The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees)(Amendment) Order 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 2010 by replacing the Schedule to that Order, which sets out the fees payable, with a new schedule that includes a number of amendments to the fees payable under the Acts relating to the registration of births, deaths and marriages and associated matters from 1 April 2012. Both the old and the new fees are set out in the Schedule.

Of the forty-four fees included in this Order, twenty-three have remained unchanged, eighteen have increased, two have been divided into a new lower fee for house-bound applicants and a new higher fee for detained applicants and one has been divided into three fees, two new higher fees for registered buildings and detained applicants and one lower fee for house-bound applicants.

Two different types of service, set out in the second column of the Schedule, are available in respect of the provision of a certified copy of entry obtained from the Registrar General following a search of indexes kept at the General Register Office under section 65(2)(c) of the Marriage Act 1949 or section 30(2)(c) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, and the provision of a short certificate of birth obtained from the Registrar General where that certificate is compiled from a certified copy of an entry in the register of live-births, or from any other records and registers in the custody of the Registrar General, under section 33(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.

A “priority service” is a service under which a person may apply to the Registrar General by 1600 hours on any working day and the certified copy of entry, or short certificate of birth as the case may be, will normally be provided to that person on or before the following working day by sending by first class post or between 1000 hours and 1600 hours where he attends at the General Register Office in person. A “standard service” is a service under which a person may apply to the Registrar General by 1600 hours on any working day and the certified copy of entry, or short certificate of birth as the case may be, will normally be provided to that person by sending by second class post or between 1000 hours and 1600 hours where he attends at the General Register Office in person either—(i) on or before the 4th working day after the working day on which the application was made where a reference number which relates to an index kept by the Registrar General under section 65(1) of the Marriage Act 1949 or section 30(1) or (1A) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 has been provided with that application; or (ii) on or before the 15th working day after the working day on which the application was made where such a reference number is not provided. A working day in this context excludes a Saturday or Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday, and a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in England and Wales.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.