The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The OPSI is part of
the National Archives of the United Kingdom and is responsible for
Crown copyright.
The OPSI announced on 21 June 2006 that it was merging with the National Archives. The merger took place in October 2006. The OPSI continues to discharge its roles and responsibilities from within the structure of the National Archives.
Controller of HMSO and Director of OPSI
The Controller of HMSO is also the Director of OPSI. HMSO continues to operate from within the expanded remit of OPSI. The Controller of HMSO also holds the offices of Kings's Printer of Acts of Parliament, King's Printer for Scotland and Government Printer for Northern Ireland.
By virtue of holding these offices OPSI publishes, through HMSO, the ''
London Gazette'', ''
Edinburgh Gazette'', ''
Belfast Gazette'' and all legislation in the United Kingdom, including
Acts of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament ...
,
Acts of the Scottish Parliament and
statutory instruments.
The Controller of HMSO is appointed by Letters Patent to the office of King's Printer of Acts of Parliament. This office is separate from the functions of OPSI. Historically the role of King's (or Queen's) Printer extended to other official publishing responsibilities, e.g. the rights to print, publish and import the
King James Bible and