Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Births and Deaths Registration (Electronic Communications and Electronic Storage) Order 2021.

(2) This Order comes into force on 1st December 2021.

(3) Any amendment made by this Order has the same extent as the provision amended.

Amendment of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926

2.—(1) The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926( 2) is amended as follows.

(2) In section 1 (prohibition of disposal except on registrar’s certificate or coroner’s order)( 3), after subsection (1), insert—

“(1A)  For the purposes of subsection (1), a certificate, an order of the coroner or a written declaration may be delivered as a copy in an approved electronic form.

(1B)  A declaration under subsection (1) may be made in an approved electronic form. ”.

(3) In section 3 (notification of disposal to registrar)( 4), after subsection (1), insert—

“(3)  A notification under subsection (1) may be made and delivered in an approved electronic form. ”.

(4) In section 5 (burial of still-born children)( 5), after “delivered to him”, insert “(either physically or as a copy in an approved electronic form)”.

(5) In section 9 (regulations)( 6)—

(a) in the heading, after “Regulations”, insert “and approval of electronic forms etc.”;

(b) the existing text becomes subsection (1);

(c) after that subsection, insert—

“(2)  The Registrar General may approve forms of electronic communication or electronic storage (including an electronic signature) for the purposes of a provision of this Act. ”.

(6) In section 12 (definitions)( 7), after the definition of “Registrar”, insert—

““ approved electronic form ” means any form of electronic communication or electronic storage (including an electronic signature) approved by the Registrar General pursuant to section 9(2) of this Act; ”.

(7) After the definition of “disposal”, insert—

““ electronic communication ” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;

“ electronic signature ” has the meaning given in section 7(2) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000; ”.

Amendment of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953

3.—(1) The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953( 8) is amended as follows.

(2) In section 11 (special provision as to registration of still-birth), in subsection (2)( 9), omit “under his hand”.

(3) In section 13 (registration of name of child or of alteration of name), after subsection (1A)( 10), insert—

“(1B)  Where a certificate delivered under subsection (1) is in an approved electronic form, the registrar or superintendent registrar may (subject to the terms of any approval given by the Registrar General under section 39(2)) discharge the duty set out in subsection (1A)(a) by incorporating into the certificate (or a copy of it), or associating to the certificate (or a copy of it), an electronic signature and a statement that the entry mentioned in subsection (1) has been made. ”.

(4) In section 24 (certificates as to registration of death)—

(a) in subsection (1)( 11), for “under his hand”, substitute “in writing”;

(b) in subsection (5), for the words from “as to the person” to “certificate or order”, substitute “as to any person to whom the certificate or order has been given or sent”.

(5) In section 26 (quarterly returns to be made by registrar to superintendent registrar)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(b)( 12)—

(i) omit “, either”,

(ii) for the words from “in the prescribed form” to “under his hand, or”, substitute “a certificate in the prescribed form to that effect.”,

(iii) omit paragraph (b)(ii);

(b) in subsection (2)( 13), for “under his hand”, substitute “in writing”;

(c) in subsection (4)( 14), omit the definitions of “approved” and “electronic signature”.

(6) In section 29 (correction of errors in registers), in subsection (4)( 15), for “under his hand”, substitute “in writing”.

(7) In section 31 (searches of indexes kept by superintendent registrars), for “under the hand of”, substitute “issued by”.

(8) In section 32 (searches in registers kept by registrars)( 16), for “under his hand”, substitute “by the registrar”.

(9) In section 37 (penalty for forging certificate, etc)( 17) after “order”, in each place it occurs, insert “(including any copy of the same in an approved electronic form)”.

(10) In section 39 (regulations)( 18)—

(a) in the heading, after “Regulations”, insert “and approval of electronic forms etc.”;

(b) the existing text becomes subsection (1) of that section;

(c) after that subsection, insert—

“(2)  The Registrar General may approve forms of electronic communication or electronic storage (including an electronic signature) for the purposes of a provision of this Act. ”.

(11) In section 40 (sending documents by post)—

(a) in the heading, for “Sending documents by post”, substitute “Sending and providing notices, information or other documents”;

(b) for “Any notice”, substitute “Where any notice”;

(c) for the words from “required by” to “by post.”, substitute—

“is required to be given, sent, delivered, produced, supplied, transmitted or otherwise provided for any purpose of this Act, the requirement may be met by—

(a) sending the document by post, or

(b) providing the document, or a copy of it, in an approved electronic form. ”.

(12) After section 40, insert—

“40A     Original documents may be in an approved electronic form

If a declaration made or certificate issued in the prescribed form for the purposes of this Act is made or issued in electronic form, it must be made or issued in an approved electronic form. ”.

(13) In section 41 (interpretation)—

(a) in subsection (1)( 19), after the definition of “the 2009 Act”, insert—

““ approved electronic form ” means any form of electronic communication or electronic storage (including an electronic signature) approved by the Registrar General pursuant to the powers conferred under section 39(2) of this Act; ”;

(b) after the definition of “disposal” insert—

““ electronic communication ” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;

“ electronic signature ” has the meaning given in section 7(2) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000; ”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926 (c. 48)(the “ 1926 Act”) and the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 (c. 20)(the “ 1953 Act”) to enable the use of electronic communications and storage for certain documents used in connection with the registration of births and deaths.

Article 2 amends the 1926 Act to enable the electronic transmission of death registration documents and notifications between the registrars and the persons effecting the disposal of the bodies.

Article 3 amends the 1953 Act to enable any notice, information, declaration, certificate, requisition, return or other document required under that Act to be provided by sending that document, or a copy of it, in an electronic form approved by the Registrar General. The amendments also enable certain prescribed declarations and certificates under the Act to be in an electronic form approved by the Registrar General.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available fromwww.legislation.gov.uk. Hard copies can be obtained by writing to the Civil Registration Reform Team, General Register Office, Smedley Office, Smedley Hydro, Trafalgar Road, Birkdale, Southport PR8 2HH.