On 2015-02-07 00:08:33 +0000, Iain Archer said: > I've just seen this, which I presume will be welcome news, on the SoG website: > > "The Society of Genealogists is delighted to announce that the > Government has accepted an amendment to the Deregulation Bill currently > going before the House of Lords that allows for the publication of > information from Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates in England and > Wales to be issued otherwise than in the form of a certified copy ..." > <http://www.sog.org.uk/news/article/gro-information-on-births-marriages-a > nd-death-doesnt-have-to-on-expensive-c/> At the moment certs cost £9.25. Bearing in mind that the cost of a will has risen recently from £6 to £10 and the justification, given to me after I complained to my MP about such a big price hike, was that £10 was the standard cost for any copy record, I am not holding out much hope for a reduction in cost. Add in the fact that a non certified copy would probably involve digitising the entire GRO database (a la Scotlands People) and the dire track record of Govt digitisation projects, I doubt I will live long enough to even bother about the pricing :-) and now I am off to my weekly meeting of Sceptics Anonymous! -- Tickettyboo

On Sun, 8 Feb 2015 20:45:03 -0500, Tickettyboo <[email protected]> wrote: >On 2015-02-07 00:08:33 +0000, Iain Archer said: > >> I've just seen this, which I presume will be welcome news, on the SoG website: >> >> "The Society of Genealogists is delighted to announce that the >> Government has accepted an amendment to the Deregulation Bill currently >> going before the House of Lords that allows for the publication of >> information from Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates in England and >> Wales to be issued otherwise than in the form of a certified copy ..." >> <http://www.sog.org.uk/news/article/gro-information-on-births-marriages-a >> nd-death-doesnt-have-to-on-expensive-c/> > >At the moment certs cost £9.25. >Bearing in mind that the cost of a will has risen recently from £6 to >£10 and the justification, given to me after I complained to my MP >about such a big price hike, was that £10 was the standard cost for any >copy record, I am not holding out much hope for a reduction in cost. > >Add in the fact that a non certified copy would probably involve >digitising the entire GRO database > Wasn't that already done (at least partly) as part of the failed DOVE project ? >(a la Scotlands People) and the dire >track record of Govt digitisation projects, I doubt I will live long >enough to even bother about the pricing :-) > >and now I am off to my weekly meeting of Sceptics Anonymous!

On 9 Feb at 1:45, Tickettyboo <[email protected]> wrote: > On 2015-02-07 00:08:33 +0000, Iain Archer said: > > > I've just seen this, which I presume will be welcome news, on the > > SoG website: > > > > "The Society of Genealogists is delighted to announce that the > > Government has accepted an amendment to the Deregulation Bill > > currently going before the House of Lords that allows for the > > publication of information from Birth, Marriage and Death > > Certificates in England and Wales to be issued otherwise than in the > > form of a certified copy ..." > > <http://www.sog.org.uk/news/article/gro-information-on-births-marriages-a > > nd-death-doesnt-have-to-on-expensive-c/> > > At the moment certs cost £9.25. Bearing in mind that the cost of a > will has risen recently from £6 to £10 and the justification, given to > me after I complained to my MP about such a big price hike, was that > £10 was the standard cost for any copy record, I am not holding out > much hope for a reduction in cost. > > Add in the fact that a non certified copy would probably involve > digitising the entire GRO database (a la Scotlands People) and the > dire track record of Govt digitisation projects, I doubt I will live > long enough to even bother about the pricing :-) > > and now I am off to my weekly meeting of Sceptics Anonymous! Don't blame you. This whole thing puts The National Archives into a very good light. They have copied all the pre 1858 wills in PCC and deliver them to us immediately instead of within 10 working days. Further they only charge £3-30 apiece instead of £10. And they cover their full costs. The MP who justified the tenner needs bringing down to earth, sharply. -- Tim Powys-Lybbe [email protected] for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/

Tim Powys-Lybbe <[email protected]> wrote: > On 9 Feb at 1:45, Tickettyboo <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On 2015-02-07 00:08:33 +0000, Iain Archer said: >> >>> I've just seen this, which I presume will be welcome news, on the >>> SoG website: >>> >>> "The Society of Genealogists is delighted to announce that the >>> Government has accepted an amendment to the Deregulation Bill >>> currently going before the House of Lords that allows for the >>> publication of information from Birth, Marriage and Death >>> Certificates in England and Wales to be issued otherwise than in the >>> form of a certified copy ..." >>> > <http://www.sog.org.uk/news/article/gro-information-on-births-marriages-a >>> nd-death-doesnt-have-to-on-expensive-c/> >> >> At the moment certs cost £9.25. Bearing in mind that the cost of a >> will has risen recently from £6 to £10 and the justification, given to >> me after I complained to my MP about such a big price hike, was that >> £10 was the standard cost for any copy record, I am not holding out >> much hope for a reduction in cost. >> >> Add in the fact that a non certified copy would probably involve >> digitising the entire GRO database (a la Scotlands People) and the >> dire track record of Govt digitisation projects, I doubt I will live >> long enough to even bother about the pricing :-) >> >> and now I am off to my weekly meeting of Sceptics Anonymous! > > Don't blame you. > > This whole thing puts The National Archives into a very good light. > They have copied all the pre 1858 wills in PCC and deliver them to us > immediately instead of within 10 working days. Further they only charge > £3-30 apiece instead of £10. And they cover their full costs. > > The MP who justified the tenner needs bringing down to earth, sharply. Oh he passed the question to the govt dept (court services or something - I'm not at home so can't check) . My original complaint was about ww1 soldiers wills. I still find it distasteful that the last testament of a generation of young men was used as a means to subsidise govt overspendimg on courts.