2026 No. 672
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS, DEATHS & MARRIAGES, ETC., ENGLAND AND WALES

The Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 38A(1) and 39A(1)(a) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 19531.

Citation, commencement, and extent1.

(1)

These Regulations may be cited as the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 9th November 2026.

(2)

These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

Amendment of Schedule 1 to the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 20162.

(1)

The Table in Schedule 1 (fees payable) to the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 20162, is amended as follows.

(2)

In row 16A, in column 4 for “The registrar or superintendent registrar having the custody of the register” substitute “If the entry in the register was made before 1 July 2009, to the superintendent registrar. If the entry in the register was made on or after 1 July 2009, to the superintendent registrar or the registrar”.

(3)

In row 17A—

(a)

in column 2, in (a) and (b) for “with custody of the register” substitute “who effects the correction”.

(b)

in column 4 for “The person with custody of the register” in both places it occurs, substitute “If the entry in the register was made before 1 July 2009, to the superintendent registrar. If the entry in the register was made on or after 1 July 2009, to the superintendent registrar or the registrar”.

(4)

In row 20, in column 2, in (a) and (b) for “kept” substitute “issued”.

(5)

In row 21, in column 2, in (a) and (b) for “kept” substitute “issued”.

Mike Tapp
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Home Office
Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend Schedule 1 to the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Fees) Regulations 2016 (“the Fees Regulations”), which set fees for applications and services in relation to the registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships in England and Wales.

These Regulations do not change the level of fee but will amend the description of whom the fee is payable to and for what service. It will also remove the term custody from the Fees Regulations where it concerns these services.

Currently, birth, still-birth and death records are held both electronically and in paper form and certificates relating to these are issued by the official who has custody of the register; corrections are also made by the official who has custody of the register.  However, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18) introduces the electronic register for the registration of births, still-births and deaths therefore the term custody will no longer be relevant for these services.  As a result, these Regulations are required to change who the fee is payable to, depending on the service being requested.

An impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as a full impact assessment was published in relation to the provisions in the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. Copies can be obtained from the UK Government Website at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/690dd03447ad122f854627a8/data_use_and_access_act_enactment_impact_assessment.pdf or from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology at 22-26 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2EG, United Kingdom.