# The National Ministry Register Regulations 2026, Regulation 4: Registration officer


(1) In these Regulations, the “registration officer” for a lay minister is the bishop of the diocese in which the lay minister is authorised to exercise ministry.
(2) Where there is a vacancy in the see of the diocesan bishop concerned or the diocesan bishop is unable to exercise functions as registration officer, and the functions of registration officer have not already been delegated, the registration officer for a lay minister is—
(a) the senior suffragan bishop of the diocese, or
(b) if there is no suffragan bishop, the senior archdeacon of the diocese.
(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), seniority is determined for an office according to the length of service in that office in the diocese concerned.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/193/regulation/4 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/national-ministry-register-regulations-2026/regulation-4
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.