Government publications fall into different categories including Command Papers, Law Commission Reports and Hansard. These sources should be included in your footnotes and your structured bibliography.
In terms of the author, this could be a government department or role.
Format:
Author, Title (Command Paper number, year) pinpoints as required
Footnote
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, The Rough Sleeping Strategy (Cm 9685, 2018) ch 4.
Be careful to note the abbreviation for a Command Paper as shown on its title page. There have been six series of Command Papers and each series has its own unique abbreviation.
Bibliography
This is the same as the footnote but without the full stop at the end.
Format:
Law Commission, Report Title (Law Commission report number, year) paragraph number.
Footnote
Law Commission, Simplification of the Immigration Rules (Law Com No 242, 2019) para 6.1.
Bibliography
This is the same as the footnote but without the full stop at the end.
Hansard references need to indicate if the entry is House of Commons (HC) or House of Lords (HL). This is followed by 'Deb' for debate, the date, volume, and common number.
If you are referring to a written answer in the House of Commons put a 'W' after the column number. if you are referring to a written answer in the House of Lords put 'WA' before the column number.
Format:
HC OR HL Deb Date, Vol, Col.
Footnote
HC Deb 16 June 2020, vol 677, col 705W.
HL Deb 20 March 2018, vol 790, col WA234.
The above format applies to both online and printed versions.
Bibliography
This is the same as the footnote but without the full stop at the end.