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Petition for Open Access for BMD pre 1908

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  • Petition for Open Access for BMD pre 1908

    Hi All,
    Just like to make you aware that a petiton has been started on the No 10 petition website to give access to all BMD before 1908.

    Please put your name to this, as David says these records are now over 100 years old and it would help family historians to find the right certificate without having to purchase a copy certificate that turns out to be incorrect

    Petition to: Allow full and open access to registers of Birth, Marriage and Death from 1837 to 1908. | Number10.gov.uk

    Many thanks
    Jo

  • #2
    As I have mentioned before this petition will do nothing but hinder the progress being made to allow access to records.

    The reason I write that is because it is a badly worded petition which asks for less than what we have at present.

    At present we have full and open access to all birth, marriage and death certificates from 1837 to the present day, with a small charge to cover the costs of supplying the certificate.
    The petition asks for access to be restricted by 100 years.

    The government attempted to provide the change of legislation required to allow the present laws regarding supply of certificates to be changed but they tried to circumvent procedure and the attempt was deemed unlawful and had to be abandoned.
    When there is parliamentary time it will be presented again but not if petitons such as this make the government think we will accept reduced access.

    Cheers
    Guy
    Guy passed away October 2022

    Comment


    • #3
      I agree with Guy - a very badly worded petition (and one which has been tried before).

      How exactly, are we to have access to all bmds? Does this petition ask for them to be available on line?

      If so, it is a non-starter, not just from the legal point of view which Guy has addressed above, but because it has already been tried, and abandoned - google the GRO DOVE project, aborted because of insuperable technical difficulties.

      Who is to pay for this? The taxpayer? Why should the taxpayer fund our hobby - the taxpayer doesn't fund stamp collecting or para-gliding.

      Oh, I would LOVE to have instant access to bmds, downloadable dirt cheap just like the Scots have, don't get me wrong, but ill-informed and badly worded petitions aren't going to do it.

      OC

      Comment


      • #4
        I bow to superior knowledge. Seemed like a good idea at the time

        Comment


        • #5
          Jogan

          Wasn't telling YOU off! I appreciate that you were just passing the word on, no harm done.

          OC

          Comment


          • #6
            A good idea, in theory, but has been done twice before. It will never be agreed to by the government, I am sure, for one thing because the government disbanded its own DOVE project regrettably.

            Ancestry hunters stuck in past as web project fails | Technology | The Guardian


            May last year, this was the Government’s response
            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. 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.

            easyaccessbmd - epetition response | Number10.gov.uk




            And August last year:
            BMDonline - epetition response | Number10.gov.uk

            BMDonline - epetition response
            We received a petition asking:

            “We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ensure that the General Register Office of the ONS completes asap, as promised, the digitisation of, and online index to, the national BMD ledgers dating back to 1837 previously held in the Family Records Centre in London.”

            Details of Petition:

            “The GRO’s project to put 170 years of national BMD data online is at least twelve months behind schedule. Due to budgetary constraints and overspend on this and other IT projects, the GRO is now also unlikely to find funding in the near future to create the online index search facility that users of the new service will need to access it. The closure of the Public Search Room facilities at the Family Records Centre building in Myddleton Street in October 2007 and the end of access to the 6,550 physical ledgers held there was intended to go hand in hand with the arrival of online indexes to birth, marriages and death records, a promise that is now in the process of being broken.”

            the Government’s response
            The General Register Office (GRO) has a statutory obligation to make index data for registration records publicly available. Since the closure of the Family Records Centre in March 2008, it has provided copies of the indexes in microfiche format at several libraries and record offices across England and Wales. Many people who would previously have had to visit London to view the indexes are now able to do so much closer to home. Further details on where to search the full range of GRO indexes from 1837 to 2008 can be found at Research: GRO Indexes - Holders of the GRO Indexes

            GRO recognises that the creation of a publicly-accessible online index will be of even greater value to many family historians. GRO was transferred on 1 April 2008 from the Office for National Statistics to the Identity and Passport Service (IPS). IPS has confirmed that the creation of an accessible online index is a commitment which GRO will continue to work towards.

            A necessary pre-requisite is that all the registration records from 1837 must be created in a digitised format. The project to achieve this has encountered delays, with about half the records currently digitised. IPS is investigating a new project to complete the work and to address the requirement for an online index. At this stage options for the best method of implementation are being reviewed, and new timescales will be announced as soon as decisions based on the outcome of the review can be taken.
            Joy

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