Statutory registration in Scotland was introduced over 150 years ago. One of the key aims was to establish and maintain a complete and uniform system of registration. Accuracy in the registers of births, deaths and marriages was recognised as important from the outset, and in 1856, it was deemed necessary to create the post of district examiner to inspect the registers in order to guarantee their accuracy. Today there are three district examiners responsible for examining all 140,000 records created annually. The utility of the registers themselves as an archive and the variety of uses, to which the information contained in them is put, is dependent on their accuracy and probity. Extracts from the statutory registers (commonly called certificates) are legal documents admissible as evidence in the courts.
In modern times, statutory responsibility for delivering the registration service in Scotland passed to the 32 local authorities. The service is relatively small, but extremely professional. Registrars are expected to have an expert knowledge in the law and practice of registration and to possess particular skills to help them deal with often difficult human circumstances concerning bereavement. To support them in that work and to ensure sufficiently high standards of service are met, registrars are usually expected to study for, and attain, the Certificate of Proficiency in the Law and Practice of Registration (the numbers of certificate holders in each local authority are contained in the Performance Indicator in Table 10.1).
The Certificate of Proficiency in the Law and Practice of Registration in Scotland is recognised by the Association of Registrars of Scotland (ARoS), the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) and the National Records of Scotland (NRS), as the professional qualification for registration staff. The certificate is awarded and administered by an Examination Board consisting of representatives of ARoS, CoSLA and NRS. The Examination Board was inaugurated in 1937 and the first examination was held in 1938.
The statutory landscape in which registrars are expected to operate is increasingly complex, in the last ten years there have been ten Acts of Parliament (listed below) which have had a significant effect on registration law and practice.
Legislative change affecting registration is a good reflection of a changing society. For example, The Gender Recognition Act 2004 provided for a legal change of gender.
Year | Number of changes of gender in Scotland |
---|---|
2005 | 47 |
2006 | 43 |
2007 | 30 |
2008 | 16 |
2009 | 18 |
2010 | 18 |
2011 | 24 |
2012 | 13 |
2013 | 16 |
With a constantly changing legislative backdrop, and in the face of large scale structural changes affecting how services are delivered, registrars have achieved excellent accuracy. Every year since 2007, registrars in the 32 councils have achieved an average of over 97 per cent of the records they create error free - an impressive performance which underpins the quality and reliability of our records and the statistical data published in this Annual Review. The Performance Indicators in Table 10.1, compiled from the district examiners' reports, provide a council by council breakdown of performance in 2013.
Council Area | 2013 Events2 | 2014 Council Area Data3 | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Births | Deaths | Religious Marriages | Civil Marriages | Total Marriages | Civil Partnerships | Still-births | All Events | % of Entries Without Corrections | No of Entries with Errors | Dedicated Registration Offices | Integrated Customer Service Offices | Number of Certificate Holders | |
Footnotes
| |||||||||||||
Aberdeen City | 2,837 | 2,177 | 416 | 402 | 818 | 20 | 21 | 5,873 | 98.8% | 68 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
Aberdeenshire | 2,405 | 2,135 | 687 | 446 | 1,133 | 14 | 9 | 5,696 | 98.3% | 94 | 6 | 6 | 13 |
Angus | 1,041 | 1,277 | 172 | 210 | 382 | 6 | 4 | 2,710 | 99.3% | 18 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
Argyll & Bute | 704 | 975 | 566 | 421 | 987 | 12 | 2 | 2,680 | 98.5% | 41 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
Clackmannanshire | 576 | 586 | 72 | 97 | 169 | 3 | 5 | 1,339 | 99.3% | 9 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | 249 | 334 | 64 | 45 | 109 | 1 | 0 | 693 | 99.0% | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 1,353 | 1,884 | 1,726 | 2,732 | 4,458 | 70 | 8 | 7,773 | 96.9% | 243 | 6 | 13 | 15 |
Dundee City | 1,941 | 1,819 | 176 | 300 | 476 | 13 | 7 | 4,256 | 98.3% | 71 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
East Ayrshire | 1,384 | 1,422 | 180 | 232 | 412 | 6 | 8 | 3,232 | 97.7% | 74 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
East Dunbartonshire | 1,407 | 1,889 | 118 | 130 | 248 | 5 | 3 | 3,552 | 99.7% | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
East Lothian | 1,043 | 1,177 | 359 | 184 | 543 | 8 | 5 | 2,776 | 97.1% | 81 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
East Renfrewshire | 1,041 | 1,350 | 175 | 99 | 274 | 3 | 3 | 2,671 | 97.7% | 61 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
Edinburgh, City of | 5,738 | 4,026 | 1,101 | 1,616 | 2,717 | 104 | 14 | 12,599 | 97.8% | 272 | 2 | 2 | 21 |
Falkirk | 1,694 | 1,696 | 302 | 403 | 705 | 10 | 6 | 4,111 | 99.2% | 33 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
Fife | 3,803 | 3,635 | 817 | 688 | 1,505 | 22 | 13 | 8,978 | 98.3% | 153 | 0 | 8 | 9 |
Glasgow City | 6,848 | 4,636 | 1,336 | 1,248 | 2,584 | 98 | 27 | 14,193 | 98.8% | 175 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
Highland | 2,295 | 2,383 | 790 | 701 | 1,491 | 17 | 8 | 6,194 | 98.4% | 97 | 1 | 25 | 13 |
Inverclyde | 763 | 957 | 136 | 72 | 208 | 1 | 9 | 1,938 | 99.6% | 7 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
Midlothian | 857 | 810 | 210 | 149 | 359 | 10 | 2 | 2,038 | 97.9% | 42 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Moray | 962 | 896 | 179 | 185 | 364 | 7 | 3 | 2,232 | 99.1% | 20 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
North Ayrshire | 1,319 | 1,551 | 449 | 283 | 732 | 12 | 13 | 3,627 | 98.8% | 42 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
North Lanarkshire | 4,017 | 3,564 | 497 | 403 | 900 | 8 | 11 | 8,500 | 99.3% | 61 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
Orkney Islands | 203 | 233 | 70 | 39 | 109 | 1 | 2 | 548 | 96.0% | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Perth & Kinross | 1,275 | 1,539 | 498 | 479 | 977 | 11 | 13 | 3,815 | 98.2% | 67 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
Renfrewshire | 1,833 | 1,948 | 351 | 253 | 604 | 10 | 7 | 4,402 | 98.7% | 57 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Scottish Borders | 1,196 | 1,226 | 238 | 346 | 584 | 11 | 4 | 3,021 | 97.6% | 71 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
Shetland Islands | 259 | 200 | 34 | 58 | 92 | 0 | 0 | 551 | 98.4% | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
South Ayrshire | 1,013 | 1,427 | 546 | 262 | 808 | 5 | 6 | 3,259 | 99.4% | 21 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
South Lanarkshire | 3,395 | 3,720 | 507 | 511 | 1,018 | 13 | 9 | 8,155 | 96.6% | 279 | 0 | 5 | 21 |
Stirling | 850 | 828 | 259 | 285 | 579 | 14 | 0 | 2,271 | 99.0% | 23 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
West Dunbartonshire | 920 | 924 | 214 | 132 | 346 | 3 | 5 | 2,198 | 99.1% | 19 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
West Lothian | 2,130 | 1,494 | 514 | 339 | 853 | 13 | 9 | 4,499 | 97.8% | 97 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
Grand total | 57,351 | 54,718 | 13,759 | 13,750 | 27,544 | 531 | 236 | 140,380 | 98.3% | 2,345 | 54 | 111 | 267 |
More detailed information about registration in Scotland can be found in the Registration section of the NRS website.