Hampshire County Council

Best Value Review Panel (Recreation and Heritage Committee)

28 March 2001

Service Specification - Registration Service

Report of the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

Contact: John Fulstow Ext: 6221

1. Aims of the Service and Statutory Basis

1.1 The aims of the service are to ensure that the registration of births and deaths and the registration and conduct of civil marriage ceremonies at both Register offices and approved premises are provided efficiently and effectively in accordance with appropriate legislation.

1.2 Beyond the strict statutory provision of the service there is strong emphasis on the broader promotion and improvement of the services and facilities, and the management of customer care. Improvements have included:

1.3 The Registration Service is a national statutory service and current regulations are based on the:

e.g. 1994 Approved Premises and choice of any Register Office

in England/Wales

1996 Prescribed Words (Choice of Vows)

1.4 These legislative constraints also cover the general population who are legally required to use the service for the registration of these life events (births, marriages and deaths).

1.5 There is a dual management role in regard to the Registration Service. The Registrar General is responsible for setting the standards and monitoring the technical performance which is set out in the Registrars' Handbook. The Registrar General also determines the legal minimum resources necessary for providing the Registration Service. The County Council has no input or powers to alter this and is required to provide accommodation for adequate delivery of the service and the payment of registration officers.

1.6 The County Council's statutory responsibility for the provision of the service is through the appointment of a Proper Officer whose powers include:

1.7 The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services is the Chief Officer who s responsible for the services and has nominated the Head of Regulatory Services as Proper Officer for Hampshire.

2. Background and Objectives of the Registration Service

2.1 The Registration Service is a part of Regulatory Services which is situated within the Property, Business and Regulatory Services Department (see organisation chart given at Appendix 1). Regulatory Services was established following the Local Government Reorganisation in 1997 and comprised the formerly separate services of Coroners, Registration, Rent Officer Service, Scientific Service and Trading Standards Service. In October 1998 the Rent Officer Service became a separate Government agency and is no longer a part of Hampshire County Council.

2.2 The Registration Service provides an important direct link with the public. Whilst the public are legally obliged to use the service for the registration of births and deaths, the service's aim has been to improve accessibility and make the experience of using the service as pleasant as possible. This includes the provision of a peripatetic service for visiting the public in their homes if they are unable to attend at a Register Office or outstation. In addition to people who may be housebound, the peripatetic service has also been extended to include those who have other personal difficulties affecting their mobility.

2.3 In addition, efficiency has been improved through use of an appointments system and waiting times have been monitored to ensure no-one is kept waiting longer than necessary. Where service delivery can be improved by the integration of part-time offices to create full-time districts, this has been achieved. The resulting full-time office together with the peripatetic service improves accessibility for the public.

2.4 The service has been enhanced through the publication of information leaflets about registering a birth or death, and a comprehensive marriage package. The service is also key in promoting Hampshire as a place in which to be married through an increasing number of approved premises. Following the 1994 Marriage Act, it became possible to licence premises other than Register Offices at which civil marriage ceremonies could be carried out. There are currently a total of 79 of these licensed approved premises within Hampshire, in addition to Register Offices, at which marriages can taken place.

2.5 The current key objectives are to provide an efficient and effective Registration Service by:

3. Links to Corporate Aims

3.1 The provision of the Registration Service relates to the County Council's Corporate Aims as follows:

Corporate Aim

Corporate Aim Outcome

Registration Service Link

Aim 1

Developing the Quality of Life in Hampshire

Improving the health of the People in Hampshire

The Registration Service collates statistics for performance indicators which provide information for reducing death rates from cancer, coronary heart disease, accidents and suicides, etc.

Aim 3

Achieving Economic Prosperity

Promoting growth within key sectors and investment in Hampshire

The Registration Service promotes and encourages the licensing of approved premises and marriage in Hampshire (see 5.4 below).

Aim 4

Partnerships for Strong Communities in Hampshire

Raising the profile of the County Council with local people

The Registration Service contributes to the County Council's website. It has also published leaflets concerning how to register births and deaths, and an attractive marriage brochure promoting marriage in Hampshire.

Contributions to `Hampshire Now'.

Aim 5

Provide High Quality Accessible Services

Demonstrate economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of

services

In meeting the demands of the public, the income from marriages at approved premises increasingly contributes towards the cost of running the service.

The Registration Service is working towards implementation of a quality management system during 2001.

Implementation of the Personnel and Training strategies.

The Registration Service is working towards achievement of the principles of Investors in People by September 2001.

Achieve higher standards in access and inclusion for all County Council services

The Service has improved the accessibility of some register offices and is developing plans for total physical access with colleagues in Property Services. There is also a peripatetic service for those unable to attend offices for registrations.

4. Other Links

4.1 Stakeholders

4.2 Important links with other organisations include:

5. Service Policies

5.1 The Registration Service is committed to ensuring that services are made accessible to all who need to use them. As such, part of the Best Value consultation exercise will be to review service users to identify how easy the service was to access and use. Further development of the web-site is also planned in order to improve the accessibility of information to the public and business. The majority of Register Offices have provision for disabled access and some are equipped with hearing loops. There is an on-going programme of improvements to Register Offices as part of the County Council's strategy in response to the Disability Discrimination Act.

5.2 With the introduction of the Marriage Act and the power to licence approved premises for marriages, the policy of the County Council has been to licence a wide range of premises from community halls to prestigious hotels in order to provide the best possible choice for the public. There are regulations which restrict buildings that can be licensed and these include buildings with a religious connection or those with an on-going business that is not separate from the area to be licensed, for example public houses and supermarkets.

5.3 There are the following approved premises within Hampshire:

5.4 The fees for statutory functions are set by the Treasury in conjunction with the Registrar General's Office. The County Council has no power to alter these. In regard to approved premises, the County Council has the statutory power to set the fees for licences and also for performing marriages at the premises. The current policy on charging is to cover variable costs and make a contribution to overheads. Fees for performing marriages are fixed during the week and higher at weekends and on public holidays. Part of the benchmarking exercise will review the differences in the financial policies of other authorities.

5.5 There is scope to increase the number of approved premises in Hampshire and, as stated above, our policy is to actively encourage a variety of premises to apply for licences.

5.6 Historically there has been sporadic investment in the Registration Service. With the advent of the Marriage Act in 1995, this has allowed the County Council to use income gained to reinvest in new technology and contribute towards refurbishment of buildings (e.g. Goldings at Basingstoke).

5.7 The Registration Service is committed to achieving high quality services and continuous improvement

5.8 Since Local Government Reorganisation in 1997, there has been increased involvement of Registration staff in the development and improvement of the service. The Service has:

5.9 The Service is working towards the implementation of Investors in People and will be using the EFQM Excellence Model to challenge and develop current policies and procedures.

5.10 Innovation is seen as vital for the continued improvement and success of all Regulatory Services activity. The Registration Service is involved in developing the following initiatives:

6. Summary of Existing Service and Delivery Methods

6.1 The recruitment and recommendations for appointment of Registration Officers are the responsibility of the Proper Officer and are carried out by the Registration Services Manager and the Personnel Unit of the Property, Business and Regulatory Services Department (PB&R). While there is no obligation on the County Council to do so, the HM Inspector of Registration is also invited to attend the interviews for principal officers (Superintendent Registrars and Registrars). Officers are appointed by the Registrar General.

6.2 All new Registration staff undergo local induction and attend the PB&R Induction Day. There are three Registration Officers who act as Training Officers and, together with the line manager, are involved in ensuring adequate and appropriate training for both new and current staff.

6.3 As shown in Appendix 1, there are ten main registration district offices, four sub-district offices and 15 outstations. There is an on-going programme of updating facilities to improve and ensure that offices meet both health and safety requirements and those of the Disability Discrimination Act.

6.4 Although Registration Officers are statutory officers, they have been included in the recent application of the Single Status Agreement. They are paid from a centrally held budget within Regulatory Services.

6.5 The technical work of Registration Officers is assessed by the HM Inspector of Registration. In addition, personal development reviews are held with all staff under the management of the Registration Services Manager.

6.6 There is a complaints procedure which is published in a leaflet and on the Regulatory Services web-site. All complaints from the public are investigated by the Head of Regulatory Services and Registration Services Manager, and co-ordinated centrally by the Quality Manager.

7. Costs of the Service

7.1 The following figures include costs such as premises costs, capital financing charges and central support charges that are not included in the Regulatory Services cash-limited budget as this gives a much closer approximation to Total Cost under the Best Value Accounting Code of Practice.

7.2 Net costs in 1997/1998 were lower than budget due to higher than expected income. Increased costs in 1999/2000 reflect planned investment in new technology to meet the changing service requirements following introduction of the Asylum and Immigration Act. This was funded from money carried forward from the previous year following tight financial control to achieve this.

7.3 The following table provides a breakdown of costs and income for 2000/2001.

7.4 The following table provides the number of staff by job function:

7.5 The following table shows the breakdown of staff based in full-time and part-time employment:

8. Recent Consultation

8.1 While the service is under constant review, the last major review of the whole service was carried out under Local Government Reorganisation.

8.2 A recent review of service provision in the north of the County involved consultation with the public and Parish Councils and advertisements were placed in the local newspapers. The proposals were for the amalgamation of the two districts based on Basingstoke and Kingsclere and Whitchurch. The proposals were amended to take account of public concerns voiced in a petition signed by approximately 1,000 residents. This has resulted in a new registration district for north Hampshire comprising the district office in Basingstoke and three outstations at Kingsclere, Whitchurch and Tadley.

9. Performance Data

9.1 Work volume

1998/99

1999/00

Marriages at Register Offices

2,599

2,500

Marriages at Approved Premises

862

1,225

Marriages Notices

5,459

5,500

Number of Approved Premises

70

74

Births Registered

6,650

6,000

Births Declared

6,063

6,100

Deaths Registered

8,882

8,500

Certificates Issued - historical

11,847

12,000

Certificates Issued - at registration

46,950

39,560

9.2 Cost per head of population

Note: figures are based on net costs given above and divided by number of population. Population is based on 1,253,100 - estimate given in the County Council's "Profile of Hampshire", July 2000.

Actual/

Projection

£

1997/1998

0.35

1998/1999

0.36

1999/2000

0.44

2000/2001

0.42

9.3 Number of Customer Complaints

* to end February 2001.

1998/1999

1999/2000

2000/2001*

7

6

6

9.4 A monitoring exercise has been carried out at the Winchester Register Office which shows that the average appointment takes half an hour. Average waiting times were within 5 minutes. It was also shown that a large number of the public arrive up to 10 minutes late for their appointment time. This exercise will be extended across all Register Offices.

9.5 Appendix 2 shows a set of new national standards for 2001/2002 which have been proposed by the Registrar General. It is the intention to adopt these for the Registration Service and use them as a basis for benchmarking against other authorities.

9.6 In addition, Appendix 3 (Note to Chairman - currently awaiting additional copies of this document) shows the Local Government Association Good Practice Guide for the Registration Service which will be used to assess the current position of the service.

10. Competition and other Providers

10.1 The Registration Service is not in competition in regard to registrations of births and deaths as these are required by law to be registered in the registration district in which they occurred. The service is also not in competition with those performing religious marriage ceremonies.

10.2 The 1994 Marriage Act allowed couples wanting to be married by a civil ceremony to choose to marry in any register office in England and Wales. The Act also provided for the Local Authority to licence approved premises for civil marriage which enabled couples to choose anywhere within England and Wales.

10.3 These two provisions created competition between local authority areas and the registration districts across England and Wales.

10.4 Although most couples wish to marry close to the area in which most of their relatives live, many are now choosing to marry in areas much farther afield.

10.5 In Hampshire we are promoting the county as a special place in which to marry. The national beauty area of the New Forest has proved an attractive magnet and hotels in the area have had their single biggest boost to business through the ability to offer complete marriage packages.

10.6 The majority of the marriages now taking place in approved premises are drawn from the religious sector with register offices numbers only slightly down.

10.7 Offering choice to the public has been our main concern. Register offices are still very popular as there is no requirement to hold a reception. Couples may marry and hold a reception at home or in a small restaurant according to their wishes and economic status.

10.8 There is currently a statutory requirement on the local authority to provide register office marriage rooms. Optimising the use of marriage rooms is economically desirable. National standards require that marriage rooms are of a good standard. It is the County Council's policy to maintain its register offices to a high standard offering a genuine choice to its residents and encouraging couples from outside the county to come into the area to celebrate their marriage.

11. Challenges facing the Service

11.1 The main challenges facing the service include: