Bad news for those living in the land down under (no not Australia!) - the GRO for England and Wales is increasing its prices from April 6th, and it is a hefty hike which will also apply to certificates ordered from local registrars' offices. One suspects they wanted to wait until after Who Do You Think You Are? Live to drop this little bombshell. There will also be some price cuts for additional services, but not for those which will be of most use to family historians.
Here goes with an abridged press release:
New charges for people ordering birth, marriage and death certificates were announced today by Registrar General James Hall.
From Tuesday 6 April 2010 the eight separate fees currently charged by the General Register Office (GRO) for ordering a certificate will be reduced to two – one for standard orders and one for the priority service.
The changes - the first for the GRO since 2003 - will ensure that the costs of providing the service are recovered from fees and not subsidised by the taxpayer.
The cost of ordering certificates online with a GRO reference number, using the standard service, will rise from £7.00 to £9.25. A number of other charges, however, will fall to this new standard fee, including those for certificates where customers do not know the reference number.
Three of the four priority overnight service charges will also fall to a flat fee of £23.40.
The Registrar General has also announced new fees to be charged by the Local Registration Service throughout England and Wales for issuing copies of certificates, and officiating at weddings and civil partnerships for those who are housebound or detained.
The charge for registering marriages at registered buildings – those buildings that are registered for the solemnization of religious marriages other than Anglican churches - has also been changed.
For more information on GRO services and to order certificates online go to www.direct.gov.uk/gro
Looks like there is a recession in town, with family historians now being conscripted into doing their bit to help pay for it...
Chris
www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
www.twitter.com/chrismpaton
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