Votes and proceedings of the House of Commons

The daily records of the business of the House of Commons contain all the business that was transacted on the previous day. It includes Notices of motions and orders of the day.

Daily issues of the proceedings are no longer received. Information contained in them is in the sessional volumes of the Journals.

Minutes of proceedings and order papers of the House of Lords

The daily records of the business of the House of Lords contain all the business that was transacted on the previous day.

Information contained in them can be found in the sessional volumes of the Journals of the House of Lords (see below).

The House of Lords Business website contains information on minutes of proceedings and future business. The Minutes and Order Papers Archive is also available online.

Journals

The Journals for each House are compiled daily from the Votes and Proceedings for the House of Commons and the Minutes of Proceedings for the House of Lords. They form the permanent and authoritative record of the business dealt with in each session of Parliament. The Journals record only what was done, not what was said (which is the role of the Debates).

Each new sessional volume is published about two years after the end of the session.

Indexes to the Journals

House of Commons

There are eight general indexes covering 1547-1879. Indexes were published every 10 years from 1879.

General Index to the Journals of the House of Commons 1660-1837: The journals may be accessed through our eResource U.K. Parliamentary Papers online. Visit our eResources portal and search for this resource under the Browse eResources tab.

From 1837: Online

House of Lords

General indexes were published from 1510-1853, and every ten years from then on.

General Index to the Journals of the House of Lords 1660-1854: The journals may be accessed through our eResource U.K. Parliamentary Papers online. Visit our eResources portal and search for this resource under the Browse eResources tab.

Indexes are found in the back of each published volume, 1801- 2002/03: CAC Sef 328.42 GRE

From May 1997: Online. The index is published with each journal; select the link on the journal page.

Summary agendas and orders of business

These give an overview of what is going on in the House of Commons Chamber and in Westminster Hall. Browse online by date from October 1997 at the UK Parliament website.

Our call numbers

RSEREF

This call number indicates the Rare Serials Collection. Requested items will be delivered to the Special Collections Reading Room.

RF

Main Reading Room Reference Collection. No eCallslip request required.

Related eResources

• Eighteenth Century Collections online
• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

Both collections are accessible offsite through the eResource UK Parliamentary Papers online using your Library login - visit our eResources portal and search for Parliamentary Papers under the Browse eResources tab.