Registration services: Fees review

Overview

National Records of Scotland (NRS) want to hear your views about our proposed changes to the Registration Services (Fees, etc.) (Scotland) Regulations 2006. Our propsols are intended to ensure that registration service fees better reflect the costs of delivering these public services and remain sustainable.

NRS is a non-ministerial department in the Scottish Administration that supports and carries out the functions of the Registrar General for Scotland. A key responsibility of the Registrar General is to oversee the registration of vital life events, including births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships. She also oversees the legislation relating to the formalities of marriage and civil partnership and the conduct of civil marriage ceremonies.

NRS holds millions of registration records, which we make available online through our Scotland’s People service. Users around the world can trace their family histories using statutory registers dating back to 1855, alongside earlier parish records. The service has a global audience, with around 1.3 million registered users and about 5.5 million pages viewed each month.

Registration data is collected not only for historical and genealogical purposes, but also to provide an accurate picture of Scotland’s population between censuses. This data informs policy making, guides funding decisions, and supports local authorities in planning services and infrastructure. It also underpins economic analysis, research into social and health issues, equality monitoring and the prevention, detection and investigation of crime.

The information we gather today will help future generations to understand Scotland as it is now, just as earlier records help us understand our past. It is therefore essential that we continue to collect accurate and reliable information.

As a public body, NRS operates in accordance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual, which states that our fees should recover the costs of providing services. It has been more than 15 years since most of these fees were revised. Since then inflation has risen and the cost of delivering our services has increased. It is vital that NRS continue to provide these services in a financially sustainable way, investing in improvements and ensuring they meet customers' needs. It is right that NRS takes steps to recover the full costs of delivering these services.

Some fees set out in the Regulations are payable to local authorities. We have therefore liaised with local authority registrars, through the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, to understand the costs of the services they provide. Other services listed in the Regulations are no longer offered by NRS, and we propose removing these fees to ensure clarity.

Read the consultation paper. The consultation paper contains full background information for this consultation. You may find it useful to read or refer to while responding.

Why your views matter

Your views are important. A strong civil registration system records key life events, supports access to services and legal rights, and provides valuable information about Scotland. We want to understand how the proposed fee changes may affect you or your organisation. By taking part in this consultation, you will help inform decisions about the future of Scotland’s civil registration system.