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number 10s reply to BMDS

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  • number 10s reply to BMDS

    2 May 2008

    We received a petition asking:

    "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to allow easier and cheaper access to birth marrige and death certificates for family history researchers."

    Details of Petition:

    "in the 1990s allowing easier and cheaper access to birth marrige and death certificates was looked into i believe by the government and nothing happened. So can access not be allowed to these certificates on the internet say through a voucher system for say 50 pence per view. At the moment if you want one piece of information you have to spend £7 so if you had 6 possibles in a line of family history research it would cost £42! quite an expense whereas under the idea mentioned it would cost £3 Big difference, if this idea came to pass not only would it be of enormous help to family history researchers worldwide but it would generate a good deal of income for the treasury."

    Read the petition
    Petitions home page
    Read the Government's responseThe law is very clear about how the public are able to obtain copies of certificates and also what fees should be charged. The Government understands that many family researchers don't actually want to purchase a certificate but they do want to have access to the information. The Government is also aware of the need to strike a balance between privacy and openness in the use of registration records.

    In 2004 the Government tried to make a change to the law to allow the public easier and cheaper access to information but unfortunately the parliamentary committees who looked at the proposal, did not agree with the way this had been taken forward.

    The Government recognises that the existing arrangements would benefit from a review and has made a commitment to change the law should parliamentary time allow.


    ]Please note that images I restore are only temporarily kept on photobucket

    [/B]FOR RESTORATIONS PLEASE SCAN ALL PICS AT 300-600 dpi

    ALAN

  • #2
    Originally posted by alan 128 View Post
    The Government is also aware of the need to strike a balance between privacy and openness in the use of registration records.

    Yes, I quite agree with this - we have seen recently what can happen when local authorities rush into providing a BMD index system without taking enough care to protect living people's private information!
    KiteRunner

    Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
    (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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    • #3
      "The law is very clear about how the public are able to obtain copies of certificates and also what fees should be charged. The Government understands that many family researchers don't actually want to purchase a certificate but they do want to have access to the information."

      It looks as if they have missed the core point of the Petition which refers to the fact that at present we may have to buy several Certificates in order to ensure we have the right one. The information is already available to anyone with seven quid to spare so it isn't a question of Privacy, nor of protecting living individuals.
      Grampa Jim passed away September 2011

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