Bath and North East Somerset
Registration Service
Annual Report 2013/2014
&
Service Delivery Plan 2014/15
(April 2014)
Here to mark the important events in your life.
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CONTENTS
Introduction by Superintendent Registrar
Registration District of Bath and North East Somerset
– Officers and Opening Hours
1.
Aims of Bath & North East Somerset Registration
Service
2.
Where We Are Now - year ended 31 March 2014
3.
Service Delivery
4.
Team members
5.
Performance Monitoring and Service Standards
6.
Business Plan Vision
7.
Objectives
8.
Standards and Performance
9.
Accounting and Stock Control
10. Suggestions and Complaints Procedures
11. Equality Issues EIA’s
12. Risk Assessments
13. Business Continuity Plan
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Introduction by Superintendent Registrar and Mission Statement
Mission Statement
‘The
Registration Service Team is committed to providing a comprehensive,
accessible service for the people of Bath & North East Somerset. We are here
to mark the important events in your life by providing a first class customer
experience.’
This plan sets out how Bath & North East Somerset Registration Service
is organised and how we measure and achieve goals to comply with
local governance objectives. It covers achievements and challenges
within the service in 2013/14 and our plans for the Service for 2014/15.
As with all other Council services in the current economic climate, the
Registration Service cannot afford to stand still. We need to provide value for
money. We must be innovative in our approach to the future – be prepared to
diversify and seek out new services to offer. We need to train and develop
our staff in the interests of the service and the individual. We strive to ensure
that the standards within our statutory work remain consistently high. We
establish and monitor how we are delivering the service by the use of Key
Performance Indicators which set the standards required by the General
Register Office for England and Wales pertaining to the timely and accurate
registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships, waiting times
for clients and client satisfaction.
We hold regular monthly minuted team meetings (second Wednesday of
every month) to discuss ideas on how to improve our functionality using
‘SMART’ principles to assess and assimilate information received from our
clients, via the customer comments cards, comments from the website and
annual customer surveys. Discussion also take place on national
developments and changes highlighted in the circulars produced by the
General Register Office on how to deliver any changes or potential changes in
law regarding the statutory services we provide. All staff are encouraged to
attend these meetings and Minutes are produced and distributed to every
member of the team to keep them up to date with the topics covered and
discussed.
The team work hard to ensure the service is a success. We have regular inhouse training sessions to ensure all staff are fully compliant with the
changing demands of registration. We hold regular brain-storming sessions
to work out ways to improve how we function as a service and assess and
assimilate information from customer feedback and customer surveys to
improve or amend our delivery. We look at ways to add to the services
offered and strive towards proving an exceptional service to our local
community in these challenging times.
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We have identified areas of development to work on over the next three years
to make the Service as self-sufficient and self-funding as possible. Ultimately,
we aim to have Bath and North East Somerset Registration District nationally
recognised for the quality of service it provides and the to be acknowledged
as innovative in its approach to introduce new services for the benefit of the
local community.
Alison Manning
Registration Services Manager/Superintendent Registrar
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Bath and North East Somerset Council
Registration District of Bath and North East Somerset
MARRIAGES and CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS
To give notice of marriage or civil partnership consult the Superintendent Registrar
DISTRICT
Bath and North East
Somerset
SUPERINTENDENT
REGISTRAR
Mrs A F MANNING
Deputy Superintendent
Registrars:
Mrs J PERKINS
Mrs C AZE
REGISTER
OFFICE
The Guildhall
High Street
Bath
BA1 5AW
Tel: 01225 477234
Fax: 01225 477293
Additional Registrars:
Mrs J NAISH
Mrs B JOHNSTONE
Mr J HALL
ATTENDANCES
Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday & Friday
9.00 am to 4.00 pm
Wednesdays
10.00 am to 4.00 pm
Wednesday evenings
Notices of Marriage by
appointment
5.00 pm to 7.30 pm
REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS
To register a birth or death consult the Registrar for the sub-district in which the birth or death occurred
SUB-DISTRICT
Bath and North East
Somerset
REGISTRARS
Mrs H THOMAS
Mrs C ASHLEE
Mrs L DURSTON
Mrs A WALSHE
HEAD OFFICE
The Guildhall
High Street
Bath
BA1 5AW
ATTENDANCES
Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday & Friday
9.00 am to 4.00 pm
Wednesdays
10.00 am to 4.00 pm
Tel: 01225 477234
Fax: 01225 477293
Mrs S SIMPSON
The Hollies
High Street
Midsomer Norton
Tel: 01225 396545
Fax: 01225 396543
Wednesdays & Fridays
9.00 am to 4.00 pm
Thursdays
9.00 am to 12.00 noon
Please note
attendance is by
appointment only
Note: If it is more convenient particulars of a BIRTH or DEATH may be given to ANY Registrar who will
pass this on to the Registrar for the sub-district in which the birth or death occurred.
CERTIFICATES OF BIRTH, DEATH AND MARRIAGE,
To obtain a certificate of a recent birth or death, consult the Registrar for the sub-district in which the
birth or death occurred.
To obtain a certificate of any other birth, death, marriage or civil partnership, consult the Superintendent
Registrar for the district in which the event occurred.
More detailed information may be obtained from the Superintendent Registrar or from the Registrars
NOTICE TO MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS: By the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, the duty is
imposed on the Registered Medical Practitioners to deliver Medical Certificates of Cause of Death
forthwith to the Registrar
April 2014
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1.
Aims of the Registration Service within England and Wales
1.1
The Register Office is required to provide a statutory registration
service for Births, Stillbirths and Deaths. To undertake Notices of Marriage
and Civil Partnership; to provide celebration ceremonies for Marriages and
Civil Partnerships; to issue duplicate birth, death, marriage and civil
partnership certificates and to conduct British Citizenship ceremonies.
1.2
The Registration Service also provides non statutory services which
include the Nationality Checking Service, the Settlement Checking Service, a
change of Name Service, Naming and Adoption celebratory ceremonies, and
Renewal of Vows and Commitment ceremonies. We also undertake the Tell
Us Once Service for birth and death registrations.
In October 2013 we introduced the Nationality Checking Service (NCS) in
North Somerset on behalf of our neighbouring authority, who until this time
had been unable to offer this service to their residents. We offer NCS
appointments on Mondays and work out of North Somerset’s Clevedon
Offices. Uptake has been slow but we are hoping that business with grow
and expand over the next year. Progress will be reviewed again in six months
time.
1.3
‘Tell Us Once’ (TUO) continues to be a valued service to our
customers. The principle behind TUO is to provide an easily accessible
service developed to take away some of the strain placed on informants by
informing numerous departments both nationally and within the council about
the death or birth. This has proved extremely popular and successful for
informants attending a death registration. The uptake however for births
continues to be low with less than 40% of parents accessing the service.
Those however who have accessed the TUO system are very happy to have
the child benefit forms sent off on their behalf. Tell Us Once not only saves
time and effort for our clients but also potentially saves the council thousands
of pounds per annum in administration costs.
1.4
The Register Office continues with its commitment to income
generation as a means of maintaining self-sufficiency, thereby making a direct
contribution to the reduction to the overall costs of the Directorate. The
Register Office embraces the ‘Good Practice Guide’ which contains guidelines
laid down by the General Register Office to put the customer first as the key
component of the service. Measuring achievement against this guide
provides an excellent way of understanding where we are in terms of delivery;
what needs to be improved and how this can be achieved.
1.5
Over the last two years we have been focussing on four main areas
of market development:

Establishing the value of the Registration Service to Bath and North
East Somerset Council, residents and the local economy.

Introducing evening ceremonies which appeal to venues who due to
their business model are unable to offer weddings during normal
working hours such as museums and galleries.
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
Promoting BANES registration in a way that will have greater appeal
to couples from outside the district mainly through our collaboration
with BathTourism Plus via enhanced use of web based promotion
tools and rebranding the service as ‘Bath Weddings’.

Focussing resources on attracting new venues to provide more
choice for couples and developing closer working relationships with
existing venues.
We have achieved this final development by extending the role of one of our
Deputy Superintendent Registrar’s to become the Approved Premises Liaison
Officer. She provides regular contact with all Approved Premises, providing
ceremony statistics, suggesting marketing and promotional ideas and helping
prospective new venues with the application licensing process (which has
been simplified and revamped to make it more user friendly). She is also
instrumental in assisting in the initial stages of developing their ceremony
business.
2.
Where Registration is now - nationally
2.1
The future of the National Registration Service is frequently the
subject of considerable debate at national level. There are proposed changes
to the licensing of ‘faith’ celebrants which may impact greatly on the service
throughout England and Wales. There is already considerable competition
from independent celebrants to the ceremonies we can offer and this will
increase significantly if the bill passes through Parliament in January 2015.
2.2
On 29 March 2014 we welcomed the introduction of Same Sex
Marriages. Whilst a popular option for same sex couples, this in turn has
brought into question the relevance of civil partnerships. There is currently a
national consultation taking place on whether civil partnerships will remain as
they are, be extended to include hetro-sexual couples or be abolished
completely. With a possible time restraint set for couples to convert their
current civil partnership to a same sex marriage.
The conversion process for those already in civil partnerships will be
introduced later in 2014 but a decision on the future of civil partnerships may
not become clear until well into 2015.
What we have achieved and where we are now
2.3
2013/14 has been a challenging year for the Service. We have seen
some of our Approved Premises close due to the economic downturn or
decide to simply offer receptions rather than the whole ceremony package.
We were dealt a heavy blow in early April 2013 when Chewton Place, a very
popular venue close to Keynsham decided that they would stop hosting
wedding ceremonies. We lost 35 bookings for this venue. This had a
significant impact on our revenue costing the service close to £14,000 which
has impacted on our service budget.
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2.4
Since its introduction in October 2012 the service has experienced
reasonable uptake in demand for evening ceremonies. Whilst this is not such
a popular option for our hotels, we have seen the Pump Room (Roman Baths)
and the Guildhall increase their bookings. We now regularly conduct early
evening ceremonies at both venues, and we are looking to expand this
service during 2014/15.
2.5
For the past year we have been working in collaboration with
BathTourism Plus – our marketing partner, to promote Bath and North East
Somerset as a wonderful location for marriages and civil partnerships. This
marketing work was undertaken as the result of a survey of civil ceremonies
conducted by this office throughout 2012 which established that 62% of the
civil ceremonies undertaken in Bath and North East Somerset were for
couples who resided outside of the district.
This is a potential growth area and we are convinced will prove beneficial to
the Council and local economy by bringing additional revenue to local
businesses in particular photographers, florists, hotels, and other wedding and
accommodation venues. ‘Bath Weddings’ will provide an enhanced service to
couples planning a ceremony with us. This includes offering more choice and
input into their ceremony including information on how, when and where they
met. We plan to have each couple meet with their Registrar prior to the date
of the ceremony, and where required, for an additional fee, offer the possibility
of a rehearsal. Competition from independent celebrants is increasing and
with the possible change in law in January 2015 to enable ‘faith’ celebrants to
become licensed to conduct legal marriages, the service must evolve to
ensure that we can provide a cost effective, professional and enhanced
service to our prospective couples to remain competitive in the emerging
market.
As a service we are very excited about the prospect of both expanding our
business through these new marketing measures and meeting the new
challenges ahead.
2.6
In July 2013 one of our Deputy Superintendent Registrars, Mrs Cindy
Aze, submitted an entry into the 10 in 100 Project which the Council was
promoting. The aim of this project was to facilitate and take forward 10 ideas
submitted by staff to be completed within 100 days. Cindy’s suggestion of a
concentrated drive to increase the number of venues licensed as Approved
Premises was one of 10 selected out of a total of over 120 ideas submitted
and was successfully completed in December 2013. Four new premises
became licensed for ceremonies and a further 5 are planning to become
licensed in 2014.
This project not only helped raise the profile of the Registration Service within
the Council but also enabled us to create a modern, informative leaflet aimed
at prospective businesses outlining the licensing process. We reviewed and
simplified the licensing forms and created an Approved Premise Liaison
Officer post which Cindy has agreed to undertake as part of her duties. The
purpose of this post is to provide a named person who will assist and support
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new premises as they go through the licensing process; helping them with
marketing suggestions and visiting each venue on a regular basis. This has
been a very successful venture and has now also been extended to all of our
existing premises to provide them with additional help and support. As a
result of this Cindy is to receive an Employee Excellent Award from the
Council at a presentation on 30 April 2014.
The introduction of an Approved Premise Liaison Manager has also been
acknowledged by the General Register Office for England and Wales and is
due to be added to the Good Practice section of their website in the near
future. It has also been shortlisted for an innovation award at the National
LRSA (Local Registration Service Association) conference to be held on 23
April 2014 in Birmingham.
2.7
Unfortunately during 2013/14 we did experience a knock on effect of
the economic down-turn with a dip in the number of ceremonies taking place,
falling from 956 wedding and civil partnerships in 2012/13 to 820 in 2013/14.
Some couples stated the fact it was 2013 caused them to delay booking their
ceremony until 2014, but of course losing several venues including Chewton
Place had a significant impact on these figures.
We also found a marked increase in cancellations for the Alkmaar Room in
the Guildhall. Out of a total of 221 cancellations throughout the year 137
cancellations were for the Alkmaar Room. We of course are housed within a
beautiful building but this particular ceremony room had become ‘tired’. It is
currently undergoing some refreshment with new soft furnishings and floral
displays and is also on the Property Services list for redecoration within the
next calendar year
On a more optimistic note, ceremony bookings this year seem to be showing
an increase with 620 bookings having been made to date. This compares
favourrably when measured against the figures recorded in April 2013, when
we had secured fewer than 500 bookings.
3.
Service Delivery
3.1
Bath & North East Somerset is a unitary authority with a population of
approximately 178,000 The boundaries of Bath and North East Somerset
registration district and sub-district are coterminous with those of Bath and
North East Somerset District Council. (list of council parishes attached at
Annexe A).The population is predicted to grow significantly up to 2025 as the
Council has been tasked with providing a further 18,500 homes by that date.
This growth in population will impact on the Registration Service in terms of
an increase in service demand estimated to be in the region of 10% during the
same period.
The postal address for the Register Office and the sub-district Head Office is
The Guildhall, High Street, Bath, BA1 5AW and we are open to the general
public from 0900 to 1600 hrs on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
9
and from 1000 hrs to 1930 hrs on Wednesday evenings to facilitate late
appointments for notices of marriage and civil partnership. An appointment
system is operated for all registrations, although there is the facility to see
walk in clients every day.
A Registration Office is also located at The Hollies, Midsomer Norton. This
office is open 09.00 to 16.00 on Wednesday and Friday of each week plus
09.00 to 12.00 on Thursdays. The contact telephone number to make an
appointment with Register Office staff for both offices is: 01225 477234.
3.2
The District currently has 33 venues licensed for marriages and civil
partnerships and we are continually working to increase this number. We
have lost several important venues due to the economic downturn; however,
due to the 10 in 100 project undertaken this year we have recently licensed
The Royal Victoria Park, Greenpark Brasserie, Harptree Court (the home of
The Great British Bake-off television cookery show) and The Pig near Bath.
The Francis Hotel has also re-licensed after several years of not holding a
licence.
3.4
Permanent Staff: The Superintendent Registrar/Registration Services
Manager (principal officer) heads up the team for the district and is assisted
by a full time Deputy Superintendent Registrar and a part time Deputy
Superintendent Registrar. Due to retirements, flexible retirement reduction in
working hours, and reduction in hours following maternity leave the service
will significantly change in appearance over the next two months. As of June
2014 there will be 7 Principal Registrar posts, equating to 4.5 whole-time
equivalent posts. There are 2 part-time Additional Registrars. The General
Office team will be staffed by 1 full-time Office Supervisor/Deputy Registrar,
one full-time Deputy Registrar (post currently vacant) and 4 part time Deputy
Registrars. We also employ one part-time financial assistant and 1 part-time
administrative assistant.
3.5
Casual Staff: We have a team of 14 Casual Deputy Registrars who,
in addition to being part of the weekend ceremony team, also provide cover
as and when required in the office to cover holiday or sickness absence.
3.6
The website provides further information for the public on emergency
registration requirements as well as general information regarding the
services provided during normal working hours. It also contains a
comprehensive list of all approved premises with links to their websites and
there is a web virtual tour of the Guildhall ceremony rooms. Suggestion cards
are available at all contact points to enable customers to give us their views
and comments. Also pre-printed Customer Satisfaction Survey forms are
available on the website and within each office, for clients’ comments.
3.7
Currently the accommodation within the Guildhall comprises of a
Register Office (the Superintendent Registrar’s office), a Deputy
Superintendent Registrar’s Office, 4 Registrars’ offices, the Strong Room
(situated in the basement area of the Guildhall), the Russell Room which is
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used for small ceremonies, the Alkmaar Room which can accommodate up to
120 people and hosts larger wedding parties, a Reception area, the General
Office and the Nationality Checking/Settlement Checking Services office.
There are two adequate waiting areas and access to a baby changing area
within the female public toilets in the building.
The Registrar’s Office in The Hollies in Midsomer Norton is situated on the
lower ground floor with staircase and lift access for customers. Public toilet
and baby changing facilities are also situated on this floor.
The offices are fully computerised and networked with each Registrar having
their own computer, printer and telephone connection. The General Office
has individual workstations for the clerical staff with computers. All staff in the
General Office access two printer stations. In addition there are three
photocopiers, one in the General Office, one in the NCS room and one in the
Deputy Superintendents’ Office. The fax machine is sited in the General
Office.
4.
Team members
Staff in Post at 31 March 2014 including duties:
Key: FT
= full time
PT
= part time
CR
= Casual Registrar – working as required
Name
Alison Manning
Julia Perkins
Cindy Aze
Hilary Thomas
Anna Walshe
Sheila Morris
Sharon Simpson
Lesley Durston
Carole Ashlee
Jonathan Hall
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Position
Registration Services
Manager/Superintendent
Registrar (FT)
Assistant Registration
Services Manager (FT)
Assistant Registration
Services Manager (PT)
Registrar A (FT) and
Training Officer
Registrar B (FT) maternity
leave until 12/06/2014
Registrar C (retired 28/3/14
post vacant)
Registrar D (PT)
Registrar E (PT) took
flexible retirement on
17/3/14 job share post
vacant
Registrar F (PT)
Senior Registration
Officer/Additional Registrar
(FT)
Jacqui Naish
Bridie Johnstone
Jeanette Bokacz
Bernadette Evans
Annette Tutton
Lisa Young
Andrea Kelly
Kate Moore
Alison Angel
Barbara Bowater
Shirley Clarke
Helen Hatton
Anne May
Celia Mosley
Sue Rhodes
Graham Russell
Julie Stevens
Rachael Stone
Shirley Tucker
Jeremy Letherbarrow
Michelle Courtney
Pam Davies
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Senior Registration
Officer/Additional Registrar
AR1 (PT)
Senior Registration
Officer/Additional Registrar
AR2 (PT)
Senior Registration Officer
Deputy Registrar (PT)
Deputy Registrar (PT)
Deputy Registrar (PT)
Administrative Assistant
(PT) & Casual Deputy
Registrar
Financial Assistant &
Casual Deputy Registrar
(PT)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy
Superintendent
Registrar/Casual Deputy
Registrar (CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
Casual Deputy Registrar
(CR)
5. Performance Monitoring and Service Standards
5.1
Services Provided 2013/14
Bath and North East Somerset Registration District completed:
Births
Deaths
Still Births
Notices of Marriage & Civil Partnership
Marriages & Civil Partnerships
Registrar General’s Licence
Non- statutory ceremonies
British Citizenship
Archived Certificates reproduced
Changes of Name
4117
2425
18
1190
820
1
23
217
3111
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In addition to endeavouring to meet statutory requirements, and the standards
within the Good Practice Guide, the Council also continues to drive forward
the provision of a customer focussed and cost effective service.
6.0
Business Plan Vision – What we hope to achieve
As per the Superintendent Registrar’s report there are a number of
developments planned for the service some will be completed within the next
financial year, others will be rolled out and will continue to be worked towards
during the coming three years. These opportunities include:
6.1
Working alongside neighbouring districts sharing expertise and
knowledge across certain aspects of our work. We have already commenced
this work with North Somerset Council via a Service Level Agreement (SLA)
by introducing the Nationality Checking Service. Although this is a relatively
small venture, there may be other areas of opportunity to develop and explore
in partnership with neighbouring districts.
6.2
Complete the refurbishment of the Alkmaar Room in the Guildhall
which is our main ceremony room.
6.2
In June 2014 we are hoping to welcome an Apprentice from the
YMCA Apprenticeship scheme. They will be employed full-time in the general
office and learn all the skills required of an administrative assistant and deputy
registrar whilst placed with us. They will have the opportunity to train as a
Deputy Registrar and will be given access to the online facility on the IPS
website to improve their service knowledge level.
6.3
In October 2014 the Service will be extended to the new Council
building in Keynsham and a Registrar will work out of that office on 2 or 3
days each week. This is a welcome development and something we have
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been pushing to achieve for the last 5 years. This new service will be manned
by current staff. There are no plans to increase staff levels at this time.
6.4
Further develop our marketing strategies with BathTourism Plus on to
encourage more people to consider Bath and its surrounding area as a
desirable location for their ceremony and to promote the celebratory services
we can offer in this district. The Council is also exploring the possibility of
employing a Humanist Celebrant whose services will sit alongside those of
the Registration Service, offering more choice to clients.
6.3
We will continue to actively encourage more venues to licence to
become Approved Premises through the work being undertaken by our
Approved Premises Liaison Officer.
6.5
We are still waiting to introduce on-line payments and bookings for
some of the services we offer. There are however some central financial
department issues to be resolved before we will be in a position to do this.
Challenges:

The need to counter the general public’s perceptions of the civil,
secular ceremonies conducted by the Registration Service as being
inflexible, impersonal and ultilitarian.

Negative images created by other less progressive Registration
Services.

Mis-representation by other some secular or faith celebrants as to
what a couple can expect from a ceremony conducted by a Registrar.

The need to anticipate and prepare for proposed changes in law with
regards to licensing ‘faith’ celebrants to conduct legal ceremonies.
7.0
Objectives
7.1
Customer Care
Maintain an open relationship and dialogue with the Coroner’s
Service. With our neighbouring districts of Bristol, South
Gloucestershire and North Somerset, we have introduced regular
meetings with the Coroner to work together to standardise practices
in each district to provide continuity to the Coroner’s officers who
work with us. This has also meant a change in approach for our staff
who now regularly chase up informants for contact details so that we
can let them know as quickly as possible when they will be able to
register their loved ones death on receipt of the paperwork from the
Coroner.
We take on board all the suggestions and or complaints received into
the office via text, cards, letters completion of suggestion cards, and
client questionnaires and publicise the results of the surveys in our
annual report.
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Ensure Tell Us Once part 2 is offered to everyone registering a death
or birth. Undertake Tell Us Once Part 1 as per General Register
Office guidelines for all registrations of deaths and births.
7.2
Staff Development
Ensure that all staff are multi skilled and inspected on a regular basis.
The modular training programme which has been introduced on the
IPS website has been shared with staff and they are being
encouraged to complete the modules which, when the test is sat at
the end of each module they can print out a certificate of competency
which adds to their own personal development file. A new training
officer has been appointed to the district who will oversee all
classroom and online training for all staff including regular technical
assessments.
Two members of staff will be put forward to undertake the new
nationally accredited Registrar General’s programme for registration
officers when it is rolled out in September 2014. The course must be
completed within two years.
7.3
Performance Management
Monitor and where necessary improve the KPI’s for the service using
the ‘Good Practice Guide’ as a baseline for development. The
service has recently undergone three audits – two conducted by the
General Register Office - the first in October 2012 covering technical
competency within the Superintendent Registrars area of expertise
and the second conducted in March 2013 covering Secure Stock for
the whole of the Service. The third audit was conducted by the
Council’s own Audit Department during October/November 2013.
Whilst all three reviews showed the service to be working to a very
good level; each in some way enabled us to look more closely at
practices within the service and helped us to develop more robust
systems to ensure we work more safely, effectively and competently.
7.4
Finance
In addition to the council’s Agresso system, we continue to use
manual daily cashing up processes. These were reviewed during the
council audit in October 2012 and suggestions taken on board and
implemented to provide more robust monitoring. On-line payment
practices are expected to be implemented shortly as part of the
Council’s finance development plans.
7.5
IT
Look at the possible extension of on-line booking for hospital staff to
access the system, and book in clients for appointments. Possibly
do a trial run with funeral directors so they can book directly into the
Midsomer Norton office. If this is successful it will be rolled out over
all of the district.
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8.
Standards and Performance
8.1
The Service is fully committed to striving to attain all Key
Performance Indicators set by the General Register Office. There
remain areas of under performance around the timely registration of
deaths, and we continue to work with the local coroner’s department
to try to improve this area of under-achievement. We have fully
investigated in service practice, availability of appointments and our
processes regarding contacting informants. All of which lead us to
believe that circumstances outside of our control are impacting
greatly on this area of registration. Delays in coroner’s reports
coming through, informants delaying registering as burials can now
take place on interim certificates and the delay in issue of Med Certs
by hospital doctors are all impacting on our ability to register in a
timely fashion.
8.2
As required by GRO an annual self-assessment must be carried out
against the KPIs and GPG and a return submitted by 30 April
annually. The submission for 2013/14 has been sent to the General
Register Office on 25 April 2014.
8.3
To ensure the service is meeting this target the Registration Service
Management team (comprising the RSM/SR, and two Deputy SRs)
and take appropriate action as and when necessary to maintain or
improve the standards required.
8.4
The Management team will undertake a programme of monitoring for
all registration staff to ensure that their standard of work remains high
and meets the statutory requirements. This will cover technical
inspections and spot checks on cashbooks and secure stock.
8.5
The Registration Service Manager will also be responsible for
monitoring the KPIs required by the Registrar General.
9.
9.1
Accounting and Stock Control
Bath and North East Somerset Registration Service has one Strong
Room located in the basement of the Guildhall with individual fire
proof cabinets situated in each office. Current stock which is in use is
held within each Registrar’s fireproof cabinet within their office.
These cabinets are kept locked at all times and there is restricted
access to both the cabinets and the Registrars individual offices.
Access to each office can only be achieved by a punch code or swipe
entry system.
9.2
Registrars transfer completed register pages into their registers at
the completion of each registration.
9.3
Disposal certificates are clearly annotated as to the address the
Part C should be returned to and each registrar holds and checks
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their own counterfoils. Each Registrar is accountable for their
secure stock and keep their records of all stock up to date on an
Excel spreadsheet. They record stock on the system on receipt,
ensuring all certificates ordered have been received,
checking serial numbers of each pack of certificates, and
again individual certificate checks when the book of certificates is
taken into use. Spot checks are conducted by an SR/DSR with the
responsible Registrar to ensure all stock held in the Strong Room has
been accounted for. This system was introduced on suggestion by
the inspecting officer during the secure stock inspection in 2013.
9.4
Each Registrar maintains a manual cash book using the current GRO
cashbook as a model. This is completed at the end of each working
day. All monies are banked as per the current Council system. This
is due to change in 2014 with the introduction of electronic banking.
9.5
The RSM/SR also currently maintains a manual cash book using the
GRO cashbook as a model. This is completed daily. In addition to
this the RSM/SR also maintains a record for the receipt of fees
regarding Marriages and Civil Partnerships, Citizenship fees,
Nationality Checking Service, Settlement Checking Service, Change
of Name Deed and other non statutory services both in paper format
and on the Council’s Agresso accounting system.
All monies received by the Registration Service are credited to
separate ledger accounts which can then be used to balance and
monitor each of these areas.
9.6
An annual return is made to GRO to monitor the secure stock
issued and retained and this remains part of standard
procedures for all statutory officers. The RSM/SR return was
submitted in January 2014, principal officers submissions to be made
by 30 April 2014.
All other financial arrangements, cash handling, banking and
monitoring procedures have been recently audited by the Council
Audit Section.
10.
Suggestions and Complaints Procedures
10.1
Bath and North East Somerset Council has a corporate policy on both
feedback and complaints which can be found on the Council website.
When a complaint is received into the service it will initially be
investigated and responded to by the RSM/SR. If the complainant is
unhappy with the outcome the Proper Officer will review and respond.
If the complainant is still dissatisfied this can be taken to Stage 3 of
the formal complaints procedure and finally an appeal can be made
to the Local Government Ombudsman. During 2013/14 no formal
written complaints were received by the Registration Service.
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Suggestions are welcomed in the Registration Service and customer
comment cards are available within the Register Office for anyone
wishing to comment on any aspect of the service they have received.
All comments are reviewed by the Service Management team and
acted upon where appropriate. In addition to this the Service runs an
annual customer satisfaction survey results in Annex B of this report
and a printed year round survey form (also available in electronic
format on the website) is available for customers to give feedback.
Letters and cards of thanks are kept in a plaudits file within the office.
11.
Equality Issues – Equality Impact Assessments
11.1
All equality issues have been assessed and Impact statements
entered on to the Council’s corporate EIA register.
12.
Risk Assessments
12.1
All risks are re-assessed quarterly on Council’s corporate Risk
Assessment Register.
13.
Business/Service Continuity Plans
13.1
The Service has an overarching business continuity plan which links
into the Council’s main business continuity plan. Copies are held by
the Proper Officer, Council Emergency Department, The
Superintendent Registrar, the Registrar based at The Hollies in
Midsomer Norton and by the Property Services Manager for the
Guildhall. This is reviewed regularly and was last updated in April
2014.
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Annex A
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19
Bath
Bathampton
Batheaston
Bathford
Bathwick
Bishop Sutton
Burnett
Cameley
Camerton
Carlingcott
Charlcombe
Chelwood
Chew Magna
Chew Stoke
Chewton Keynsham
Claverton
Claverton Down
Clutton
Combe Down
Combe Hay
Compton Dando
Compton Martin
Corston
Dunkerton
East Harptree
Englishcombe
Fairfield Park
Farmborough
Farrington Gurney
Freshford
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Hallatrow
High Littleton
Hinton Blewett
Hinton Charterhouse
Hunstrete
Inglesbatch
Kelston
Keynsham
Kingsmead
Kingsway
Lambridge
Langridge
Lansdown
Lower Swainswick
Lyncombe Vale
Marksbury
Midford
Midsomer Norton
Monkton Combe
Nempnett Thrubwell
Newbridge
Newton St Loe
North Stoke
Norton Maireward
Odd Down
Oldfield Park
Paulton
Peasedown St John
Priston
Poblow
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Radstock
St Catherine
Saltford
Shoscombe
South Stoke
Southdown
Stanton Drew
Stanton Prior
Stony Littleton
Stowey
Stowey Sutton
Swainswick
Temple Cloud
Timsbury
Tunley
Twerton
Ubley
Upper Swainswick
Walcot
Warleigh
Wellow
West Harptree
Westmoreland
Weston, Bath
Whitchurch
Whiteway
Widcombe
Woollard
Woolley