§ Mr. Clinton Davisasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT giving the reasons why it is not possible to obtain a shortened form of death certificate, comparable to the shortened form of birth certificate, deleting therefrom full particulars of death which can be embarrassing for relatives of the deceased.
§ Sir K. JosephThe Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 makes no provision for the issue of any certificate of death other than a full certified copy of the entry in the death register. The Committee on Death Certification and Coroners, whose report is now under consideration, took note of the embarrassment sometimes caused to relatives of a deceased person by reason of the circumstances of the death being inserted in the register, and recommended that the medical cause of death only should be recorded. The suggestion that the Act of 1953 be amended to provide for a short death certificate will need to be considered in conjunction with that recommendation.