TREASURY AND RESOURCES MINISTER
Increase in Birth, Marriage and Death Certificate Fees
1. Purpose of Report
To enable the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve a request from the Home Affairs Department to increase the fee for a certificate of birth, marriage or death from £10 to £20.
2. Background
Under financial direction 4.1 the prior approval of the Minister is required for increases in States fees and charges which exceed 2.5% per annum. This approval has been delegated to the Treasurer of the States in non-contentious cases.
3. Departmental Justification
The fee charged for a certificate of birth, marriage and death currently stands at £10, the fee charged since the enactment of the Marriage and Civil Status ( Jersey ) Law 2001 in 2002. Just before the previous Home Affairs Minister left office, she agreed that this fee should be increased to £20. This was in agreement with the Connétable of St Helier who has been pressing for an increase for some time as his parish bears the overwhelming burden of the costs of birth, marriage and death registration in the Island for the Island .
The most significant volume of work lies in the registration of births as the births of the majority of children in the Island occur at the General Hospital (2007: only 7 of the 1104 births registered in the Island occurred outside St Helier) but it is also the case that the numbers of deaths and marriages in St Helier outnumber those in any one country parish by a significant factor. In 2007, there were 527 deaths in St Helier out of an Island total of 707 and 261 non-Anglican marriages in St Helier out of an island total of 454. It is the Parish of St Helier’s intention that the monies raised by this increase will help off-set the service that its register office provides to the Island . The Comite des Connétables are in agreement with this proposed increase.
As the Parish does not have to adhere to Financial Directions it could increase its fees; however it would be inconsistent to have two different levels of fees for the Parish and the Superintendent Registrar. Therefore, following discussions between officers from the Home Affairs and Treasury and Resources Departments the department is seeking approval, in accordance with Financial Direction No 4.1, for an increase in Birth, Marriage and Death certificate fees in excess of 2.5%. It is the department’s intention to review all fees and charges made by the Superintendent Registrar’s office during 2009 following the recent appointment of a new Superintendent Registrar.
4. Recommendation
That the Minister approves the increase in the fee for a certificate of birth, marriage or death from £10 to £20.
5. Reason for Decision
Financial direction 4.1 requires the Minister for Treasury and Resources to approve any fee increase greater than 2.5%.
States Treasury Kevin Hemmings, Head of Decision Support
9 February, 2009 for decision 2nd February 2009