§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what account was taken of the authority provided by the four power protocol dated 6 April 1954 in the decision(a) to cancel the death certificate of Rudolf Hess on 2 August 1995 and (b) to refuse to reinstate the death certificate either (i) in its original form or (ii) in the amended form requested by his next of kin; [13488]
(2) if he considered proposals to cancel the death certificate of Rudolf Hess before the application by Rudolf Hess's next of kin on 24 April 1995 to amend the details of the death certificate; [13486]
(3) what factors underlay the decision to cancel the death certificate of Rudolf Hess dated 19 August 1987. [13487]
§ Mrs. Angela Knight[holding answer 30 January 1997]: The Registrar General of England and Wales decided to cancel the death registration of Rudolph Hess on the basis that the entry had not been made in accordance with statute. Once it was known that the entry had been made in error, there was no basis on which to reinstate the entry or amend its content. The relevant legislation provides only for the registration outside England and Wales of the births and deaths of members of the armed forces, service civilians and families.
The application of Rudolph Hess's next of kin to amend his death entry drew attention to the fact that the registration had not been made within the legal provisions. The status of the registration had not been questioned previously.