2018 No. 1268

Registration Of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Etc., England And Wales

The Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) (Amendment) and Multilingual Standard Forms Regulations 2018

Made27th November 2018

Laid before Parliament30th November 2018

Coming into force16th February 2019

The Secretary of State is designated1 for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722 in relation to the issuance of multilingual standard forms by the Registrar General for England and Wales.

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 71A3 and 74(3)4 of the Marriage Act 19495, sections 38A6 and 39A7 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 19538, section 19B of the Registration Service Act 19539, section 2(2) and paragraph 1A of schedule 2 to the European Communities Act 1972, sections 3410 and 36(4) of the Civil Partnership Act 200411 and section 912 and section 18 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 201313 makes the following Regulations.

Citation and commencementI141

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) (Amendment) and Multilingual Standard Forms Regulations 2018.

2

These Regulations come into force on 16th February 2019.

InterpretationI172

In these Regulations—

“the Fees Regulations” means the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 201614.
“the Records Regulations” means the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 201615.
“relevant authority” means a superintendent registrar, registrar or registration authority.
“relevant local office” means any place where a relevant authority provides standard or priority certificate services.

Amendment of the Fees RegulationsI183

The Fees Regulations are amended as follows.

Amendment of regulation 2 (interpretation)I134

1

In the definition of a “priority service”—

a

for “is a service provided to a person who makes an application to the Registrar General” substitute “means”;

b

before paragraph (a) insert—

a
“a service provided to a person who makes an application to the Registrar General—

c

paragraph (a) is renumbered as sub-paragraph (i) and sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) are renumbered, respectively, as paragraphs (aa) and (bb);

d

paragraph (b) is renumbered as sub-paragraph (ii);

e

after sub-paragraph (ii) as so renumbered insert—

b
in the case of a fee that is payable to a relevant authority, a service provided to a person who makes the application to the relevant authority by—
i
giving the relevant information and paying the correct fee by—
aa
attending in person at the Relevant Local Office between 10:00 and 15:00 hours on a working day; or
bb
post, telephone or electronic means which is received by the relevant authority before 15.00 hours on a working day; and
ii
where the document applied for is normally provided on or before the next working day, sending by first class post or to a person attending at the Relevant Local Office between 10:00 hours and 15:00 hours;

2

In the definition of “relevant information” after paragraph (b) insert—

c
in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under section 64(2) of the 1949 Act16 or section 31(2) of the 1953 Act17, either a reference number relating to an index kept by a Superintendent Registrar under section 64(1) of the 1949 Act or section 31(1) of the 1953 Act corresponding to the certified copy for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the Superintendent Registrar to establish such a reference number;
d
in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided by a registrar under section 63(1) of the 1949 Act18 or section 32 of the 1953 Act19, sufficient information to enable a registrar to identify an entry in the register of an event registered in that district;
e
in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under regulation 13 of the Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 200520, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the Registrar General corresponding to the certified copy or certified extract for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the Registrar General to establish such a reference number;
f
in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under regulation 14 of the Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the registration authority corresponding to the certified copy or certified extract for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the registration authority to establish such a reference number.

3

In the definition of a “standard service”—

a

before paragraph (a) insert—

a
in the case of a fee that is payable to the Registrar General, a service—

b

paragraph (a) is renumbered as sub-paragraph (i) and in paragraph (a) sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) are renumbered respectively as paragraphs (aa) and (bb);

c

paragraph (b) is renumbered as sub-paragraph (ii) and in paragraph (b) sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii) are renumbered respectively as paragraphs (aa) and (bb);

d

after paragraph (a) as so renumbered insert—

b
in the case of a fee that is payable to a relevant authority—
i
a service provided to a person who makes an application to the relevant authority by giving the relevant information and paying the correct fee by—
aa
attending in person at the relevant local office between 10:00 and 15:00 hours on a working day; or
bb
post, telephone, or electronic means which is received by the relevant authority before 15:00 hours on a working day; and
ii
a service where the document applied for is normally provided
on or before the 15th working day after the working day on which such application is made, by sending by second class post or to a person attending at the relevant local office between 10:00 hours and 15:00 hours;

Insertion of regulations 3B to 3FI155

After regulation 3A21 insert—

3BOffline application fee
1
Where an application is made to the Registrar General for a relevant service and the application is made by way of offline application, an additional non-refundable fee of £4.00 is payable to the Registrar General.
2
The fee in paragraph (1) is not payable if, at the time of making the application, the online application service is not available.
3
In this regulation—
“offline application” means an application for a service that is not made via the public website known as www.gov.uk;
“online application” means an application for a service that is made via the public website known as www.gov.uk.
“relevant service” means a service as set out in rows 16, 18, 22, 36, 39, 47, 49 and 50 of the table in Schedule 122.
3CPremium postal service fee
1
Where an application is made to the Registrar General for a copy or other record of any information held by the Registrar General using the priority service the Registrar General may, on request and upon payment of the applicable fee, provide the document by premium postal service and the applicable fee is —
a
On a working day a fee of £7.25
b
On a Saturday a fee of £19.25
c
Overseas a fee of £12.00
2
The fee for the premium postal service is—
a
payable to the Registrar General;
b
payable in addition to any other fee payable for provision of that document.
3
In this regulation “premium postal service” means a postal service for which the fee payable to the Registrar General is in addition to the fee payable to the Registrar General for delivery of the same documents by first class post.
3DGeneral index search fee (no reference provided)
1
Where an application is made to the Registrar General for a certified copy and the relevant information does not contain the reference from the relevant index kept by the Registrar General, an additional non-refundable fee of £3.00 is payable to the Registrar General to undertake the search of the index on the applicant’s behalf.
2
The fee in regulation 3D(1) is not payable where the relevant index kept by the Registrar General is not available to the public for searching.
b
“relevant index” means—
i
any index kept by the Registrar General in relation to any register of births, deaths, marriages or civil partnerships; or
ii
an index kept by the Registrar General pursuant to Regulation 23 of the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 201423.
3ERetained fee
1
A fee of £3.50 is retained by the Registrar General where an application is made to the Registrar General for a certified copy and the corresponding entry cannot be located from the relevant information provided.
...F1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Amendment of Schedule 1 (fees payable)I196

The Schedule (amendments to the table in Schedule 1 to the Fees Regulations) has effect.

Amendment of the Records RegulationsI167

The Records Regulations are amended as follows—

a

In regulation 2, in paragraph (3) omit “in accordance with regulation 6”;

b

In regulation 3, in paragraph (3) omit “in accordance with regulation 6”;

c

In regulation 4, in paragraph (3) omit “in accordance with regulation 6”;

d

Omit regulation 6.

Caroline NokesMinister of StateHome Office27th November 2018

SCHEDULEAmendments to the table in Schedule 1 to the Fees Regulations

Regulation 6

I201

The table in Schedule 1 to the Fees Regulations (fees payable) is amended as follows.

I12

For row 13 substitute—

13.
Marriage Act 1949
section 63(1)
(a) Standard service for certified copy of entry in a marriage register book obtained from a registrar
£11.00
The registrar providing the copy
(b) Priority service for certified copy of entry in a marriage register book obtained from a registrar
£35.00
The registrar providing the copy
(c ) Certified copy of entry in a marriage register book
£11.00
The parochial church council of the parish registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary of a synagogue, or authorised person with custody of the marriage register book
(1)
Section 63 was amended by the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 1968 (S.I. 1968/1242), and by paragraph 15 of Schedule 15 to the Immigration Act 2016.

I23

In row 15, in column 3 (amount of fee), for “£10.00” substitute “£11.00”.

I34

In row 16, column 3 –

i

For “£9.25” substitute “£11.00”;

ii

For “£23.40” substitute “£35.00”.

I45

In row 18, in column 3—

i

for “£9.25” substitute “£11.00”;

ii

for “£23.40” substitute “£35.00”.

I56

For rows 20 to 22 substitute—

20
Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953
section 31(2)
(a) Standard service for certified copy of an entry in the register kept by the superintendent registrar
£11.00
The superintendent registrar
(b) Priority service for certified copy of an entry in the register kept by the superintendent registrar
£35.00
The superintendent registrar
21
Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953
section 32
(a) Standard service for certified copy of an entry in registers kept by registrars
£11.00
The registrar
(b) Priority service for certified copy of an entry in registers kept by registrars
£35.00
The registrar
22
Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953
section 33(1)(1)
(a) Standard service for a short certificate of birth obtained from a registrar or superintendent registrar
£11.00
The registrar or superintendent registrar providing the certificate
(b) Priority service for a short certificate of birth obtained from a registrar or superintendent registrar
£35.00
The registrar or superintendent registrar providing the certificate
(c) Standard service for a short certificate of birth obtained from the Registrar General
£11.00
The Registrar General
(d) Priority service for a short certificate of birth obtained from the Registrar General
£35.00
The Registrar General
(1)
Section 33(1) was amended by paragraph 26 of Schedule 15 to the Immigration Act 2016.

I67

For row 36, substitute—

36
Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005 regulation 13(2)
(a) Standard service for a certified copy or certified extract of an entry in the civil partnership register issued by the Registrar General
£11.00
The Registrar General
(b) Priority service for a certified copy or certified extract of an entry in the civil partnership register obtained from the Registrar General
£35.00
The Registrar General

I78

For row 37 substitute—

37.
Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005 regulation 14(2)
(a) Standard service for a certified copy or a certified extract of an entry in the civil partnership register issued by a registration authority
£11.00
The registration authority
(b) Priority service for a certified copy or certified extract of an entry in the conversion register issued by a registration authority
£35.00
The registration authority

I89

In row 39, in column 3, for “£9.25” substitute “£11.00”.

I910

Omit row 46.

I1011

For row 47 substitute—

47.
The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 regulation 23(2)
(a) Standard service for a certified copy of an entry relating to a marriage in the conversion register issued by the Registrar General
£11.00
The Registrar General
(b) Priority service for a certified copy of an entry relating to a marriage in the conversion register issued by the Registrar General
£35.00
The Registrar General

I1112

For row 48 substitute—

48.
The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 regulation 24(2)(1)
(a) Standard service for a certified copy of an entry relating to a marriage in the conversion register issued by the superintendent registrar
£11.00
The superintendent registrar
(b) Priority service for a certified copy of an entry relating to a marriage in the conversion register issued by the superintendent registrar
£35.00
The superintendent registrar
(1)
Regulation 24(2) was amended by S.I. 2016/911.

I1213

After row 48, insert—

49
The Gender Recognition Register (Marriage and Civil Partnership) Regulations 2015
regulation 13(1)
(a) Standard service for a certified copy of an entry made in Gender Recognition Marriage Register
£11.00
The Registrar General
(b) Priority service for a certified copy of an entry made in Gender Recognition Marriage Register
£35.00
The Registrar General
50
The Gender Recognition Register (Marriage and Civil Partnership) Regulations 2015
regulation 18
(a) Standard service for a certified copy of an entry made in the Gender Recognition Civil Partnership Register
£11.00
The Registrar General
(b) Priority service for a certified copy of an entry made in the Gender Recognition Civil Partnership Register
£35.00
The Registrar General
51
Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016
regulations 2, 3 and 4(2)
(a) Where the entry is a copy of a record (in portable document format) which is held in a digital format—
(i) standard service for a copy of a record, in portable document format, of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion of civil partnerships register
£7.00
The Registrar General
(ii) expedited service for a copy of a record, in portable document format,
of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion register and the civil partnership register
£45.00
The Registrar General
(b) Where the information is held in a non-digital format—
(i) standard service for a copy of a record, in portable document format,
of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion register
£8.00
The Registrar General
(ii) expedited service for a copy of a record, in portable document format,
of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion of civil partnerships register
£45.00
The Registrar General
52
The Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 regulation 2
(a) Standard service for a copy of an entry in portable document format of the information contained in the civil partnership register
£7.00
The Registrar General
(b) Expedited service for a copy of an entry in portable document format in the civil partnership register
£45.00
The Registrar General
(1)
S.I. 2015/50.
(2)
S.I. 2016/980. Regulation 6 previously prescribed the fees for provision of portable document format copies of records held by the Registrar General and was revoked and re-enacted in these Regulations.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/911) (“the Fees Regulations”) and the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/980). (“The Records Regulations”).

Schedule 1 increase fees prescribed by the Fees Regulations and introduce two different levels of fee and service for certain services offered by the Registrar General and local registration services.

Schedule 1 also introduce new fees for specified registration services and moves fees currently prescribed by the Records Regulations to the Fees Regulations.

A new fee is also introduced for circumstances where an applicant for a service provided by the Registrar General fails to include an index reference with their application.

The Fees Regulations are also amended to include a postal fee where a document is requested to be sent by premium postal service for delivery on a specific day.

The insertion of section 3F into the Fees Regulations implements Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 on promoting the free movement of citizens by simplifying the requirements for presenting certain public documents in the European Union and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (“the Simplification Regulation”). It implements the Simplification Regulation, as regards civil registration in England and Wales, by enabling the Registrar General to issue multilingual standard forms in accordance with Article 7 of the Simplification Regulation for records that they hold.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the cost of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available from www.gov.uk.

13.	Marriage Act 1949 section 63(1)	(a) Standard service for certified copy of entry in a marriage register book obtained from a registrar	£11.00	The registrar providing the copy
		(b) Priority service for certified copy of entry in a marriage register book obtained from a registrar	£35.00	The registrar providing the copy
		(c ) Certified copy of entry in a marriage register book	£11.00	The parochial church council of the parish registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary of a synagogue, or authorised person with custody of the marriage register book
(1) Section 63 was amended by the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 1968 (S.I. 1968/1242), and by paragraph 15 of Schedule 15 to the Immigration Act 2016.

20	Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 section 31(2)	(a) Standard service for certified copy of an entry in the register kept by the superintendent registrar	£11.00	The superintendent registrar
		(b) Priority service for certified copy of an entry in the register kept by the superintendent registrar	£35.00	The superintendent registrar
21	Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 section 32	(a) Standard service for certified copy of an entry in registers kept by registrars	£11.00	The registrar
		(b) Priority service for certified copy of an entry in registers kept by registrars	£35.00	The registrar
22	Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 section 33(1)(1)	(a) Standard service for a short certificate of birth obtained from a registrar or superintendent registrar	£11.00	The registrar or superintendent registrar providing the certificate
		(b) Priority service for a short certificate of birth obtained from a registrar or superintendent registrar	£35.00	The registrar or superintendent registrar providing the certificate
		(c) Standard service for a short certificate of birth obtained from the Registrar General	£11.00	The Registrar General
		(d) Priority service for a short certificate of birth obtained from the Registrar General	£35.00	The Registrar General
(1) Section 33(1) was amended by paragraph 26 of Schedule 15 to the Immigration Act 2016.

36	Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005 regulation 13(2)	(a) Standard service for a certified copy or certified extract of an entry in the civil partnership register issued by the Registrar General	£11.00	The Registrar General
		(b) Priority service for a certified copy or certified extract of an entry in the civil partnership register obtained from the Registrar General	£35.00	The Registrar General

47.	The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 regulation 23(2)	(a) Standard service for a certified copy of an entry relating to a marriage in the conversion register issued by the Registrar General	£11.00	The Registrar General
		(b) Priority service for a certified copy of an entry relating to a marriage in the conversion register issued by the Registrar General	£35.00	The Registrar General

49	The Gender Recognition Register (Marriage and Civil Partnership) Regulations 2015 regulation 13(1)	(a) Standard service for a certified copy of an entry made in Gender Recognition Marriage Register	£11.00	The Registrar General
		(b) Priority service for a certified copy of an entry made in Gender Recognition Marriage Register	£35.00	The Registrar General
50	The Gender Recognition Register (Marriage and Civil Partnership) Regulations 2015 regulation 18	(a) Standard service for a certified copy of an entry made in the Gender Recognition Civil Partnership Register	£11.00	The Registrar General
		(b) Priority service for a certified copy of an entry made in the Gender Recognition Civil Partnership Register	£35.00	The Registrar General
51	Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 regulations 2, 3 and 4(2)	(a) Where the entry is a copy of a record (in portable document format) which is held in a digital format—
		(i) standard service for a copy of a record, in portable document format, of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion of civil partnerships register	£7.00	The Registrar General
		(ii) expedited service for a copy of a record, in portable document format, of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion register and the civil partnership register	£45.00	The Registrar General
		(b) Where the information is held in a non-digital format—
		(i) standard service for a copy of a record, in portable document format, of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion register	£8.00	The Registrar General
		(ii) expedited service for a copy of a record, in portable document format, of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register, the marriage register and copies of entries in the conversion of civil partnerships register	£45.00	The Registrar General
52	The Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 regulation 2	(a) Standard service for a copy of an entry in portable document format of the information contained in the civil partnership register	£7.00	The Registrar General
		(b) Expedited service for a copy of an entry in portable document format in the civil partnership register	£45.00	The Registrar General
(1) S.I. 2015/50.
(2) S.I. 2016/980. Regulation 6 previously prescribed the fees for provision of portable document format copies of records held by the Registrar General and was revoked and re-enacted in these Regulations.