Salford Council are having a laugh aren't they?

[GrahamH]

Me either but they seem to be the only local authority making such a charge - at least of all the ones I am using, and that doesn't sit well with me.

That's one of the points of having some services administered at local, rather than national, level though isn't it? Local authorities decide what is best for their area so there are bound to be differences between them.

I may take  the advice of each of you and contact both authorities.

Use FoI. Ask for details of how the fees are made up and the powers/duties under which the fees are levied.

One has to ask the question, if they can be bothered to put in a compliments slip stating the certificates are indeed £10 why they didn't return my cheque and insist on the correct sum?

Because the admin cost involved in doing so would be much more than £1 and, thus, wasteful of public resources.

Graham

[Parmesan]

One has to ask the question, if they can be bothered to put in a compliments slip stating the certificates are indeed £10 why they didn't return my cheque and insist on the correct sum?

Because the admin cost involved in doing so would be much more than £1 and, thus, wasteful of public resources.

Graham

Well I enclosed an sae so the admin cost in sending me the certificate (as they did) or returning my cheque would be the same!

[GrahamH]

One has to ask the question, if they can be bothered to put in a compliments slip stating the certificates are indeed £10 why they didn't return my cheque and insist on the correct sum?

Because the admin cost involved in doing so would be much more than £1 and, thus, wasteful of public resources.

Graham

Well I enclosed an sae so the admin cost in sending me the certificate (as they did) or returning my cheque would be the same!

It all depends on the procedures involved. Many organisations (both public and private) separate cheques from accompanying documentation on receipt as the sooner they are presented the better for cash flow reasons. Because the vast majority of cheque payments produce no need to query/refund there is normally no problem with such a procedure and it is to the organisation's benefit. When it does go awry though, as in this case, the cost of raising a refund request would far outweigh the amount involved so it is simply not worth it.

To make sure, though, why not ask for an explanation when you ask for the other information? 

Graham

[MUMMYG]

Are the indexes at a register office different in any way from what you would find for the same office had they put them on line?

can anyone answer  my question?

[GrahamH]

Are the indexes at a register office different in any way from what you would find for the same office had they put them on line?

can anyone answer  my question?

The content of indexes at register offices is laid down in legislation. Whether or not indexes for any given office are placed on-line depends on whether the office concerned or any other organisation has put resources into doing so. Content is not constant between all on-line indexes. Some contain more than the legislation requires for indexes at offices. Some may contain less information but I don't know of any which do.

Graham

[MUMMYG]

Thanks for the reply,  Im just trying to understand why you would go to the trouble  to 'demand' a search at the registrar if they already had them free online, I know some arent online but soon will be. If the records there are more detailed that would be a good reason of course.

[andycand]

Hi MUMMYG

Thanks for the reply,  Im just trying to understand why you would go to the trouble  to 'demand' a search at the registrar if they already had them free online, I know some arent online but soon will be. If the records there are more detailed that would be a good reason of course.

The information on FreeBMD and the various commercial sites is from the GRO Indexes and not from the local Indexes. Whilst some local Register Offices do have the local indexes online on their own website and volunteers have transcribed some indexes from Local Register Offices for a few counties (as part of UKBMD) such as CheshireBMD and LancashireBMD I think its fair to say that the majority are not online and thats unlikely to change much in the near future.
 
There was a Downing St epetition sometime ago  to 'compel' all local offices to allow volunteers to transcribe similar to UKBMD, I haven't seen a response to it but there has been nothing to indicate that it had any success. I believe its up to the individual offices as to whether they allow it or not.

Whilst the local Register Office indexes that are online do vary a bit on what is included, there are some advantages over the GRO Indexes, first of all Births and Deaths usually indicate the sub-district of registration which can help narrow down as to whether an event is yours or not, and with marriages, they not only name the spouse in full, they identify the church if its a church marriage.

Andy 

[MUMMYG]

Thank you for that

Sorry Im being a bit dim here, I understand now that the local office  record is different to the GRO and are sometimes better but are they different (ie more info) if you actually go in and search yourself (as the previous posts suggest you are allowed to) as opposed to seeing them online, assuming there are both options.      Hope thats not too confusing.

[ter153]

i live in aberdeenshire,to have a record search done(,births,deaths marriages) its £10 for the hour,but i nipped in one day and only needed to check a date of death and it cost me 5 quid just for that,took the woman 2 mins to search,dont mind paying the ten pounds as you can find out loads in an hour but £5 to search one cert? thats a bit much!