§ 55. Mr. CURRIEasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been drawn to the inconvenience which is caused to the executors of soldiers and sailors killed in action and to companies in which their estates are interested through the present practice of the War Office in issuing certificates of death, consisting of a flimsy slip, of typewritten information of which duplicates cannot be obtained as is the case with certificates obtained in the usual way from registrars; whether he will consider the practicability of an arrangement 327 whereby the War Office itself will register deaths of soldiers when, or shortly after, they occur either in the ordinary register or in a supplementary register such as already exists for deaths taking place abroad; or, alternatively, of instructing registrars to register deaths on production of the typewritten slip issued from the War Office and to issue extracts of deaths so registered in the usual way?
§ Mr. TENNANTMy right hon. Friend has asked me to answer this question, so far as soldiers are concerned; so far as sailors are concerned, perhaps my hon. Friend will address a question to the Admiralty. The notification of death which the hon. Gentleman describes as a flimsy slip of typewritten information and the death certificate issued from the War Office in the case of soldiers killed in action or dying of disease, are separate documents. The first is issued as a rule on the receipt of the casualty list from the base, whereas the death certificate is not issued until the base has furnished a written confirmation of death. The suggestion that duplicates of the death certificate are not issued is unfounded, and, as regards the notification of death, I understand that separate copies are sent where the names of more than one relative are noted as desiring such notification. The desirability of formally registering deaths at Somerset House is recognised, but it is obvious that premature registration is most undesirable. As registration at Somerset House must in any case take place considerably in arrear of death, there is danger that confusion might arise through uncertainty as to whether application should be made to the War Office or to Somerset House. Moreover, the question of fees to Somerset House creates a further difficulty, which in the case of the War Office does not arise, since no fees are charged.