The Births, Deaths and Marriages (Records and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Statutory Instruments

2020 No. 1093

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

The Births, Deaths and Marriages (Records and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2020

Made

7th October 2020

Laid before Parliament

12th October 2020

Coming into force

9th November 2020

The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 65A, 71A(1)(h) and (2) and 74(3) of the Marriage Act 1949(1) and sections 34A, 38A(1)(c) and (2) and 39A(1)(a) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953(2).

In accordance with section 65A(5) of the Marriage Act 1949 and section 39A(2) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, before making these Regulations the Secretary of State has consulted the Registrar General.

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Births, Deaths and Marriages (Records and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 9th November 2020.

Amendments to the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016

2.—(1) The Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016(3) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 1(2) (interpretation)—

(a) after the definition of “expedited service” insert—

““online view service” means a service provided via the website for the General Register Office which allows a person to—

(a)

search via that website for an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries, and

(b)

if the search locates the entry, submit a request via that website to view a record of information contained in that entry in electronic format;”;

(b) omit the definition of “portable document format”.

(3) In regulation 2 (provision of the information contained in a birth record)—

(a) in the heading, for “portable document” substitute “electronic”;

(b) for paragraph (1) substitute—

“(1) The Registrar General may provide a record of information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, in electronic format, following—

(a) a request for the Registrar General to search for the entry and provide the record of information, or

(b) a request made via the online view service.”;

(c) in paragraph (2)—

(i) after “(1)” insert “(a)”;

(ii) in subparagraph (a), for “public website known as www.gov.uk” substitute “website for the General Register Office”;

(d) after paragraph (2) insert—

“(2A) A record of information provided by the Registrar General in response to a request made via the online view service must be provided via the website for the General Register Office”.

(4) In regulation 3 (provision of the information in a death record)—

(a) in the heading, for “portable document” substitute “electronic”;

(b) for paragraph (1) substitute—

“(1)  The Registrar General may provide a record of information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the death register, in electronic format, following—

(a) a request for the Registrar General to search for the entry and provide the record of information, or

(b) a request made via the online view service.”;

(c) in paragraph (2)—

(i) after “(1)” insert “(a)”;

(ii) in subparagraph (a), for “public website known as www.gov.uk” substitute “website for the General Register Office”;

(d) after paragraph (2) insert—

“(2A) A record of information provided by the Registrar General in response to a request made via the online view service must be provided via the website for the General Register Office.”.

(5) In regulation 4 (provision of the information in a marriage record)—

(a) in the heading, for “portable document” substitute “electronic”;

(b) for paragraph (1), substitute—

“(1) The Registrar General may provide a record of information contained in a marriage entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the marriage register and conversion register, in electronic format, following—

(a) a request for the Registrar General to search for the entry and provide the record of information, or

(b) in the case of an entry in the marriage register, a request made via the online view service.”;

(c) in paragraph (2)—

(i) after “(1)” insert “(a)”;

(ii) in subparagraph (a), for “public website known as www.gov.uk” substitute “website for the General Register Office”;

(d) after paragraph (2), insert—

“(2A) A record of information provided by the Registrar General in response to a request made via the online view service must be provided via the website for the General Register Office.”.

(6) In the heading for regulation 5 (provision of information in birth records to Government departments), for “in electronic format” substitute “to Government departments”.

Amendments to the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016

3.—(1) The Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016(4) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2, after the definition of “the 1953 Act” insert—

““online view service” means a service provided via the website for the General Register Office which allows a person to—

(a)

search via that website for an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries, and

(b)

if the search locates the entry, submit a request via that website to view a record of information contained in that entry in electronic format;”.

(3) In Schedule 1 (fees payable), in the table—

(a) for row 15 substitute—

“15	Marriage Act 1949 section 64(2)	(a) Standard service for certified copy of an entry from the register kept by the superintendent registrar	£11.00	The superintendent registrar
		(b) Priority service for certified copy of an entry from the register kept by the superintendent registrar	£35.00	The superintendent registrar”

(b) in row 51—

(i) in column 2 (services or matters for which fee is payable)—

(aa) for “portable document” (in each place it appears) substitute “electronic”;

(bb) for “conversion of civil partnerships register” (in each place it appears) substitute “conversion register”;

(cc) after (a)(ii) insert—

“(iii) a copy of a record, through the online view service, of the information contained in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, the death register and the marriage register.”;

(ii) in column 3 (amount of fee), as a corresponding entry to (a)(iii) in column 2 (services or matters for which fee is payable), insert “£2.50”.

(iii) in column 4 (person to whom fee is payable), as a corresponding entry to (a)(iii) in column 2 (services or matters for which fee is payable), insert “The Registrar General”.

Kevin Foster

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Home Office

7th October 2020

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 (“the Records Regulations”) and the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016 (“the Fees Regulations”).

Regulation 2 amends regulations 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Records Regulations, which enable information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s records of births, deaths and marriages to be provided, upon request, to a person applying via the website www.gov.uk, in portable document format in England and Wales. The amendments enable information in such entries to be provided in any electronic format including (except in respect of the conversion register) through a service which enables the entry to be viewed online (“online view service”). Regulation 2 also amends the reference to the website.

Regulation 3 amends the Fees Regulations, which set fees for applications and services in relation to the registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales. Regulation 3(3)(a) introduces a priority service fee for certified copies of entries in marriage register books obtained from a superintendent registrar. Regulation 3(3)(b)(i)(bb) corrects references to the conversion register. The remaining amendments are made as a consequence of the amendments to the Records Regulations, including introduction of a fee for a copy of a register entry through the online view service.

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

(1)

1949 c. 76 (12 & 13 Geo 6). Section 65A was inserted by section 99(1) of the Deregulation Act 2015 (c. 20) and has been amended by paragraph 18 of Schedule 15 to the Immigration Act 2016 (c. 19) (“the 2016 Act”). Section 71A was inserted by paragraph 1 of Schedule 15 to the 2016 Act. The title of section 74 was amended by SI 2009/2821. Section 74(3) was inserted by paragraph 15 of Schedule 4 to the Immigration Act 2014 (c. 22).

(2)

1953 c. 20 (1 & 2 Eliz 2). Section 34A was inserted by section 98(2) of the Deregulation Act 2015 and amended by paragraph 28 of Schedule 15 to the 2016 Act. Section 38A was inserted by paragraph 2 of Schedule 15 to the 2016 Act. Section 39A was inserted by paragraphs 1 and 17 of Part 1 of Schedule 6 to the Welfare Reform Act 2009 (c. 24).

(3)

S.I. 2016/980, amended by S.I. 2018/1268.

(4)

S.I. 2016/911, amended by S.I. 2017/947, 2018/1268.