§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will link death certificates with birth records wherever possible and require death certificates to note the deceased's national insurance number so as to help prevent identity theft.[HL4819]
Lord Mclntosh of HaringeyThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Registrar General who has been asked to reply.
Letter from the Registrar General, Len Cook, to Lord Laird, dated 21 October 2003.
As Registrar General for England and Wales, I have been asked to reply to your recent question on linking death certificates with birth records and the possible inclusion of national insurance numbers on death certificates. (HL4819)
The proposals to modernise civil registration include the linkage of a person's marriage and death record to their birth record, thus creating a through life record. Changes to legislation are necessary and are being taken forward using the provisions in the Regulatory Reform Act.
The Department for Work and Pension is notified each week of all deaths registered in England and 172WA information is as follows. The figures for the House of Commons and the House of Lords have been provided by these bodies, which are independent of government.
The per capita figures in respect of the House of Commons given in my reply of 19 June (WA 146) have been slightly amended for 1999–2000 to 2001–02 in the light of more up-to-date information provided by the House of Commons concerning their total costs. A revised table is set out below.
The second table sets out the latest costs to UK public funds together with the per capita cost of each of the bodies concerned.
Wales. There are no plans to include the national insurance number in the information collected at death registration.