§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has any plans to introduce legislation to permit registration of death to be made either at the place of death or at the place of normal residence; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. CurrieAt present, information for the registration of a death may be given only to the registrar of the sub-district in which the event occurred.
A change similar to the one which my hon. Friend is seeking has been considered on a number of occasions, most recently in the efficiency scrutiny into the registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales which reported in 1985. The scrutiny favoured the introduction of a system which would enable a death in England or Wales to be notified to any registrar of deaths in those countries, provided that certain other associated changes affecting death registration and the reporting of deaths to a coroner could also be made.
As my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State announced in the other place on 3 December 1987 677W —Official Report, House of Lords, column 1230—the Government intend to legislate along the lines of the scrutiny proposals in the present Parliament should a suitable opportunity occur. To that end, consultations have been opened on the scrutiny recommendations including those on death registration. It is as yet too early to predict the outcome of those consultations.