Key data sources and methods 

The chronology covers what might be broadly described as legislative provisions and policy statements. The former includes primary legislation (i.e. Acts of Parliament), and secondary legislation (i.e. Statutory Instruments), and European legislation which the UK Parliament is obliged to incorporate. Where possible and relevant, the assignation of legislative powers and duties is identified. 

The chronology draws on a broad range of documents. For example: 

• policy statements made in the Houses of Parliament; 
• strategic framework documents which outline the overall policy thrust in particular areas and the responsibilities and aims of various government departments; 
• details of particular programmes (e.g. New Deal) which contain a range of measures by which government sets out to achieve its objectives; 
• National Targets set out in different policy areas to measure implementation; 
• consultation documents on proposed legislation, and reports on the consultation process; 
• reports produced within and commissioned by government; 
• independent reports (e.g. by ‘think tanks’) that influence government and parties in opposition; 
• reports of Select Committees and Cabinet Committees; 
• reports of the Cabinet Office Social Exclusion Unit; 
• reports of international bodies (e.g. ILO and OECD) which influence economic and social policies, and those of European bodies that impose varying levels of obligation on the UK government. 

The UK has a complex legal structure, and provisions are not uniform across its different countries. For example, education structures in Scotland are very different from those in England and Wales, and Scots Law has a provenance which precedes the Act of Union in 1707. Provisions examined in this chronology relate either specifically to England and Wales, or to Scotland, or more broadly to Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland) or the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland). While we have tried to give equal weight to the different legal structures within Britain, we acknowledge that some aspects of Scots Law (particularly civil and criminal law) have not been as comprehensively reviewed here as those in England and Wales. It is likely that with the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, there may be greater divergence in future in policy structures within the UK.