The Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016

• Citation: S.I. 2016/911
• Sections: 14

Section 1 Citation and commencement

These Regulations may be cited as the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016 and come into force on 5th October 2016.

Section 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations—

“the 1949 Act ” means the Marriage Act 1949;

“the 1953 Act ” means the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953;

“online view service” means a service provided via the website for the General Register Office which allows a person to—

search via that website for an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries, and

if the search locates the entry, submit a request via that website to view a record of information contained in that entry in electronic format;

a “priority service” “means —

“a service provided to a person who makes an application to the Registrar General—

by giving the relevant information and paying the correct fee by—

attending in person at the General Register Office between 10:00 and 16:00 hours on a working day; or

post, telephone, or electronic means which is received by the Registrar General before 16:00 hours on a working day; and

where the document applied for is normally provided on or before the next working day by sending by first class post or to a person attending in person at the General Register Office between 10:00 hours and 16:00 hours;

in the case of a fee that is payable to a relevant authority, a service provided to a person who makes the application to the relevant authority by—

giving the relevant information and paying the correct fee by—

attending in person at the Relevant Local Office between 10:00 and 15:00 hours on a working day; or

post, telephone or electronic means which is received by the relevant authority before 15.00 hours on a working day; and

where the document applied for is normally provided on or before the next working day, sending by first class post or to a person attending at the Relevant Local Office between 10:00 hours and 15:00 hours;

“relevant information” means—

in the case of a short certificate of birth provided under section 33(1) of the 1953 Act, any particulars prescribed to be furnished under that section of that Act;

in the case of a short certificate of death provided under section 33A(1) of the 1953 Act, any particulars prescribed to be furnished under that section of that Act;

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under section 65(2) of the 1949 Act or section 30(2) of the 1953 Act, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the Registrar General under section 65(1) of the 1949 Act or section 30(1) or (1A) of the 1953 Act corresponding to the certified copy for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the Registrar General to establish such reference number;

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under section 64(2) of the 1949 Act or section 31(2) of the 1953 Act, either a reference number relating to an index kept by a Superintendent Registrar under section 64(1) of the 1949 Act or section 31(1) of the 1953 Act corresponding to the certified copy for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the Superintendent Registrar to establish such a reference number;

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided by a registrar under section 53D(10)(b of the 1949 Act or section 32 of the 1953 Act, sufficient information to enable a registrar to identify an entry in the register of an event registered in that district;

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under regulation 13 of the Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the Registrar General corresponding to the certified copy ... for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the Registrar General to establish such a reference number;

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under regulation 14 of the Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the registration authority corresponding to the certified copy ... for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the registration authority to establish such a reference number.

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under regulation 23(2) of the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the Registrar General under that regulation corresponding to the certified copy for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the Registrar General to establish such a reference number;

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under regulation 24(2) of the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the superintendent registrar under that regulation corresponding to the certified copy for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the superintendent registrar to establish such a reference number;

in the case of a certified copy of an entry provided under regulation 13 or 18 of the Gender Recognition Register (Marriage and Civil Partnership) Regulations 2015, either a reference number relating to an index kept by the Registrar General under that regulation corresponding to the certified copy for which the application is made, or sufficient information which allows the Registrar General to establish such a reference number.

a “standard service” is a service—

in the case of a fee that is payable to the Registrar General, a service—

provided to a person who makes an application to the Registrar General by giving the relevant information and paying the correct fee by—

attending in person at the General Register Office between 10:00 and 16:00 hours on a working day; or

post, telephone, or electronic means which is received by the Registrar General before 16:00 hours on a working day; and

where the document applied for is normally provided—

in a case where the application includes a reference to the number relating to the index kept by the Registrar General under section 65(1) of the 1949 Act or section 30(1) or (1A) of the 1953 Act, on or before the 4th working day after the working day on which such application is made; or

in a case where that application does not include such a reference number, on or before the 15th working day after the working day on which such application is made,

by sending by second class post or to a person attending in person at the General Register Office between 10:00 hours and 16:00 hours; and

in the case of a fee that is payable to a relevant authority—

a service provided to a person who makes an application to the relevant authority by giving the relevant information and paying the correct fee by—

attending in person at the relevant local office between 10:00 and 15:00 hours on a working day; or

post, telephone, or electronic means which is received by the relevant authority before 15:00 hours on a working day; and

a service where the document applied for is normally provided

on or before the 15th working day after the working day on which such application is made, by sending by second class post or to a person attending at the relevant local office between 10:00 hours and 15:00 hours;

“working day” means a day which is not a Saturday or a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 in England and Wales.

Section 3 Fees

(1) In respect of the services or matters set out in column 2 of the table in Schedule 1 (for which provision is made under the enactment specified in column 1) the fee specified in column 3 is payable to the person specified in column 4.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the person specified in column 4 of the table in Schedule 1 in respect of any particular fee payable to that person may reduce, waive or refund part or all of that fee on the grounds—

(a) that requiring payment of the fee would cause hardship to the person required to make payment;

(b) of compassion; or

(c) of error otherwise than on the part of the person required to make payment.

(3) No reduction, waiver or refund may be made in respect of a fee to which regulation 3A applies without the consent of the Registrar General.

Section 3A Transmission of part of fees to Registrar General

(1) This regulation applies to a category A fee, a category B fee or a category C fee (and referred to in this regulation as “a relevant fee”).

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), on each occasion where the superintendent registrar, registrar or registration authority (as the case may be) is paid a relevant fee, that person must pay to the Registrar General on demand, in respect of each—

(a) category A fee, a part in the amount of £64.00 ;

(b) category B fee, a part in the amount of £52.00 ;

(c) category C fee, a part in the amount of £44.00 .

(3) Where a relevant fee has been reduced or partially refunded pursuant to regulation 3(2), the amount payable to the Registrar General under paragraph (2) is reduced by the same proportion by which the relevant fee was reduced.

(4) Amounts payable to the Registrar General under this regulation which remain unpaid after the expiry of a period of 28 days commencing with the date of demand are recoverable as debts due to the Crown.

(5) In this regulation—

“category A fee” means—

the fee specified in column 3 of row 16ZA ;

the fee specified in column 3 of row 16ZB;

the second fee specified in column 3 of row 17A;

the fee specified in column 3 of row 37A;

the fee specified in column 3 of row 48A,

of the table in Schedule 1;

“category B fee” means—

the fee specified in column 3 of row 22C;

the fee specified in column 3 of row 22D,

of the table in Schedule 1;

“category C fee” means—

the fee specified in column 3 of row 4;

the fee specified in column 3 of row 34,

of the table in Schedule 1.

Section 3B Offline application fee

(1) Where an application is made to the Registrar General for a relevant service and the application is made by way of offline application, an additional non-refundable fee of £4.50 is payable to the Registrar General.

(2) The fee in paragraph (1) is not payable if, at the time of making the application, the online application service is not available.

(3) In this regulation—

“offline application” means an application for a service that is not made via the public website known as www.gov.uk ;

“online application” means an application for a service that is made via the public website known as www.gov.uk.

“relevant service” means a service as set out in rows 16, 18, 22, 36, 39, 47, 49 and 50 of the table in Schedule 1.

Section 3C Premium postal service fee

(1) Where an application is made to the Registrar General for a copy or other record of any information held by the Registrar General using the priority service the Registrar General may, on request and upon payment of the applicable fee, provide the document by premium postal service and the applicable fee is —

(a) On a working day a fee of £8.00 ;

(b) On a Saturday a fee of £21.50 ;

(c) Overseas a fee of £13.50 .

(2) The fee for the premium postal service is—

(a) payable to the Registrar General;

(b) payable in addition to any other fee payable for provision of that document.

(3) In this regulation “premium postal service” means a postal service for which the fee payable to the Registrar General is in addition to the fee payable to the Registrar General for delivery of the same documents by first class post.

Section 3D General index search fee (no reference provided)

(1) Where an application is made to the Registrar General for a certified copy and the relevant information does not contain the reference from the relevant index kept by the Registrar General, an additional non-refundable fee of £3.50 is payable to the Registrar General to undertake the search of the index on the applicant’s behalf.

(2) The fee in regulation 3D(1) is not payable where the relevant index kept by the Registrar General is not available to the public for searching.

(b) “relevant index” means—

(i) any index kept by the Registrar General in relation to any register of births, deaths, marriages or civil partnerships; or

(ii) an index kept by the Registrar General pursuant to Regulation 23 of the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014.

Section 3E Retained fee

(1) A fee of £4.00 is retained by the Registrar General where an application is made to the Registrar General for a certified copy and the corresponding entry cannot be located from the relevant information provided.

Section 3F Multilingual standard form fee

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Section 4 Revocations and amendments

Schedule 2 (revocations and amendments) has effect.

Section 1

The instruments specified in column 1 of the table below, with the reference in the corresponding entry in column 2 of that table, are revoked.

Column 1

Instrument title

Column 2

Reference

Section 2 The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Registration of Buildings and Appointment of Authorised Persons) Regulations 2014

(1) The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Registration of Buildings and Appointment of Authorised Persons) Regulations 2014 are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2 (interpretation), before the entry for “registered building” insert—

“appropriate fee” means the fee payable by virtue of regulations made under section 71A of the Marriage Act 1949;

(3) For regulation 4(2)(d) (application for registration of a building) substitute—

(d) pay the appropriate fee to the superintendent registrar.

(4) For regulation 10(2)(b) (modification of procedure for joint applications under section 41 and section 43A), substitute—

(b) the applicant must pay the fee payable by virtue of regulations made under section 71A of the Act for a joint application made under section 41(1) and 43A of the Act, but the fee under regulation 4(2)(d) does not apply.

Section 3 The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014

(1) The Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2 (interpretation), before the entry for “authorised person” insert—

“appropriate fee” means the fee set out in the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016;

(3) For regulation 6(1)(d) (standard procedure for conversion) substitute—

(d) the parties must pay the appropriate fee to the superintendent registrar.

(4) For regulation 7(3)(e) (procedure for housebound persons) substitute—

(e) the parties must pay the appropriate fee to the superintendent registrar.

(5) For regulation 8(3)(e) (procedure for detained persons) substitute—

(e) the parties must pay the appropriate fee to the superintendent registrar.

(6) For regulation 9(2)(c) (the special procedure) substitute—

(c) pay the appropriate fee to the superintendent registrar.

(7) In regulation 10(2)(d) (the two stage procedure), for “fee of £27.00” substitute “appropriate fee”.

(a) For regulation 11(5) (conversion on secular premises) substitute—

(5) The fee for a conversion on secular premises referred to in paragraph (2)(a) and (3)—

(a) is payable to the superintendent registrar of the registration district in which the conversion is to take place; and

(b) is of an amount to be determined by the authority as reasonably representing all the costs to it of providing a superintendent registrar to attend at the conversion.

(8) In regulation 12 (conversion on religious premises)—

(a) in paragraph 12(2)(a) before “fee for a conversion” insert “appropriate”;

(b) in paragraph (3) before “fee” insert “appropriate”; and

(c) omit paragraph (4).

(9) Omit regulations 15 (waiver of fees) and 16.

(10) In regulation 18(4) (duty to register marriage resulting from conversion), for “a fee of £4.00” substitute “the appropriate fee”.

(11) In regulation 23(2) (searches of indexes of conversion records kept by the Registrar General and issue of copies), for “fee of £9.25” substitute “appropriate fee”.

(12) In regulation 24(2) (searches of indexes of conversion records kept by the superintendent registrar and issue of copies), for “fee of £10.00” substitute “appropriate fee”.

Section 4 The Registration of Marriages Regulations 2015

In regulation 9(5) of the Registration of Marriages Regulations 2015 , for “an order under section 31(5F) of the Act”, substitute “regulations made under section 71A of the Act”.