§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to reform the system for recording births, deaths and marriages; if he will examine the system of, and cost of, access to these records; and if he will make a statement. [47754]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe Government have no plans to reform the system for the collection of information for the registration of births, deaths and marriages.
The Registration Acts are quite specific on the recording of information and access to records of births, deaths and marriages. The Registrar General has no powers to make available or disclose registration information in any other way.
It has long been recognised that this is unnecessarily restrictive. The 1990 White Paper "Registration: proposals for change" (Cm 939) made recommendations for fundamental reform of the system for the registration of births, deaths and marriage including access to records. No Bill has been introduced to give effect to these reforms. The Registrar General has been asked to reconsider the proposals relating to access to registration records, and an options paper will be presented to Ministers.