-30, 1947-
87), List of Bills, Reports, Estimates, Accounts and Papers (1854-1900), Return of Number of Divisions (1834-46),
Return of Number of Public Bills presented to House of Commons (1822-1835).

When taking account of the varying lengths of Parliamentary Sessions,

the fall in legislation compared to the nineteenth century continues to
be present. An average of 2.4 bills were presented per sitting day from
1870 to 1900, falling to an average of 1.6 bills per sitting day from
1900 to 1939. This halved from 1945 to 1980, with an average of 0.8
bills presented per sitting day from 1947 to 1980. This rose to 1.0 bill
per sitting day from 1980 to 2017.
NUMBER OF BILLS PRESENTED TO WESTMINSTER PARLIAMENT PER SITTING DAY, 1870-2019
4

3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
1870

1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

Note: some pre-1900 sessional data is incomplete.

Sources: Number of Divisions (1834-46), Return of Number of Public Bills presented to House of Commons (1822-
1835), Return of Number of Days on which House of Commons sat in each Month of Sessions 1831-81 (1881),
Return of Number of Days on which House of Commons sat in Session (1871-1889), Sittings of the House (1888-
1901), Business of the House (days occupied) (1901-31), Parliamentary Trends (2009), Sittings of the House
(2010), Sessional Returns (to 2017), Sessional Returns to the House of Commons (1987-2017), Public Bills: Return
to Orders (1900-30, 1947-87), List of Bills, Reports, Estimates, Accounts and Papers (1854-60, 1870-1900), Roger
Mortimore and Andrew Blick, Butler's British political fActs (Palgrave, 2018), 307-310.

Legislative activity in European Union Parliaments may be found in the

Library Briefing Paper How Much Legislation Comes from Europe?
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 6

Success Rates: PMBS and Govt Bills

1.3 Private Members’ Bills 1997-2017

Backbench MPs tend to introduce more bills than Government PMB Government

ministers, but also have far lower levels of success in turning bills into 1997/98 6.4% 98.1%
Acts. 1998/99 7.7% 87.1%
1999/2000 5.8% 97.5%
During the 2016/17 session, the Government introduced 27 bills, 24 of
2000/01 0.0% 80.8%
which became law (89%), whilst backbenchers introduced 117 Private
2001/02 7.0% 100.0%
Members Bills (PMBs), of which 8 (7%) became law. 1 The chart to the 2002/03 12.7% 91.7%
right shows that from 1997 to 2017, Government bills tended to have a 2003/04 5.2% 91.7%
success rate of above 80%, with a lowest success-rate of 65.6% in the 2004/05 0.0% 65.6%
2004/5 session. The best success rate for PMBs was in 2002/3, when 2005/06 2.6% 91.4%
12.7% became law. In terms of numbers of bills given royal assent, 13 2006/07 4.2% 88.2%
PMBs became Acts in 2002/3, and 10 became Acts in 1997/8, 2012/13 2007/08 2.8% 93.8%
and 2014/15. 2009/10 4.1% 84.6%

The chart below shows that the largest number of PMBs passed in any 2010/11 9.1% 100.0%
2011/12 2.6% 85.7%
one session after 1948 was in 1966/7, when 34 PMBs became Acts. An
2012/13 7.5% 82.4%
average of 17 PMBs became Acts each year in the 1960s, falling to 10 a
2013/14 2.8% 80.6%
year on average in 1970s, before rising to around 13 for the 1980s and
2014/15 6.1% 96.3%
1990s. The average of 5 successful PMBs a year in the 2000s is thus
2015/16 3.7% 85.2%
below the average for the previous fifty-year period.
2016/17 4.9% 89.3%
SUCCESSFUL PMBs Sources: House of Commons Library Papers
Successful Private Members’ Bills since 1983,
1948-2017 Bills Gaining Royal Assent since 1997, House
of Commons Information Office, The
35 Success of Private Members Billss

30

25

20

15

10

0
1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

2016

Sources: House of Commons Library, Successful Private Members’ Bills since 1983, Bills Gaining Royal
Assent since 1997, House of Commons Information Office, The success of Private Members Billss

1.4 Success and Failure: Government and

Backbench legislation
The below chart shows that Government strength in legislating has
been present throughout the post-war period, with at least 75% of Acts
in the majority of sessions originating with the Government. A low point
was reached around 1960, coinciding with the highest number of
successful PMBs, when only 65% of Acts originated with the
Government.

1
Hansard Society, ‘Backbench Activity’ (2018)
7 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

SOURCE OF UK ACTS, 1947-2016

100%

75%

50%

25%

0%
1950

1960

1970

1980

1985

1997

2005

2010

2015
Acts Government Acts Other

Sources: House of Commons Sessional Returns (1997-present) and Public bills. Return to an order (1947-1985/6)

Failed or fallen legislation has tended to come from non-Government

sources, being responsible for 95% of fallen legislation in the surveyed
sessions from 1947 to 2016/17. The highest number of legislative
failures on the Government side was in 1967 (responsible for 28% of
fallen legislation) and 1974 (responsible for 30% of fallen legislation).
2004 was the only surveyed session since 1980 that Government
success was below 90%, at an 87% success rate.
SOURCE OF UK FALLEN BILLS, 1947-2016
100%

75%

50%

25%

0%
1950

1960

1970

1980

1985

1997

2005

2010

2015

Fallen Bills Government Fallen Bills Other

Sources: House of Commons Sessional Returns (1997-present) and Public bills. Return to an order (1947-1985/6)

The differential rate of legislative success is closely related to the

Government’s greater control of the Parliamentary timetable, greater
support given to ministers in the drafting of legislation, and the
expectation of majority support for Government bills in the House of
Commons. 2

1.5 Legislative topics

The Institute for Government’s Whitehall Monitor (2014) found that
from 2010 to 2014, the Treasury passed more Government bills than
any other department, being responsible for 29 bills, three times as
many as any other. The Home Office passed the second-largest number

2
Institute For Government, Parliamentary Monitor (2018), 83-5.
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 8

of bills, at 9. 3 In 2016/17, the Treasury continued to be responsible for

the largest number of bills, with the Home Office second. 4
The Treasury was responsible for passing the greatest number of pages
of legislation, introducing one-third of all pages of Government
legislation from 2010 to 2014 (c. 3,500). The Home Office added the
second largest number of pages, at around 1,200. 5
The Institute for Government’s Whitehall Monitor (2019) showed that
the Government has passed 28 Acts that were not related to Brexit
during the current session of 2017/19. Of these, 5 were related to
finance, 6 related to Northern Ireland, and 17 dealt with specific policy
areas, such as capping some energy tariffs and new GDPR rules. 6

1.6 Statutory Instruments

Secondary legislation, most of which are Statutory Instruments or SIs, is
made by ministers and some public bodies in powers delegated to them
under Acts of Parliament. Statutory Instruments vary enormously in their
scope from substantial pieces of legislation to considerable numbers of
orders temporarily restricting traffic on particular local roads. Because
the principles of the act have been approved in primary legislation, SIs
are generally subject to less scrutiny than bills.
STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS, 1950-2019
5,000
UK SI Scottish SI Welsh SI
4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

-
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2019

Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ and House of Commons Library

In comparison to the slow decline in Acts, the number of SIs have

grown slowly during the second half of the twentieth century, before
rapidly rising in the 1990s, peaking in the 2000s, and declining sharply
after 2015. An average of 2,100 UK SI were issued annually from the
1950s to around 1990. This then rose to an annual average of 3,200 in
the 1990s, 4,200 in the 2000s, and fell to around 3,000 a year on
average during the 2010s (to June 2019).

3
Institute For Government, Whitehall Monitor (2014), 102.
4
Institute For Government, Whitehall Monitor (2018), 71.
5
Institute For Government, Whitehall Monitor (2014), 102.
6
Institute For Government, Whitehall Monitor (2019), 77.
9 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

The House of Commons Library has estimated that an average of STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
13.2% of UK instruments were EU-related each year between 1993 and UK Parl, 2015-16 Session
2014. 7 AT-GEN
DFID
Trends in Welsh and Scottish SI are set out further in later sections.
SCOT
The right-hand chart shows that during the 2015/16 Parliamentary NI

session, the largest numbers of SIs came from the Treasury (99), FCO
MOD
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (73) and Department for
DCMS
Business, Innovation and Skills (70). The DWP’s high number related to DFE
acting on behalf of the Northern Ireland Department for Social CAB
Development. ‘Other’ bodies laying SIs included the Local Government HMRC
DECC
Boundary Commission, the Health and Safety Executive, and the
TRANSP
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. DCLG

The Hansard Society estimates that between 1950 and 2017, the House HEALTH
WALES
of Commons has rejected 11 SIs, and the House of Lords, 6. This is a
DEFRA
rejection rate of 0.01% of the total number laid from 1950 to 2017. 8 OTHER
HOME

1.7 Devolution and UK Parliament MOJ

BIS
Legislation DWP
TREAS
Since 1999, Westminster has only rarely passed legislation for the
0 50 100
devolved nations. The Institute for Government in their Report
Westminster and Whitehall has calculated that in the 20 years before Hansard Society, ‘Parliament
and delegated legislation in
devolution, Westminster passed an average of 5 Acts a year for the 2015-16 Session’,
(2017), 13.
Scotland. By contrast, only 7 Acts for Scotland have been passed by
Westminster for Scotland from 1999 to 2018, including 2 to expand the
powers of the Scottish Parliament.
Because historically Wales was treated as part of England when
legislating and administrating law, fewer-Welsh specific Acts were
passed. From 1979 to 1999, the Westminster Parliament passed 10-
Welsh specific Acts from 1979 to 1999, including the act to establish
the Welsh Assembly. Since 2011, the Welsh Assembly has been able to
pass its own laws, and only 2 further Acts have been passed at
Westminster specifically for Wales since then, both expanding the
Assembly’s powers.
The UK-Parliament passed 24 Acts for Northern Ireland from 1979 to
1999, and ministers approved 415 ‘Orders in Council’. After the
Assembly was suspended in 2002 and direct rule was re-established
until 2007, the UK Parliament passed 15 Acts and ministers approved
104 Orders in Council. From 2007 until the suspension of the Assembly
in 2017, Westminster passed a further 6 Acts specifically relating to
Northern Ireland. Between the suspension of the Assembly in January
2017 and March 2019, a further 9 Acts have been passed specifically
for Northern Ireland. Because the UK Government has not imposed
formal direct rule from Westminster, no use of Orders in Council has
been made.

7
House of Commons Library, EU Obligations: UK Implementing Legislation since 1993
8
Hansard Society, ‘Parliament and delegated legislation in the 2015-16 Session’, (2017),
5.
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 10

Topics of legislation that the UK Parliament has considered or passed in

recent sessions may be found here.

1.8 Legislative Consent Motions

The ‘Sewel Convention’, that was first suggested in 1998, states that
the Westminster Parliament would not normally legislate in an area
transferred to one of the devolved institutions without the consent of
the Assembly or Parliament.
The Institute for Government has estimated that there were 202 Acts of
Parliament from 1999 to March 2019 subject to the Sewel Convention,
including 17 Private Member’s Bills. 155 of these involved Scotland, 61
Wales, and 65 Northern Ireland. 9 Multiple consents may be needed to
pass a single bill. 352 legislative consent motions have been put to the
devolved Parliaments and Assemblies from 1999 to March 2019, and of
these, 10 have been denied consent, either partially or in full. Seven of
these occurred in Wales, one in Northern Ireland, and two in Scotland.
Figures for Northern Ireland are likely to be lower than if the Assembly
had not been suspended in 2002-2007 and 2017-2019.

1.9 ‘English Votes for English Laws’

In 2015, the Cameron Government reformed the legislative process to
give English MPs a veto over any laws (or parts of laws) that apply only
to England. This process has been used on 35 bills between 2015 and
March 2019, the largest proportion being in relation to Housing and
Local Government (which are devolved). 10

1.10 Amendments
The academics Philip Cowley and Meg Russell examined 4,361 proposed
amendments to 12 bills presented from 2005-2012, and found that 886
came from Government ministers. Of those Government amendments
Cowley and Russell defined as ‘substantial’, as opposed to technical and
clarificatory in nature, 60% were traceable to nongovernment
Parliamentarians. 11 Of the 117 substantive Government amendments, at
least 50 were also ‘at least partly traceable’ to a Select Committee. 12
This sample of amendments suggests that backbenchers, especially
those from the Government benches, have had substantial impacts on
legislation in recent years.

9
Institute for Government, ‘Westminster and Whitehall’ (2019)
10
Institute for Government, ‘Westminster and Whitehall’ (2019)
11
Meg Russell and Philip Cowley, ‘The policy power of the Westminster Parliament: The
“Parliamentary State” and the empirical evidence’, Governance (2016), 121-37, at
129-30.
12
Ibid, 131.
11 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

2. Scottish Parliament
2.1 Acts
Since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the Parliament has
held the right to legislate on a range of topics, but which exclude ACTS AND SSIs
international relations and aspects of the constitution. Several areas Scottish Parliament, 1999-2019
within finance, social security, transport, media and culture and home Acts SIs
affairs are reserved to Westminster. A detailed list of what powers have 1999 1 124
been reserved to Westminster, and a history of devolution in Scotland 2000 12 281
since 1999, can be found in the House of Commons Library briefing 2001 15 398
paper ‘The settled will’. 2002 17 395
2003 17 407
Since 1999, the Scottish Parliament has passed 292 Acts, an average of
2004 15 420
14.6 per calendar year. Excluding 1999, the year the Parliament first
2005 17 477
met, the least number of Acts have been passed in 2008 and 2017
2006 20 435
(both 7), both being years immediately following an election. Scottish
2007 18 582
Parliament election years tended to see some of the highest number of
2008 7 441
Acts passed: 22 Acts were passed in 2016, 18 in 2007 and 17 in 2003.
2009 12 455
2010 18 471
2.2 Scottish Statutory Instruments (SSI) 2011 16 460
The chart on the right also tracks the number of Scottish Statutory 2012 11 360
Instruments (SSIs) created since 1999. There have been 8,389 in total, 2013 14 364
averaging 399 a year. The highest number created in any one year was 2014 19 377
582 in 2007, but this is the only year which SSIs have numbered more 2015 13 447
than 500. 2016 22 438
2017 7 463
SSIs are legislation made by Scottish ministers or a regulatory authority
2018 15 393
in exercise of powers delegated to them by Scottish Parliament Acts.
2019 6* 201*

2.3 Success and Failure of Bills Note: figures to June 2019 only.
Scottish Parliament Information Centre,
‘Scottish Parliament legislation, sessions
Proposed bills are introduced into the Scottish Parliament by Ministers, 1-5’
but also by Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), committees,
and private individuals. The below table shows that Government failure
rate for proposed legislation was low, regardless of Government type
(Coalition from 1999 to 2007, minority from 2007 to 2011 and 2016-
21 and single-party (2011-16)). Governments have seen a very low
failure rate in the legislation that they have proposed.
Backbench MSPs, committees and private-bill promoters experienced a
lower rate of success in sessions from 1999 to 2016, ranging from
seeing 46% bills succeed in 2003-2007, to around 60-65% in the other
three sessions prior to 2016 for which we have complete data. 13 In
total, 54 Acts passed by the Scottish Parliament since devolution have
come from outside the Executive, a higher number and proportion of all
Acts than Westminster during the same period.

13
In the Scottish Parliament, a private bill can be introduced by an individual, group, or
company that relate to the status or property of the promoter. In recent years, this
has included the Scottish National Gallery and Railway improvement bills- see ‘Bills
explained’
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 12

ACTS AND BILLS

Scottish Parliament, 1999-2019, by parliament and origin
1999-2003 2003-2007 2007-2011 2011-2016 2016-2021*
Acts
Executive 50 53 42 67 26
MSP 8 3 7 6 2
Private 1 9 2 5 4
Committee 3 1 2 1 0
Total 62 66 53 79 32
Bills (Withdrawn or Fallen)
Executive 1 0 3 0 0
MSP 8 15 6 7 0
Private 2 0 0 0 0
Committee 0 0 0 0 0
Total 11 15 9 7 0

Success Rate
98% 100% 93% 100% 100%
(Executive)
Success Rate
60% 46% 65% 63% 100%
(others)

Source: Scottish Parliament Information Centre, ‘Scottish Parliament legislation, sessions 1-5’

Notes: Session 2016-2021 has data for years to June 2019.

Amendments to Government bills in the 1999-2003 Scottish Parliament

were also more successful if they originated with ministers or the
backbenchers of the then- Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition. Of the
6,105 successful amendments in the first post-1999 Scottish Parliament,
93% came from members of the two governing parties. 14

2.4 Legislative topics

SUBJECTS OF LEGISLATION
Scottish Parliament Acts, by Parliament date
1999-2003 2003-2007 2007-2011 2011-2016 2016-2021* Total
Health and social
6 15 8 8 3 40
services
Law regulation 8 4 8 13 3 36
Justice, prisons, fire and
5 9 6 8 6 34
policing
Civil service, public
9 3 5 11 2 30
bodies and elections
Budget & taxation 4 4 4 10 5 27
Transport 2 9 4 3 2 20
Enviroment & planning 6 5 5 2 1 19
Agriculture & Crofting 7 3 1 5 1 17
Housing 4 2 4 4 1 15
Education 4 6 2 3 15
Culture & sport 1 2 3 5 1 12
Local Government 3 1 2 5 11
Social Security, Pensions
& child support
2 4 6

Economic development 3 2 5
Employment and skills 3 1 4
Brexit 1 1
Total 62 66 53 79 32 292

Source: Scottish Parliament Information Centre, ‘Scottish Parliament legislation, sessions 1-5’
Notes: Session 2016-2021 has data for years to June 2019.

14
Mark Shephard and Paul Cairney, ‘The impact of the Scottish Parliament in amending
legislation’, Political Studies (2005), 10.
13 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

The Scottish Parliament has legislated most actively in the field of health
and social services, the regulation of law, courts and contracts, and
regulating the conduct of public bodies (including the Parliament and
elections), with at least 30 Acts passed relating to each of these topics.
Acts can be classified under multiple subjects, but only the single most
relevant has been selected here. The Scotland Act 2015/16 provided for
the devolution of powers over air passenger duty, certain aspects of
welfare, speed limits, the British Transport Police and the Crown
estate. 15 Several of these powers also experienced a delay in their
introduction. 16

15
House of Commons Library, Scotland Bill 2015-16, 4 June 2015
16
House of Commons Library, ‘The Settled Will: Devolution in Scotland, 1998-2018’ ,
33.
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 14

3. Welsh Assembly ACTS AND MEASURES

Welsh Assembly, 2008-19
Rejected/
3.1 Measures and Acts Introducer Fallen bills
Under the 1998 Government of Wales Act, the Welsh Assembly Assembly
Welsh Assembly was able only to make delegated Government Member Commission
legislation under Westminster Acts. From May 2008 2
2007, the Assembly’s legislative powers were 2009 4 1
enlarged to enable it to make ‘Measures’ which, in 2010 7 1 1
effect, could do anything that could be done by an
2011 6 1
Act of Parliament in specified fields. The National
2012 1 1
Assembly’s powers were enlarged again from May
2013 6 1 1
2011, and it can now make Assembly Acts – in
effect primary legislation. Since then, 49 Acts have 2014 7 2

been passed. 2015 6

2016 4 1
Assembly bills and Measures have tended to 2017 4
originate with the Welsh Government, though 6 2018 5 to June 2019 Source: Welsh Assembly Legislation,
*2019 data only
accessed 12 June 2019
successful Measures and bills have been passed by 2019* 2 1 1
Welsh Assembly members (AM’s) since 2009. The *2019 data only to June 2019
five failed or fallen bills since 2010 were introduced
Source: Welsh Assembly, Legislation, accessed 18 June 2019
by AM’s. One act originated with the Assembly
Commission, and was passed in 2012.

The figures for ‘fallen legislation’ in the table only include Measures and STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
bills that are formally introduced to the Assembly, excluding other Wales, 1999-2019
proposals from backbench AMs. In the 2011-16 Assembly, 55 proposals 1999 28
were put forward for consideration, which were then put to a series of 2000 122
ballots by AM’s. 17 So far in the 2016-21 Assembly, 43 proposals have 2001 242
been put forward to a ballot. 18 2002 212
2003 215
2004 192
3.2 Welsh Statutory Instruments 2005 191
Since 1999, the Welsh Government has created 4,830 Statutory 2006 222
instruments, compared to 8,389 in Scotland. Over these 20 years, the 2007 215
annual average of Welsh Government SIs rose from 182 (1999-2009) to 2008 181
282 (2009-2019). 2009 191
2010 166
2011 323
3.3 Legislative topics 2012 325
2013 321
The legislative powers of the Welsh Assembly have expanded since the 2014 350
creation of the Assembly from the 1998 Government of Wales Act. The 2015 314
2017 Wales Act granted the Assembly and Welsh Government Ministers 2016 295
new powers over elections, business rates, road transport and equal 2017 296
opportunities. The National Assembly website has a detailed list of all 2018 259
reserved powers. The House of Commons Library briefing paper further 2019 170*
sets out the changing nature of devolution in Wales: “A process, not an
*2019 data only to June 2019
event”.
Source: Welsh Assembly,
Legislation, accessed 18 June 2019

17
Pre-ballot proposals- Fourth Assembly (2011-2016), accessed 12 June 2019
18
Pre-ballot proposals- Fifth Assembly (2016-2021), accessed 12 June 2019
15 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

Since 2008, the Welsh Assembly has passed the greater number of
Measures and Acts relating to education, health and social services, and
housing. The present Assembly is due to run until 2021, and these totals
are likely to change. It is important to note that counting Acts is only a
proxy measure for the concern of the Assembly for an issue, as
Measures and Acts are not equal in their scope, importance or effect.
Acts can be classified under multiple subjects, but only the single most
relevant has been selected here.

SUBJECTS OF LEGISLATION
Welsh Assembly Acts and Measures, by Assembly date
Assembly
2016-19* 2011-16 2008-11 Total
Education 6 5 11
Health and social services 2 5 3 10
Housing 3 3 2 8
Enviroment & planning 1 4 1 6
Social Security, Pensions
1 3 4
& child support
Civil service & public
1 1 2 4
bodies
Local Government 2 2 4
Transport 1 2 3
Budget & Finance 1 1 2
Economic development 1 1 2
Justice, prisons and
2 2
policing
Employment and skills 2 2
Culture & sport 1 1 2
Brexit 1 1
Total 12 27 22 61

*2019 data only to June 2019.

Source: Welsh Assembly Legislation, accessed 12 June 2019

 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 16

4. Northern Ireland Assembly

4.1 Acts, Rules and Orders
Legislation takes three forms in Northern Ireland: Acts passed by the
Northern Ireland Assembly after 2000, ‘Statutory Rules’, which are a
form of statutory instrument laid by ministers, and ‘Orders in Council’,
an additional form of statutory instrument laid by UK ministers.

ACTS, ORDERS AND STATUTORY ROLES

Northern Ireland, 1999-2019
Acts Statutory Rules Orders in Council
1999 - 372 11
2000 5 282 3

17 324 3
2001
2003 456 19
Assembly
2004 386 23
suspended Oct
2005 462 20
2002- May 2007
2006 426 22
2007 3 410 11
2008 13 361 2
2009 9 342 2
2010 16 431 0
2011 29 442 0
2012 5 462 0
2013 10 308 0
2015 10 424 1
2016 30 427 1
2017 241 0
2018 211 0
Assembly
suspended Jan
2017-present 117 0

2019*

*2019 data only to June 2019

Source: http://www.legislation.gov.uk

A relative period of stability between May 2007 and early 2017 allowed
the Assembly to pass 137 Acts, an average of 13.7 per year. The most
legislatively-productive years were 2011, with 29 Acts, and 2016, with
30 Acts. The Assembly was suspended from October 2002 to May
2007, and again from January 2017 onwards, meaning no Acts were
passed. From 2002 to 2007, 95 Orders in Council were approved, an
average of 19 per year. Since 2008, only 6 Orders in Council have been
approved.

In total, 142 bills were presented to the Northern Ireland Assembly from
1999 to 2011, all but 16 being introduced by members of the Executive.
Of these 16 non-Executive bills, 5 became law (31%). 23 of the 126 bills
proposed by the Executive failed to become Acts (18%). 19

19
Northern Ireland Assembly, ‘Bills introduced in the Assembly, 1991-2011’
17 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

In the 2011-2016 mandate, only 4 Executive bills failed, with 56

succeeding (93%) and 7 non-Executive bills of 14 were passed (50%). 20

4.2 Legislative topics

Legislating on topics relating to the constitution, international relations,
defence, immigration, and UK-wide taxation and currency, is reserved to
the UK Parliament. For more on the nature of devolution in Northern
Ireland see the House of Commons Library briefing paper Devolution in
Northern Ireland, 1998-2018

SUBJECTS OF LEGISLATION
Northern Ireland Acts, 2000-17
2000-2002 2007-2017 Total
Budget 6 23 29
Enviroment & planning 2 18 20
Social Security, Pensions &
7 12
child support 19
Health and social services 2 15 17
NI civil service & public bodies 2 16 18
Economic development 5 10 15
Civil law regulation 6 9 15
Transport 1 9 10
Housing 2 7 9
Justice, prisons and policing 1 6 7
Local Government 1 4 5
Education 0 4 4
Employment and skills 1 3 4
Culture & sport 0 1 1
Total 36 137 173

Source: Northern Ireland Assembly, Legislation, accessed 12 June 2019 and House of Commons
Library calculations.

The subjects of Assembly Acts are shown in the table. Acts can be
classified under multiple subjects, but only the single most relevant has
been selected here. The table suggests that amongst the subjects
devolved to the Assembly, aside from budgetary and civil Government
matters, it has been most legislatively active in the fields of economic
policy, social security, health and social services. It is important to note,
however, that counting Acts is only a proxy measure for the concern of
the Assembly for an issue: these figures do not include fallen bills, and
Acts passed are not equal in their scope, importance or effect.

20
Northern Ireland Assembly, 2011-2016 Mandate Acts and Primary Legislation- Bills
that fell at the end of the 2011-2016 Mandate
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 18

5. Pages of Legislation
5.1 Pages in UK Government Acts
An alternative measure of the volume of legislation passed by
Parliament is the number of pages of legislation. The following chart
shows the average number of pages in UK Government Acts from 1930
to 2016. Whilst there was an average of 16 pages per act from 1930 to
1950, this rose to 21 (1950-80), 33 (1980-90), 46 (1990-2000), to reach
85 (2000-2010).

From 2010 to 2016, the average number of pages on UK Public Acts

were 86, compared to 82 from 1997 to 2010. 21

The Institute for Government has found that legislation passed between
2007 and 2015 typically grew in length by around 40% due to
amendments made during the bill’s passage through both houses. 22
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PAGES IN UK GOVERNMENT ACTs, 1930-2016

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2016

Source: House of Lords Library, Volume of Legislation (2011)., https://www.legislation.gov.uk/

5.2 Pages in UK SIs

The following chart shows the average number of pages in UK
Government SIs from 1961 to 2008. These have remained roughly
constant in size, averaging 6 pages in length.
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PAGES IN UK GOVERNMENT SIs, 1960-2008

10

0
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2008

Note; 2009 is the last year for which figures in this data series are available due to changes in the way
statutory instruments were published.

Source: House of Lords Library, Volume of Legislation (2011).

21
Stationary Office, Annual volumes of Acts
22
Institute For Government, Parliamentary Monitor (2018), 39.
19 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

5.3 Annual totals of pages in UK Acts and SIs

The below graph shows the total number of pages added to the
statute-book each year by UK SIs and Public and General Acts for
selected years until 1990, and each year from 1990 to 2016. 2006 saw
the largest number of pages added to the statute book, of 4,911
through Acts, whilst 1921 saw the lowest of the sampled years (220
pages). The largest number of pages added to the statute book in one
year by UK SIs was 2005 (12,933), whilst the lowest number added in
the sampled years was 1911 (330).
TOTAL PAGES OF ACTS AND STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
Selected years until 1990, UK legislation only
14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000
Statutory Instruments
6,000

4,000

2,000
Public and General Acts

1911 1926 1941 1956 1971 1986 2001 2016

Source: Annual volumes of Acts and SIs published by The Stationary Office.
Notes: The figures for Statutory Instruments relate to the number of pages in the Stationery Office bound set -
this excludes some local and unpublished Instruments and, from 2000, those made by the Welsh ministers. The
figures do not include Northern Ireland (Stormont) Acts, Orders in Council or Statutory Rules. Pre-1987 figures are
adjusted to current page sizes.
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 20

6. Sessional data
6.1 Bills and Acts
Some statistics are also available for Parliamentary sessions, which vary in
length. The latest available figures are for the 2016/17 session. The table
counts the bills that started in the House of Commons or were brought
to the Commons having started in the House of Lords.
PUBLIC BILLS BY SESSION, 1997/8 TO 2016/17
Received
Bills Of which Royal
Sitting days introduced (a) Government Assent

1997-98 7 May 97-19 Nov 98 241 202 53 62

1998-99 24 Nov 98-11 Nov 99 149 135 31 35
1999-00 17 Nov 99-30 Nov 00 170 144 40 45
2000-01 6 Dec 00-14 May 01 83 89 26 21
2001-02 13 Jun 01-7 Nov 02 201 162 39 47
2002-03 13 Nov 02-20 Nov 03 162 138 36 46
2003-04 26 Nov 03-18 Nov 04 157 131 36 38
2004-05 23 Nov 04-7 Apr 05 65 88 32 21
2005-06 11 May 05-8 Nov 06 208 179 58 56
2006-07 15 Nov 06-30 Oct 07 146 131 34 33
2007-08 6 Nov 07-26 Nov 08 165 138 32 33
2008-09 3 Dec 08-12 Nov 09 136 138 26 27
2009-10 18 Nov 09-12 Apr 10 60 92 23 30
2010-12 25 May 10-1 May 12 296 277 46 49
2012-13 9 May 12-23 April 13 143 137 34 38
2013-14 8 May 13-14 May 14 162 180 31 30
2014-15 4 June 14-26 March 15 133 162 26 36
2015-16 18 May15-12 May 16 158 142 23 29
2016-17 18 May 16- May 17 142 144 24 32
(a) Bills that started in the Commons or were brought from the Lords.
Source: House of Commons Sessional Returns, various years

Bills fall into two main types: Government Bills and Private Members’
(back-bench) Bills. Almost all Government Bills are debated and
subsequently become law (having passed through both Houses of
Parliament); generally these receive Royal Assent in the same session in
which they are introduced, but in some cases Bills can be carried forward
to the next session. Bills, including Government Bills, may be “lost” at
the end of a session, especially when there is a General Election.

Many Private Members’ Bills are introduced but are not discussed at all
and, of those that are allocated time for debate, relatively few are passed.

6.2 Private bills

Private Bills are a separate category of legislation. They are proposals
to give specific powers over and above the general law, usually to
corporate bodies. The numbers introduced into the House of Commons
or brought from the House of Lords, and the numbers becoming law,
were as follows.
21 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

PRIVATE BILLS BY SESSION, 1997/8 TO 2016/17

Bills Received Royal
Sitting days introduced (a) Assent

1997-98 7 May 97-19 Nov 98 241 17 9

1998-99 24 Nov 98-11 Nov 99 149 9 4
1999-00 17 Nov 99-30 Nov 00 170 12 7
2000-01 6 Dec 00-14 May 01 83 7 5
2001-02 13 Jun 01-7 Nov 02 201 9 7
2002-03 13 Nov 02-20 Nov 03 162 7 5
2003-04 26 Nov 03-18 Nov 04 157 6 6
2004-05 23 Nov 04-7 Apr 05 65 6 0
2005-06 11 May 05-8 Nov 06 208 5 4
2006-07 15 Nov 06-30 Oct 07 146 6 3
2007-08 6 Nov 07-26 Nov 08 165 12 3
2008-09 3 Dec 08-12 Nov 09 136 7 1
2009-10 18 Nov 09-12 Apr 10 60 10 3
2010-12 25 May 10-1 May 12 296 10 4
2012-13 9 May 12-23 April 13 143 7 4
2013-14 8 May 13-14 May 14 162 6 4
2014-15 4 June 14-26 Mar 15 133 2 1
2015-16 18 May15-12 May 16 158 2 1
2016-17 18 May 16- May 17 142 5 2

(a) Introduced into the House of Commons or brought from the House of Lords; includes
suspended or revived Bills (those carried over from one session to the next)
Sources: House of Commons Sessional Diaries from 2001

6.3 Delegated legislation – Statutory

Instruments
The extent of Parliamentary involvement in delegated legislation, most of
which is carried out using Statutory Instruments, varies; it depends on the
terms of the parent Act. Many SIs (for example, local instruments which
have only to be formally signed off by a Minister and published to become
law) receive no Parliamentary scrutiny. Others are laid before Parliament
and are subject to the scrutiny of a (two-House) Joint Committee on
Statutory Instruments 23 to determine whether they are within the powers
given to ministers under their parent Act and whether they are properly
drafted. Most SIs are, in practice, not subsequently debated and, of those
that are, the majority are discussed not on the floor of the House of
Commons but in a Committee, 24 after which they are simply reported to
the House.

Most SIs presented to Parliament are subject to the negative

procedure. This means that Parliament is not required to approve

23
Instruments which are required to be laid only before the Commons – generally those
relating to taxation – are considered by the Commons Select Committee on SIs.
24
Generally the Delegated Legislation Committee, but can be the Scottish or NI Grand
Committee.
 Number CBP 7438, 17 June 2019 22

the SI for it to become law. But if either House passes a motion

within a specified period (usually 40 days), then the SI is annulled.
The last time an SI was annulled by the Commons was 1978. 25
When being subject to the Affirmative procedure, a draft SI is laid
before the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI), which
scrutinises the SI to ensure that it does not go beyond the powers
specific in the parent Act.

STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS LAID BEFORE MPs, 1997/8 TO 2016/17

Laid before Considered Considered in
Sitting days House in House Committee

1997-98 7 May 97-19 Nov 98 241 1,856 34 215

1998-99 24 Nov 98-11 Nov 99 149 1,479 22 178
1999-00 17 Nov 99-30 Nov 00 170 1,456 21 175
2000-01 6 Dec 00-14 May 01 83 868 15 122
2001-02 13 Jun 01-7 Nov 02 201 1,788 15 258
2002-03 13 Nov 02-20 Nov 03 162 1,474 13 244
2003-04 26 Nov 03-18 Nov 04 157 1,281 9 187
2004-05 23 Nov 04-7 Apr 05 65 793 6 118
2005-06 11 May 05-8 Nov 06 208 1,885 19 273
2006-07 15 Nov 06-30 Oct 07 146 1,361 12 202
2007-08 6 Nov 07-26 Nov 08 165 1,319 17 212
2008-09 3 Dec 08-12 Nov 09 136 1,302 12 231
2009-10 18 Nov 09-12 Apr 10 60 823 12 160
2010-12 25 May 10-1 May 12 296 1,809 22 336
2012-13 9 May 12-23 April 13 143 964 11 208
2013-14 8 May 13-14 May 14 162 1,173 11 224
2014-15 4 June 14-26 Mar 15 133 1,378 27 315
2015-16 18 May15-12 May 16 158 757 20 103
2016-17 18 May 16- May 17 142 725 10 155
Sources: House of Commons Sessional Returns, various years

25
Statutory Instrument procedure in the House of Commons, accessed 18 June 2019.
23 Acts and Statutory Instruments: the volume of UK legislation 1850 to 2019

6.4 Time Spent Debating Legislation, UK

Parliament
The table shows the length of time spent debating legislation in the
House of Commons Chamber in each session from 1997/98 to 2015/16,
both in aggregate and as averages per sitting day. The table does not
include debates in Public Bill and other Committees – the bulk of the
detailed debate on most Bills takes place in Committee – and the figures
can, therefore, be affected by the Committee stages of some bills being
taken on the floor of the House. 26 There has been a general downward
trend in both the time spent debating legislation and in the percentage
of the House’s sitting time taken up with legislative debate.
TIME SPENT DEBATING LEGISLATION IN HOUSE OF COMMONS CHAMBER
1997-2016
Private
Government Members' Private Statutory As % of
Bills bills (a) Bills Instruments Total sitting time
Hours:minutes
1997-98 780:57 64:19 6:33 43:05 894:54 42.3%
1998-99 396:38 60:36 8:24 37:02 502:40 36.5%
1999-00 560:00 70:13 8:58 32:28 671:39 46.6%
2000-01 242:35 38:50 7:39 26:22 315:26 45.7%
2001-02 475:55 63:19 12:31 24:58 576:43 44.5%
2002-03 415:02 63:02 6:25 18:12 502:41 39.1%
2003-04 388:24 62:58 0:00 14:35 465:57 38.3%
2004-05 198:49 19:26 0:00 9:30 227:45 42.5%
2005-06 631:27 55:42 0:00 18:09 705:18 44.9%
2006-07 298:11 61:17 2:32 18:01 380:01 34.0%
2007-08 373:36 61:57 7:55 27:38 471:06 36.1%
2008-09 257:50 61:11 3:56 19:37 342:34 32.5%
2009-10 156:00 24:24 7:32 16:31 204:27 37.8%
2010-12 652:14 75:40 16:27 30:18 774:39 33.0%
2012-13 285:42 61:18 5:10 11:01 363:11 32.0%
2013-14 337:27 62:04 7:07 5:56 412:34 32.4%
2014-15 193:54 61:11 5:46 16:79 278:10 28.1%
2015-16 289:46 61:29 2:42 7:49 361:46 29.8%
Average minutes per sitting day
1997-98 194 16 2 11 223
1998-99 160 24 3 15 202
1999-00 198 25 3 11 237
2000-01 175 28 6 19 228
2001-02 142 19 4 7 172
2002-03 154 23 2 7 186
2003-04 148 24 0 6 178
2004-05 184 18 0 9 210
2005-06 182 16 0 5 203
2006-07 123 25 1 7 156
2007-08 136 23 3 10 171
2008-09 114 27 2 9 151
2009-10 156 24 8 17 204
2010-12 132 15 3 6 157
2012-13 120 26 2 5 152
2013-14 125 23 3 2 153
2014-15 87 28 3 8 125
2015-16 110 28 1 4 163
Source: House of Commons Sessional Information Digest and Sessional Diaries

26
See Bills whose Commons committee stage has been taken in committee of the
whole House Parliamentary Information List SN/PC/5435.
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2019