Records of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel

Records of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, created in 1869 to provide advice and prepare legislation for Parliamentary consideration. The contents of these series reflect the translation of government departments' policy into legislation and provide historical insight into the process of drafting legislation at the highest level.

Parliamentary Bills: Volumes AM 1.

Miscellaneous Parliamentary Bills: Volumes AM 2.

Parliamentary Bills and Memoranda: Volumes AM 3.

Dropped Parliamentary Bills: Files AM 4.

Orders and Transfer of Function Orders AM 5.

Finance Bills: Bound Volumes AM 6.

• Cabinet Office, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, 1980-1980
• Civil Service Department, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, 1969-1980
• Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Treasury, 1869-1969
• Parliamentary Counsel, 1769-1841

Cabinet Office, Office of the Parliamentary Counsel

The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC) is responsible for drafting all government Bills that are introduced to Parliament. It also gives legal advice on matters relating to parliamentary bills. Established in 1869, as the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Treasury, the OPC has been part of various government departments and is currently part of the Cabinet Office. The office, small for a government department, is led by the First Parliamentary Counsel and consists of lawyers and support staff.

The office which was to become that of Parliamentary Counsel to the Treasury was created by Treasury minute of 28 November 1769. From about 1774 its holders also served as clerks of the fees at the Commons. They prepared Treasury bills and acquired a watching brief over private bills that were introduced. They also dealt with the bills of all departments without counsel of their own. From 1805 to 1816 counsel was aided in his task by the Treasury law clerk, a post held with that of assistant secretary, and from 1817 to 1831 by an assistant counsel. The office of counsel was discontinued in 1841, and from 1842 to 1869 bills for the Treasury and for some other departments were drafted by the parliamentary counsel to the Home Office. A minute of 12 February 1869 revived the office of Parliamentary Counsel under the Treasury because of the increasing number of government bills required. The Home Office counsel took the post, and it has maintained a continuous existence ever since. A further minute in 1871 directed that bills for departments with no legal advisers should be drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel as a matter of course.

The office remained small until the 1930s, but has grown with the increase in the volume of legislation going through Parliament. Until the establishment of the Law Commission in 1965 the office was responsible, under the direction of the Statute Law Committee, for improving statute law by consolidating existing acts, and from 1956 for statute law revision. From 1947 to 1965 a special branch of the office was maintained for this purpose. It remained closely linked with the Treasury although from 1969 to 1980 it came under the control of the Civil Service Department. In 1980 the office became part of the Cabinet Office. Throughout its existence non-professional staff have been drawn from the parent department.