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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.
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page15425
And August last year:
http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page16661
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 http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/research/groindexes/holders_of_the_gro_indexes.asp
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.
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This is what the starter of the petition says:
Having full and open access to the registers of births, marriages and deaths from 1837 to 1908 will make it easier for genealogists to research the records and ensure they get the copies they require. If copies were put on the internet this would simplify the process.
These records are over a hundred years old and should now be accessible to all with a small fee to cover the cost of copying the originals.
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I think nudge is all I need to say. Apart from..........
Australian's can't register on this petition.
However the more of you that register the more of us what will benefit from your hard work. And I'm all for benefitting from the work of others.
Register, register, whip crack, whip, whip!!
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signed
Cannot understand why this has not already been done surely if its allowed in Scotland then it should be a formality.
Jackie
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I'm sure I saw somewhere in the last couple of days that you needed at least a certain number of signatories to an online petition for it to be considered. I know it was a high figure (more than 20k) but can't remember how many. (Typically, can't find the reference either)
I did hear that a paper petition is counted as one signature for each sheet submitted to eradicate fraudulent signings.
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