Identity and Passport Service

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General Register Office to join Identity and Passport Service

Wednesday 10th October 2007

The General Register Office (GRO) in England and Wales will become part of the Identity and Passport Service from 1 April 2008.

The change will mean that the responsibility for overseeing the recording of births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths in England and Wales will transfer from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is to become independent of ministers, to the Identity and Passport Service, an Executive Agency of the Home Office. GRO Scotland and GRO Northern Ireland remain the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

IPS reports to Meg Hillier, Home Office Minister responsible for Identity. Welcoming the change, Meg Hillier said:

“The Identity and Passport Service and the General Register Office for England and Wales are already working closely together.

“In order to take this work a step further and fully realise the benefits of combining registration of life events in England and Wales and the issuing of passports, it is sensible that the IPS and GRO should be part of the same organisation.”

IPS Chief Executive James Hall said:

“The General Register Office joining the Identity and Passport Service is welcome news. Working as one organisation will allow us to explore the possibility of integrating passport, identity card and life event registration processes. This would reduce red tape and make life easier for people, as well as strengthen the integrity of our systems.”


NOTES TO EDITORS

  1. The GRO is currently a directorate of ONS, and supports the Registrar General for England and Wales, head of ONS Karen Dunnell, in carrying out her responsibilities for the oversight of the registration service in England and Wales. Almost all registrations are carried out locally by local authorities.
  2. The GRO currently provides IPS with information to prevent fraud in relation to passport applications. This data sharing has led to notable success in the past, preventing and prosecuting the hijacking of dead children's identities ('Day of the Jackal' fraud). Work is also being done to provide online access for IPS to GRO birth, marriage and death registers (and the equivalents in Scotland and Northern Ireland). The legal basis for this was provided for in the National Identity Cards Act Section 38 Order made in July 2007.
  3. In November 2005 the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the production of official statistics was to be made independent of ministers, resulting in a change of status for ONS from April 2008. The GRO will cease to be part of ONS as its functions cover policy and operational issues which necessarily involve ministers.
  4. The main functions of the GRO which will be transferring with the organisation to IPS are to:
    • support and inspect some 285 local authority owned and run registry offices;
    • oversee the registration of births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths, as carried out at those offices;
    • carry out some registrations centrally and maintain a central record of registration data;
    • implement and advise on legislation which will effect the deliver of civil registration; and
    • sell copies of certificates.
  5. For media enquiries relating to IPS and passports issued in the UK, please contact the Home Office Newsdesk on 020 7035 3535
  6. For general information see www.ips.gov.uk or call the IPS Adviceline on 0300 222 0000.
  7. For media enquiries relating to ONS and GRO, please contact the ONS press office on 020 7533 5702.
  8. For general information on the GRO, see www.gro.gov.uk.

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