§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why the cost of obtaining a copy of a birth certificate has increased from 25p to £125p from October 1975.
§ Dr. OwenThe fees quoted related to a short birth certificate. The fee of 25p which was fixed in 1972 on the basis of 1971 costs did not then cover the full cost of production. The present fee of £1.5 takes into account the full cost,226W including the increases in staff and overhead costs since 1971 and is the average cost of supplying a short birth certificate from the General Register Office or local register offices.
Since 1968 a price concession on short birth certificates has been preserved by issuing a free certificate at the time of registering every birth.