Part 4: Registers of births and deaths Section 61: Form in which registers of births and deaths are to be kept
Section 61 amends the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 (BDRA 1953). Subsection (2) substitutes section 25 of the BDRA 1953 (provision of registers, etc, by Registrar General) with a new section 25 (form in which registers are to be kept, etc).
	Subsection (1) of new section 25 of the BDRA 1953 allows the Registrar General to determine how registers of live-births, still- births and deaths are to be kept. This will allow the duplication of processes to be removed, such as the requirement for paper registers to be held and stored securely in each registration district whilst at the same time being registered in an electronic register. Instead, all births, still-births and deaths may be registered in an electronic register and stored electronically without the need for paper registers to be kept securely in a safe. The electronic system is protected to Home Office security standards and employs a range of anti-cyber-attack best practices through the deployment of advanced, fully managed firewalls and intrusion detection systems.
	Subsection (2) of new section 25 of the BDRA 1953 allows the Registrar General to require that registrars keep information in a form that allows the Registrar General and the superintendent registrar to have immediate access to all birth and death entries as soon as the details have been entered in the electronic register by the registrar. Subsection (2)(b) allows only the Registrar General to have immediate access to entries of still-births which have been registered, by the registrar, in the electronic register.
	Subsection (3) of new section 25 of the BDRA 1953 provides that where a register is kept in such form as mentioned in subsection (2), e.g. electronic form, any information held in that register which has been made available to the Registrar General and the superintendent registrar is deemed to be ‘held’ by that person, as well as the registrar, when carrying out that person’s functions.
	Subsection (4) of new section 25 of the BDRA 1953 enables the Registrar General to provide, alongside a responsibility to maintain anything that is required for the purpose of creating or maintaining the registers referred to in subsection (1), for example, providing registrars with the system needed to register births and deaths.
	Subsection (5) of new section 25 of the BDRA 1953 places a responsibility on the Registrar General to provide the forms that are required in order to produce certified copies of entries in the registers – for example, a birth or death certificate.
	Subsections (3)(a) and (b) of section 61 omit sections 26 and 27 of the BDRA 1953 which set out the requirements for quarterly returns made by a registrar and superintendent registrar. With the introduction of an electronic register there will no longer be a requirement for the system of quarterly returns as all birth and death entries will be held in a single electronic register and the Registrar General and superintendent registrar will have immediate access to all birth and death entries.
	Subsection (3)(c) of section 61 omits section 28 (custody of registers, etc) which sets out how paper birth and death registers need to be stored by registrars, superintendent registrars and the Registrar General. With the introduction of an electronic register this provision will no longer be required. The requirements for the retention and storage of existing paper registers are covered in section 64.