§ Mr. Maddenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations have been made to the Registrar General to enable the registration of death at any local office within the boundaries of any local authority, regardless of the actual location of the occurrence of death.
§ Mr. MoyleIn 1976, as a result of the proposed closure of an outstation for the registration of births and deaths in one registration district, a large number of representations were made against the scheme proposed by the local authority. The majority were on the grounds that hardship would be caused for local people by the need to travel to an office in the city centre but they included two from hon. Members and one from the local community health council which, additionally, suggested amendment of the law to allow a death to be registered by any registrar. Following these representations, my right hon. Friend decided that the local scheme should be modified, and as a result the outstation was retained, resolving the local difficulties which had given rise to the suggestion. The proposal to seek amendment of the law on death registration was taken up by the Association of District Councils and its representatives have recently discussed the matter with the Deputy Registrar General.
Apart from this, the Registrar General has received 12 inquiries on the subject in the past 10 years, six from hon. Members, one from a private individual and five 486W from county councils, two of which were considering economies in registration facilities in rural areas.