Welfare Reform Act now available

Further to last week’s Royal Assent ...

Welfare Reform Act 2012 receives Royal Assent: ‘This is an historic moment for the coalition government and for my department’, says Iain Duncan Smith

... the Welfare Reform Act 2012 has now been published online @

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/5/contents/enacted

Has the final version of the accompanying Explantory Notes been published yet - I can’t find them on the legislation,  parliament or DWP web sites?

hi peter -

no, don’t seem to be on there yet,

cheers ros

Aren’t explanatory notes only published to accompany Bills?  Acts don’t need explanation; their text is definitive.

hi - yes, usually have explanatory notes -

here’s link to ones for welfare reform act 2009 -

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/24/notes/contents

Thanks Ros.  The DWP will probably, as with your example, produce explanatory notes but they aren’t formally linked to the Act or published by Parliament.  They are useful and usually fairly objective.

The face of the Act says Explanatory Notes have been produced so presumably they will be available somewhere very soon!?

I am told that the explanatory note to the Act is one single sentence:

“We did it because we could”

Alternatively;  ‘Because you’re (not) worth it’

explanatory notes now available @

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/5/pdfs/ukpgaen_20120005_en.pdf