To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what progress is being made with the development of the statute law database; and what effect that work will have on the range of printed material published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office for the Statutory Publications Office.

Good progress is being made with the development of the database, which is due to provide immediate access to up-to-date statute law by April 1995. In order to meet this target, the Lord Chancellor has authorised the suspension of work done by the Statutory Publications Office in providing certain material for publication by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Newly enacted Acts in the "Statutes in Force" series will continue to be available as at present, as will the annual volumes of public general acts and measures and of statutory instruments. However, work has been suspended on revised material for "Statutes in Force" and on other tables and indexes. The Lord Chancellor and Her Majesty's Stationery Office will keep under review the balance between printed material and information available from the database, having regard to the potential for improved facilities which the database is expected to provide.