The deregulation bill before the (UK) House of Lords has been agreed to be
amended to allow for publication about information on birth, marriage and
death certificates in England and Wales to be issued in a manner other than
certified copies. This will allow the government to consult on the best way
to bring changes to how records are accessed. The bill, if passed as
proposed, will provide the Secretary of State to promulgate regulations to
define how a person may access the records, the charges that may be imposed,
how the record may be formatted and the type of record that may be issued.
This could mean online records for older records (similar to systems
currently enjoyed by Scotland and Northern Ireland) and the introduction of
plain paper extracts to be offered to those who do not need a watermarked
certificate. The bill recognizes that these changes will not occur
immediately and a full analysis of implementation options will be done. It
is a major change as it lifts the legislative restrictions in these areas
which has hampered past attempts to change the system. These changes will
require IT changes and that means some time once the bill is finally passed.
Please be patient.

These changes were a result of the efforts by the Society of Genealogists.
This is a great example of how genealogists can influence actions. To read
the amendment see: http://tinyurl.com/ozw9t24
Original url:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldhansrd/text/150205-0003.
htm#15020565000555

To read more about this (and it also includes the wording of the amendment)
see: http://tinyurl.com/p67n8sl
Original url:
http://www.sog.org.uk/news/article/gro-information-on-births-marriages-and-death-doesnt-have-to-on-expensive-c

The government tried to do this once before in 1983, but General Elections
were called and this type of legislation was failed to be implemented due to
the election. A General Election is expected on May 7, 2015 and it is
hoped that the current bill does not have a similar fate.

Thank you to Peter Calver and the LostCousins Newsletter for alerting us to
these developments.

Jan Meisels Allen
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee