# The Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 S.I. 2016/980 · made 13 October 2016 · revised to 28 May 2024 These Regulations provide that the information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s records of births, deaths and marriages (including where a civil partnership has been converted into a marriage) may be provided, upon request, to a person applying via the website www.gov.uk, in portable document format. They provide for the Registrar General to charge a fee for this service and for that fee to differ depending on whether the record is held in a digital or other format and whether the applicant requests a standard or expedited service. Made under: 1953 c. 20 (Section 34A, Section 38A, Section 39A); 1949 c. 76 (Section 65A, Section 71A, Section 74); Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Section 34, Section 258); Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (Section 9, Section 18) PDFs: Printed copy https://openlegislation.uk/births-deaths-marriages-and-civil-partnerships-records-regulations-2016/pdf/uksi_20160980_en.pdf; Revised UK Explanatory Memorandum https://openlegislation.uk/births-deaths-marriages-and-civil-partnerships-records-regulations-2016/pdf/uksiem_20160980_en_001.pdf; UK Explanatory Memorandum https://openlegislation.uk/births-deaths-marriages-and-civil-partnerships-records-regulations-2016/pdf/uksiem_20160980_en.pdf ## Introductory text Registration Of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Etc., England And Wales Civil Partnership, England And Wales Made 13th October 2016 Laid before Parliament 14th October 2016 Coming into force 7th November 2016 The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 34A and section 38A(1)(c), (2) and (5) and 39A(1)(a) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, section 65A, 71A(1)(h) and (5) and 74(3) of the Marriage Act 1949, sections 34(1)(e) and (2) and 258(2) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and section 9(4)(e), (f), (5)(ba) and (5C), and section 18(4)(a) of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. In accordance with section 65A(5) of the Marriage Act 1949, before making these Regulations the Secretary of State has consulted the Registrar General. ## 1 Citation, commencement and interpretation (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 and come into force on 7th November 2016. (2) In these Regulations— ... “online view service” means a service provided via the website for the General Register Office which allows a person to— (a)search via that website for an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries, and (b)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; ... ... ... ... ## 2 Provision of the information contained in a birth record in electronic format (1) The Registrar General may provide a record of information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the birth register, in electronic format, following— (a) a request for the Registrar General to search for the entry and provide the record of information, or (b) a request made via the online view service. (2) A request for the Registrar General to undertake a search and provide information under paragraph (1)(a) must be made via the website for the General Register Office. (2A) A record of information provided by the Registrar General in response to a request made via the online view service must be provided via the website for the General Register Office. (3) The Registrar General may charge a fee for each record provided under paragraph (1) ... and the fee charged is payable to the Registrar General. ## 3 Provision of the information contained in a death record in electronic format (1) The Registrar General may provide a record of information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in the death register, in electronic format, following— (a) a request for the Registrar General to search for the entry and provide the record of information, or (b) a request made via the online view service. (2) A request for the Registrar General to undertake a search and provide information under paragraph (1) (a) must be made via the website for the General Register Office. (2A) A record of information provided by the Registrar General in response to a request made via the online view service must be provided via the website for the General Register Office. (3) The Registrar General may charge a fee for each record provided under paragraph (1) ... and the fee charged is payable to the Registrar General. ## 4 Provision of the information contained in a marriage record in electronic format (1) The Registrar General may provide a record of information contained in a marriage entry in the Registrar General’s certified copies of entries in any marriage register book, entries in the marriage register made under section 53D(10)(a) of the Marriage Act 1949 and conversion register, in electronic format, following— (a) a request for the Registrar General to search for the entry and provide the record of information, or (b) in the case of an entry in any marriage register book, a request made via the online view service. (2) A request for the Registrar General to undertake a search and provide information under paragraph (1) (a) must be made via the website for the General Register Office. (2A) A record of information provided by the Registrar General in response to a request made via the online view service must be provided via the website for the General Register Office. (3) The Registrar General may charge a fee for each record provided under paragraph (1) ... and the fee charged is payable to the Registrar General. ## 5 Provision of information contained in a birth record to Government departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ## 6 Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ## Signature Robert Goodwill Minister of State Home Office 13th October 2016 ## Explanatory note (This note is not part of the Regulations) These Regulations provide that the information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s records of births, deaths and marriages (including where a civil partnership has been converted into a marriage) may be provided, upon request, to a person applying via the website www.gov.uk, in portable document format. They provide for the Registrar General to charge a fee for this service and for that fee to differ depending on whether the record is held in a digital or other format and whether the applicant requests a standard or expedited service. These Regulations also provide for any of the information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s records of births to be provided, upon request, to a Government department (including the Welsh Government but not including a Northern Ireland department or any part of the Scottish Administration) in electronic format. A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument. The impact of regulations 2 to 4 and regulation 6 will be tested by way of pilot to inform an Impact Assessment produced after the pilot period. In relation to regulation 5, no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. --- Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/980 (the official version) Page: https://openlegislation.uk/births-deaths-marriages-and-civil-partnerships-records-regulations-2016 Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.