Consultation on the proposed move of the Essex Register Office and Statutory Marriage Room - Essex Registration Service
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Essex Registration Service Consultation on the proposed move of the Essex Register Office and Statutory Marriage Room
Introduction
The Essex Registration Service is one of the largest in the country. We provide
services that affect all families in Essex at some point in their lives. Sometimes we
celebrate with you and in other circumstances we provide support and guidance at
the most difficult times. Whatever the circumstances, we strive to ensure that you
are at the centre of our services and our commitment to providing excellent services
does not waiver.
We want to ensure our services work for everyone across the county. But we recognise that our
residents’ needs are changing and finances are tighter than ever before. What has worked in the
past may not be viable in the future so we must look to adapt to safeguard the excellent services
we have but deliver them in more cost-effective ways.
We have explored a number of options focusing on our key services that include registering births
and deaths; providing wedding and civil partnership services and helping people become citizens
of Essex.
We have focused on how we can maintain or improve these services whilst delivering them all in
a more efficient way. Some changes will affect how we operate in the background, other changes
will affect what you see on the front line - but none of them will reduce the quality of the service
you receive and in some areas, we believe you will see an improvement. This document sets out
what these changes will be.
As part of these changes we would like to see the Essex Register Office (our Head Office), which
includes the Statutory Marriage Room, move from its current base in Brentwood to a more central
location in Chelmsford. Brentwood residents will still have local access to a full registry service for
births, deaths and marriages.
We want to know what you think about this proposal. No decision has been taken yet and
your views will be vital to help Essex County Council make its final decision.
The consultation will run from Tuesday 14 July 2015 to Tuesday 8 September 2015. You
can give your views online at essex.gov.uk/registrations or complete the questionnaire
that accompanies this document. If you have any queries, want further information or have
alternative suggestions, we want to hear from you. You can telephone us on 0845 603 7632
or email registration.centralteam@essex.gov.uk.
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centra arriageEssex Registration Service – current model
The Essex Registration Service has long been linked with professionalism and quality. We have a
team of well trained and knowledgeable people who are committed to the communities that we
serve and the services that we provide.
The map below shows the current location of our Registration offices and includes some key facts
about the services we provide across the whole of the county.
5,477 11,394 13,184 Key
weddings Notices of Marriage in 2014 Death current
in 2014 Registrations location
in 2014 of our
Registration
offices
17,330
Births
Registered
in 2014
155
Approved
Wedding
Premises
67
Citizenship
Ceremonies in 2014
Essex
The figures relating to the services we provide are for the whole of Essex, excluding Southend and
Thurrock.
How we would like to change the Essex Registration Service
We intend to retain the key elements of our service provision whilst improving the efficiency and
effectiveness that will lead to an improved customer experience. Our Registration Service will
continue to provide all our services but we will do it in different ways:
Registration of Births and Deaths1:
• We will continue to provide 17 Face to Face Registration Points across the county. The
majority will be co-located in local libraries. We will ensure that the appointment rooms are
spaces where people can feel comfortable. They will be private and respectful.
1 Includes all appointments to register births, deaths and still-births; re-registrations; take notice of marriage and
civil partnerships; and corrections
4• Appointments will continue to be made via telephone and online. In addition, appointments
can be made at the local library or at any of our other library locations across Essex.
• We will register deaths that have been subject of an Essex Coroner Inquest immediately
following the conclusion of the inquest so that families no longer have to wait for final death
certificates.
• We will continue to work with colleagues in hospital bereavement suites supporting families
to make appointments.
• We will seek to work with hospital maternity facilities to allow new parents to book birth
appointments in a similar way.
• We will continue to provide out of hours registration services in specific circumstances.
Weddings and Civil Partnerships:
• We will continue to provide professional and customer focused Registrars to officiate
at weddings held in licensed approved premises across Essex, improving the customer
experience by using the latest technology.
• We will encourage new venues to join the existing 155 licenced wedding venues in Essex to
provide more choice for couples wishing to marry in the county.
• We will work in collaboration with District and Borough Councils to identify a suitable local
location for weddings to ensure residents will be able to get married without having to enter
into a costly commercial wedding package if they do not wish to. As a result, we expect that
our decommissioned wedding rooms will not be needed in the future.
• We will provide a Statutory Marriage Room in Essex that allows Essex residents to be married
for a statutory charge of £46. We would like to provide this countywide facility in the more
central location of Chelmsford rather than Brentwood. The Statutory Marriage Room should
be provided at the location of the Essex Register Office (known in Essex as the Head Office).
We therefore wish to relocate this Head Office to Chelmsford. This recommendation is
explained further on page 6 of this document. Moving the Statutory Marriage Room will
not stop couples being able to get married in Brentwood. You will still be able to access all
Registration services locally, such as registering births and deaths, giving notice of marriage
and getting married.
5Citizenship Services:
• We will continue to provide a nationality checking service on behalf of the Home Office and
will maintain the high levels of performance that have attracted customers from many areas
of the country to use our service.
• We will continue to provide citizenship ceremonies, ensuring that participants feel welcomed
and valued as new British citizens.
Centralisation of Administration:
Our existing back office support functions are located across the county in eight localities.
However, the vast majority of people contacting us regarding services they wish to receive do so
by telephone or electronic means such as email or online. Therefore, to achieve efficiency and
provide customers with improved continuity of service, we will relocate these back office teams to
a central location in Chelmsford.
• We will continue to provide a professional and seamless service for people contacting the
Essex Registration Service to make bookings or arrange appointments.
• We will provide a vastly improved and centralised Certification Service working in partnership
with colleagues from the Essex Record Office.
Relocation of Essex Registration Service Head Office
In 2010 we restructured ourselves and moved from eight separate registration districts to one
‘whole Essex’ approach. This allowed people to register births and deaths anywhere in Essex,
rather than being restricted to the local area where someone was born or died.
As part of these changes, the Essex Registration Service created the Essex Register Office
(our Head Office) at Brentwood. This is a statutory requirement. The only public aspect of this
arrangement is the provision of the Statutory Marriage Room which should be located at the Head
Office.
Essex Registration Service is required to provide this Statutory Marriage Room where couples may
marry at a fixed charge of £46. This is a service for the whole of Essex – in other words, we only
provide one Statutory Marriage Room. As part of our restructuring we have considered where this
should be located in Essex to provide reasonable access wherever people live across the county.
We feel that Chelmsford is the right location and therefore propose to move the Essex Register
Office, including the Statutory Marriage Room, to a central location in Chelmsford.
Brentwood residents will still have local access to a full registry service for births, deaths and
marriages.
We would like your views on whether you agree with this change of location from Brentwood
to Chelmsford.
67
CDS 137284 This information is issued by Essex County Council, Essex Registration Service You can contact us in the following ways: By email: registration.centralteam@essex.gov.uk Visit our website: essex.gov.uk/registrations By telephone: 0845 603 7632 Calls to this number cost 5p per minute plus the access charge from your service provider. By post: Essex Registration Service Ground Floor SEAX House County Hall Chelmsford Essex CM1 1QH Sign up to Keep Me Posted email updates on topics you want to hear about at essex.gov.uk/keepmeposted Read our online magazine at essex.gov.uk/youressex Follow us on Essex_CC Find us on facebook.com/essexcountycouncil The information contained in this leaflet can be translated, and/or made available in alternative formats, on request. Published July 2015
Questionnaire for the Essex Registration Service consultation The Essex Registration Service provides services that will affect all families in Essex at some point in their lives. We strive to ensure customers receive and experience a professional service during important life events, such as registering births and deaths, and getting married. We want to ensure our services meet the needs of everyone across the county. This means we want to continue to deliver excellent services but in more cost effective ways. We have therefore explored a number of options. This questionnaire asks for your views on our proposal to move the Essex Register Office (our Head Office), including the Statutory Marriage Room, from Brentwood to a more central location in Chelmsford. Brentwood residents will still have local access to a full registry service for births, deaths and marriages. If you live in Essex, we want to understand your views on the proposed changes. We will use the information from this survey to inform our plans and to make sure the changes are developed and managed effectively. We will collate all the responses from the survey and summarise them as part of our report. We will not identify individual people, and your name will not be mentioned in any reports that we write for this purpose. You don’t have to take part if you don’t want to - this is a voluntary activity. How to take part in the consultation The consultation is open between Tuesday 14 July 2015 and Tuesday 8 September 2015. You can answer the questions easily and conveniently online by visiting essexinsight.org.uk/consultations and selecting the Essex Registration Service consultation from the list of open surveys at the bottom of the page. You can also choose to answer these questions over the phone by calling 0845 603 7632. If you choose to complete this paper copy of the questionnaire, please return it to: Essex Registration Service Ground Floor SEAX House County Hall Chelmsford Essex CM1 1QH If you have any questions about this consultation, please contact 0845 603 7632.
Questionnaire We will continue to provide a Statutory Marriage Room in Essex that allows Essex residents to be married for a statutory charge of £46. However, we would like to move this countywide facility from Brentwood to the more central location of Chelmsford. This will also require us to move the Essex Register Office (our Head Office) to County Hall in Chelmsford. Brentwood residents will still have local access to a full registry service for births, deaths and marriages. Do you agree or disagree with this proposal? Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree Do you have any comments to make about this proposal? About you In order to ensure the continued development of our Diversity and Equality practices, everyone that we work with is asked to complete the information below. You are not obliged to answer all questions, but the more information you supply, the more effective our monitoring will be. If you choose not to answer questions, it will not affect your participation. The information you supply below is confidential and will be used solely for monitoring purposes. Your status Married Civil partnership Single Widowed Prefer not to say Other (please state) The district where you live Basildon Braintree Brentwood Castle Point Chelmsford Colchester Epping Forest Harlow Maldon Rochford Tendring Uttlesford Other (please specify) Please give us your postcode
Do you consider yourself to have a disability? If so, please tell us what type of disability
you have. Please tick all that apply
I don’t have a disability
Physical or sensory impairment
Learning disability or difficulty
A long term health condition
Please tell us which age bracket you fall into
Age 18 - 24 Age 25 - 34 Age 35 - 44
Age 45 - 54 Age 55 - 64 Age 65 - 74
Age 75 - 84 Age 85 - 94 Age 95+
Your ethnicity
White British Mixed White and Black Caribbean
Irish White and Black African
Gypsy/Roma White and Asian
Traveller of Irish heritage Other
Other
Asian or Asian Indian Black or Black Caribbean
British British
Pakistani African
Bangladeshi Other
Chinese
Other
Any other ethnic background
(please describe)Your religion/faith Christian Muslim Hindu Buddhist Sikh Jewish None Not sure Other (please specify) Your sexual orientation Bisexual Gay Heterosexual Lesbian Prefer not to say Other (please state) Thank you for completing this questionnaire Complaint, comment or compliment If you would like to make a complaint, comment or compliment regarding any services provided by Essex County Council, please email ecc.customerservices@essex.gov.uk
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