Office of Public Sector Information
168.Section 26 of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – like section 44 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 – exempts information from release if its disclosure by a Scottish public authority would be prohibited by or under an enactment. Subsections (3) and (4) therefore provide that section 26 would not apply to personal information which is passed by the Board to a Scottish public authority. Consequently, information passed to Scottish public authorities by the Board will also not automatically be exempt information for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
169.This section will ensure, for example, that census records can continue to be disclosed by the National Archive in accordance with government policy, the Public Records Act 1958 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
170.This section will allow the Board to pass any information to third parties who are operating under the control of the Board, so that they may provide services to them. For example, it would allow the Board to pass information to an external IT provider who had been contracted to undertake data processing on behalf of the Board, as ONS did during the 2001 census. It is intended that those receiving the information under this section would not be able to use it for any purpose other than the provision of the service they would be providing to the Board.
171.Prior to this Act, the National Statistician was also the Registrar General, and the GRO was part of the ONS. This section therefore ensures that pre-existing arrangements for sharing of data between the Registrar General and ONS will continue between the Registrar General and the Board.
172.This section ensures that information collected at the registration of key life events, such as births and deaths, used to produce statistical outputs (including estimates of populations), can be disclosed to the Board.
173.Subsection (2)(b) includes both information collected at the time of the registration of a birth or death for statistical purposes, and information such as post mortem information that does not become available from a coroner until after the registration of a death.
174.Subsection (4) permits the Board to disclose to the Secretary of State or the Welsh Ministers the information received under this provision from the Registrar General for the purpose of assisting them in the performance of their functions in relation to the health service.
175.The intention is that the sharing of data under this section will be subject to a Memorandum of Understanding or Service Level Agreement between the Registrar General and the Board, which will cover issues such as the means and frequency of data sharing, and the onward transmission of the data.
176.Prior to this Act, the ONS produced population statistics; these included small area population estimates, migration estimates, statistics on birth and mortality rates in the population, and national and sub-national population estimates and projections. In the production of such statistics, the ONS used data held in the National Health Service Central Register (NHSCR). ONS was responsible for the operation of the NHSCR, whose main function is the compilation and maintenance of a record of all persons who are resident in England and registered with an NHS General Practitioner. This work was carried out on behalf of ‘NHS Connecting for Health’, which is an Agency of the Department of Health.
177.This section creates an information gateway to ensure that the Board may still receive patient registration information as the ONS did previously.
178.Subsections (3)(a) to (d) stipulate the categories of patient registration information that may be shared with the Statistics Board, including their address, their date of birth, their gender, their patient identification number, and their history of registration. However, this list is not exhaustive and while the list of examples of ‘patient registration information’ provided in the subsection is sufficient for present purposes, it may not be sufficient in the future. This flexibility to share other patient registration information is expressly limited by subsection (4), in that the Secretary of State (or other public authority) may not provide information about an individual’s health or condition or about the care or treatment provided to any person.
179.This provision replicates the effect of section 43 in respect of the information relating to those resident in Wales and registered with an NHS General Practitioner. ONS maintained the NHSCR for Wales (on behalf of the NHS in Wales). As for the NHSCR in England, the NHSCR in Wales will not be the responsibility of the new Board, so it is necessary to create an information gateway to ensure that the Board may still receive this information and use it in connection with the production of population statistics.
180.Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 controls HMRC’s ability to share information. It does this by laying down the general rule that HMRC may not disclose any information held by it or received by it in the course of its functions, although HMRC is permitted to disclose information in certain specified circumstances, one of which is where another provision authorises disclosure.
181.This section permits the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs, or an officer of Revenue and Customs, to disclose to the Board any information held by the Revenue and Customs, for use by the Board in connection with one of more of the Board's statistical functions (with the exception of its function under section 22 of this Act of providing statistical services to any other person). This section does not permit the disclosure of personal information (as defined in section 39), with the exception of information relating to the import or export of goods to or from the UK.
182.It is intended that two categories of information will be disclosed under this provision:
a wide range of summary information – which is not personal information. This includes information on income tax and National Insurance contributions, which was previously provided by Revenue and Customs to ONS and used by the ONS to produce statistics, including estimates of the UK national income, as a part of their production of the UK National Accounts. Other flows of summary information that previously occurred between HMRC and ONS which we might expect to continue between HMRC and the Board under this section include information on self-employment income of sole traders; average total income and average income tax payable by gender; the number of children registered for child benefit in England and Wales; and information relating to tobacco and alcohol products released for home consumption; and
information relating to the import or export of goods to and from the UK, which has been passed from Revenue and Customs to ONS. This information will be used by the Board to identify businesses to survey about import and export prices, and in the analysis of the results of such surveys. Results from such surveys feed into indices of the prices charged to producers (part of the measurement of the value added by UK manufacturers), and into analyses of the UK balance of payments in the National Accounts.
183.Subsection (1) allows information held by Revenue and Customs, in connection with any of its functions (such as the collection and management of taxes, duties and National Insurance contributions) to be disclosed to the Board by the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs or an officer of Revenue and Customs. Subsection (5) limits the information disclosed in this way to information that is not personal information, except in relation to the import and export of goods from the UK, which may be disclosed.
184.Subsection (2) states that, before making a disclosure, the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs must be satisfied that the Board requires the information to enable it to carry out one or more of its functions (excluding its function of providing statistical services).
185.Subsection (3) limits the Board’s use of information. The Board may only use the information provided for any one or more of its functions (excluding its function of providing statistical services).
186.Subsection (4) sets out that the Board may not disclose information received under this section without the consent of the Commissioners. Section 39 also operates to restrict the Board’s disclosure of personal information received under this provision.
187.Section 46 makes supplementary amendments to existing legislation to allow information flows to continue to the Board, as the legal successor body to ONS.
188.Paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 removes the offence of unlawful disclosure of personal census information in section 8 of the Census Act 1920, for England and Wales. The confidentiality obligation in section 39 of this Act will apply to census information held by the Board.
189.Paragraph 2 amends the Population (Statistics) Act 1938 (restriction on disclosure) to ensure that it is clear that section 42 overrides the restrictions on disclosure by the Registrar General of information collected under this legislation.
190.Paragraph 3 updates section 58 of the Finance Act 1969 by replacing references to the ‘ONS’ and ‘Office’ in that provision with references to the ‘Statistics Board’ and ‘Board’ where required. This amendment will allow HMRC to continue to disclose to the Board (as it did to ONS prior to this Act) PAYE information, specifically business name, address, economic activity code, legal form and size (in terms of numbers of employees). ONS used PAYE information to update and maintain a register of businesses – the inter-departmental business register (IDBR). The purpose of this register is to provide government with an adequate sampling frame for surveys, on which almost all surveys of economic activity are based.
191.Paragraph 4 inserts a reference to the Board and an ‘approved researcher’ in section 3 of the Agricultural Statistics Act 1979. The ONS received information collected by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) under section 1 of this Act; this amendment is necessary to ensure that DEFRA may continue to disclose information to the Statistics Board. The amendment also permits the Board to disclose the information to an approved researcher (see note to section 39above). Information collected under this Act is also used to maintain the IDBR.
192.Paragraph 5 updates section 122AA of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 by replacing a reference to ‘ONS’ with a reference to the ‘Statistics Board’. Formerly, HMRC could disclose to the ONS contributions information, which includes statutory sick pay, maternity pay and paternity pay. This paragraph ensures that HMRC can continue to disclose this information to the Board.
193.Paragraph 6 similarly updates section 91 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994, by replacing references to the ‘ONS’ and ‘Office’ in that provision with references to the ‘Statistics Board’ and ‘Board’ where required. This ensures that HMRC may continue to disclose VAT information to the Board, which is necessary because VAT information is used to update and maintain the IDBR.
194.Paragraph 7 updates Schedule 7 of the Bank of England Act 1998. The Schedule previously contained a reference to the ONS, which this paragraph replaces with a reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (or any person to whom any functions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 are delegated). This permits the Bank of England to disclose information to the Statistics Board where it exercises the functions of the Chancellor under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947.
195.This section sets out a mechanism for providing the Board with wider access to information held by public authorities. The section creates a power for the Minister for the Cabinet Office to make regulations authorising the disclosure of information from a public authority to the Board to enable it to carry out its functions (except its function of providing statistical services).
196.This is a similar provision to section 51, which provides a similar mechanism for the Board to disclose information to other public authorities. The note to section 51 gives an example of how this mechanism could work in practice.
197.The power under section 47 could be used, for example, to provide the Board with wider access to information, to improve the range or quality of the statistics being produced, potentially improving policy-making or resource allocation. It could also be used to reduce the burden on information providers, for example on individuals or businesses of filling in surveys, by removing the need to collect information already held by Government.
198.Any gateways created by regulations made under this mechanism would be permissive rather than mandatory; that is, the public authority would be permitted to share the information, but not compelled to do so.
199.Subsection (1) provides that the Minister for the Cabinet Office may make regulations permitting a public authority (as defined in section 67) to share information with the Board, where this would not be lawful prior to the making of the regulations, either because of a legal barrier to information sharing or because the public authority would not otherwise have the power to share information with the Board.
200.Regulations may only remove a barrier contained in the rule of law or an Act which received Royal Assent before this Act (although, as set out in section 54, they may not amend either the Data Protection Act 1998 or the Human Rights Act 1998).
201.Subsection (2) states that the regulations may only authorise the Board to use the information received in pursuit of its functions, except in connection with its function of providing statistical services, and subsection (3) sets out that the Board may only use the information received for the purpose stated in the regulations. Unlike the similar section 51, there is no explicit requirement that the information be used only for statistical purposes; this is because all of the Board’s functions are statistical.
202.The Board will not be permitted to disclose information received, other than in the circumstances set out in section 39(4), with the exception of paragraphs (c) and (i), unless further disclosure is specified for in the regulations. Any unauthorised disclosure of information would breach the confidentiality obligation under section 39 and incur the criminal penalties provided in that section.
203.Subsection (8) states that the regulations may only be made with the consent of another Minister of the Crown (or the Welsh Ministers in the circumstances set out in subsection (8)(a) or the Treasury in the circumstances set out in subsection (8)(b)). The Minister consenting will usually be the Minister responsible for the public authority disclosing the information. For example in the case of information produced by DEFRA or the Environment Agency, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would need to consent.
204.Subsection (9) requires that the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the other Minister of the Crown or persons consenting to the regulations, be content that the information is needed for the purpose stated in the regulation and that the disclosure or use of the information is in the public interest.
205.Where the information is being disclosed to the Board by a public authority for which the Minister for the Cabinet Office is the relevant Minister, subsection (10) states that no other Minister need give consent to the making of the regulation. The public authorities for which the Minister for the Cabinet Office is to be regarded as the relevant Minister for will be set out by order – these are expected to be those public authorities that have the Cabinet Office as their sponsoring department.
206.Subsection (12) requires that the Treasury must consult the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs before giving its consent to the making of regulations (under subsection (8)(b)).
207.This section provides Scottish Ministers with the power to make regulations to authorise Scottish public authorities to disclose information to the Board, in the same way, and essentially via the same mechanism, as the Minister for the Cabinet Office can make regulations to authorise disclosure to the Board in section 47. Under section 48 regulations must be made by the Scottish Ministers with the consent of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. The definition of a Scottish public authority (as set out in section 67) is that given in the Scotland Act 1998 and means any public body (except the Parliamentary corporation), public office or holder of such an office whose functions are exercisable only in or as regards Scotland.
208.This section provides a Northern Ireland department with the power to make regulations to authorise Northern Ireland public authorities to disclose information to the Board, in the same way, and essentially via the same mechanism, as the Minister for the Cabinet Office can make regulations to authorise disclosure to the Board in section 47. Under section 47, regulations must be made by the Northern Ireland department with the consent of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. The definition of a Northern Ireland public authority (section 67) is a public authority whose functions are exercisable only or mainly in or as regards Northern Ireland and relate only or mainly to transferred matters within the meaning of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
209.This section provides the Minister for the Cabinet Office with a power to make regulations permitting the Board to use information, received from a public authority through an existing gateway, to carry out its functions (except that of providing statistical services) where there is an existing legal barrier to the Board’s use of the information. As with section 47, the power could be used, for example, to provide the Board with wider access to information to improve the range or quality of the statistics being produced, or to reduce burdens on information providers, by removing the need for the Board to collect duplicate information.
210.This section uses the same mechanism as that in section 47 (described in detail in the note to that section). As in that section, regulations must be made with the consent of another Minister of the Crown (or the Treasury in the circumstances set out in subsection (4)(a)). The Minister for the Cabinet Office and the other person consenting must be satisfied both that the disclosure is required for the Board to carry out the functions for which the disclosure is authorised and that the disclosure is in the public interest.
211.This section sets out a mechanism for providing the Board with the power to disclose information held by the Board to other public authorities. The Minister for the Cabinet Office, with the consent of the Minister of the Crown responsible for the public authority concerned, may make regulations to authorise disclosures of information by the Board for the statistical purposes of the body receiving the information. This is a similar provision to section 47, which provides a mechanism for public authorities to share information with the Board.
212.Disclosures under this section could be used to improve the range or quality of the statistics being produced, improving policy-making or resource allocation. Alternatively, it could be used to reduce the burden on information providers; for example individuals or businesses filling in surveys that would otherwise have to provide duplicate information to many different public authorities. Any disclosures provided for using this mechanism would be permissive rather than mandatory; the regulation would authorise the Board to share information, without compelling it to do so.
213.Subsection (1) provides that the Minister for the Cabinet Office may make regulations to allow the Board to share information with another public authority (as defined in section 67), where such sharing would not normally be permitted because of a pre-existing legal barrier to sharing.
214.The regulations may only remove a barrier contained in the rule of law or an Act which received Royal Assent before this Act, to provide the Board with the lawful authority to share information with a public authority. The regulations may not remove a barrier from either the Data Protection Act 1998 or the Human Rights Act 1998 using this mechanism (section 54).
215.Subsection (2) states that the regulations may only permit sharing for the statistical functions of the receiving public authority. Information could not be disclosed under the regulations for other (non-statistical) purposes of the receiving public authority.
216.Subsection (3) further sets out that the public authority may only use the information received for the functions stated in the regulations. This function could be wide, covering all the statistical activities of the public authority concerned, or narrow, for example relating solely to a particular statistical analysis.
217.The public authority will not be permitted to disclose information received, other than in the circumstances set out in section 39(4), with the exception of paragraphs (c) and (i), unless further disclosure is specified for in the regulations. Any such unauthorised disclosure would breach the confidentiality obligation under section 39 and could incur the criminal penalties provided in that section.
218.Subsection (8) states that the regulations to allow information sharing must be made with the consent of another Minister of the Crown (or the Treasury in a case where the regulations authorise disclosure to the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or an officer of Revenue and Customs). The Minister consenting is expected to be the Minister responsible for the public authority receiving the information. For example, if information were to be disclosed to DEFRA, the Secretary of State for that department would need to give his consent.
219.Subsection (9) requires that the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the person consenting to the regulations must be satisfied that the information is needed for the statistical purpose stated in the regulations, and that the disclosure of such information is in the public interest.
220.Where the information is being received by a public authority for which the Minister for the Cabinet Office is the relevant Minister of the Crown, subsection (10) states that no other minister need give consent to the making of the regulation. Subsection (11) sets out that the bodies for which the Minister for the Cabinet Office has responsibility are those prescribed by order – these are expected to be the public authorities sponsored by the Cabinet Office. Subsection (12) requires the Treasury to consult with the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs before consenting (under subsection (8)(a)) to any regulations allowing the Board to disclose information to HMRC.
221.By way of example, this section could be used to enable the Board to disclose to Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) information collected under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947. ONS was able to disclose information collected under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 (consisting of the name and address of any trade establishment, the numbers of persons of different description employed there and the nature of the activities carried on there) to an officer of a local planning authority, a planning authority or a development corporation. However, the ONS could not lawfully disclose the same information to an RDA. This created a difference in the information available to local and regional bodies. Given the statutory purposes of an RDA, especially that of furthering the economic development and regeneration of an area and of the promotion of business efficiency, investment and competitiveness, access to this information might be considered to be necessary in the public interest.
222.Regulations made under this provision may provide the Board with a power to disclose information collected under the Statistics of Trade Act 1947 to the RDAs, to give them similar access to that available to local planning authorities. The process for this would be as follows:
before making the regulations the Minister for the Cabinet Office and another Minister of the Crown (the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has residual responsibility for the RDAs) would need to consider the proposed use to which the RDAs would put the information, and would need to be satisfied both that the disclosure is required for the statistical purposes of the RDAs and that such a disclosure would be in the public interest;
the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform would need to give consent;
the Minister for the Cabinet Office would then lay the draft regulations before the House of Commons and the House of Lords;
Parliament would consider the draft regulations, and decide whether to approve them; and
if the draft regulations were approved by each House of Parliament, the Minister for the Cabinet Office would make the regulations. The Board would then be able to disclose information collected under the Statistics of Trade Act to the RDAs for their statistical purposes, as set out in the regulations.
223.This section provides Scottish Ministers with the power to make regulations to authorise the Board to disclose information to Scottish public authorities, in the same way, and essentially via the same mechanism, as the Minister for the Cabinet Office can make regulations to authorise the Board to disclose information in section 51. Regulations must be made by the Scottish Ministers with the consent of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. The definition of a Scottish public authority (as set out in section 67) is that given in the Scotland Act 1998 and means any public body (except the Parliamentary corporation), public office or holder of such an office whose functions are exercisable only in or as regards Scotland.
224.This section provides Northern Ireland departments with the power to make regulations to authorise the Board to disclose information to Northern Ireland public authorities, in the same way, and essentially via the same mechanism, as the Minister for the Cabinet Office can make regulations to authorise the Board to disclose information in section 51. Regulations must be made by the Northern Ireland departments with the consent of the Minister for the Cabinet Office. The definition of a Northern Ireland public authority (as set out in section 67) is a public authority whose functions are exercisable only or mainly in or as regards Northern Ireland and relate only or mainly to transferred matters within the meaning of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
225.This section sets out that regulations made under sections 44 to 50 may not amend the Data Protection Act 1998 or the Human Rights Act 1998.
This section establishes that the ONS and the Statistics Commission will no longer exist. The Board will, with the exception of civil registration, assume most of the functions that were undertaken by the ONS. The Board will also take on many of the responsibilities of the Statistics Commission.
226.Sections 56 to 58 ensure a continuity of property, rights and liabilities from ONS, the National Statistician and the Registrar General to the Board.
227.Section 56 provides for the transfer of property, rights and liabilities from the ONS and the current National Statistician to the Board, with the exception of any property etc. that will be identified in a transfer scheme made by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and transferred to the Registrar General or a Minister of the Crown who will hold it on behalf of the Registrar General.
228.Section 57 provides for the transfer to the Board of the property, rights and liabilities of the Registrar General in relation to the census and other functions transferring to the Board.
229.ONS’s real property and other significant property rights were held by Ministers on behalf of the ONS. Most of the ONS’s freehold and leasehold property (accommodation etc.) is held by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Section 58 enables the Minister for the Cabinet Office to make a scheme transferring property (and any rights and liabilities associated with that property) from a Minister of the Crown to the Board or to provide for shared ownership, use or access.
230.The GRO, the NHSCR and the secretariat to the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) have been administratively part of the ONS, and receive services and facilities (accommodation, IT, utilities, etc.) from it. This section allows the Board to continue to provide these services to the GRO, the NHSCR and the BCE, and ensure that the efficiency of their functions is not impaired.
231.This section and Schedule 3 make consequential amendments, in particular to amend existing references to the ONS by replacing them with references to the Board. The various Acts so amended are listed in Schedule 3.
232.Subsection (1) provides that the expenses incurred in the exercise of the functions of the Board should be paid from funds provided by Parliament.
233.Subsection (2) provides that any money received by the Board other than under subsection (1) will be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
234.Subsection (3) provides for the salaries, pension, allowances or expenses of members of the Board, employees or committee members to be paid with the approval of the Minister for the Cabinet Office.
235.This section establishes that a document purporting to have been issued by the Board (with the official seal of the Board and the signature of an authorised person to authenticate it) should be treated as having been so sealed and signed until the contrary is proved. Such documents are admissible in any legal proceedings.
236.This section sets out that actions taken by the Board, in the exercise of its administrative functions, may be investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner, or by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman for functions exercised in relation to Scottish devolved statistics.
237.This section sets out the Parliamentary procedure to be followed when secondary legislation is made under different provisions of the Act.
238.This section sets out the definitions of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland devolved statistics, reflecting the devolution settlements in the Scotland Act 1998, the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
239.Subsection (1) defines ‘Scottish devolved statistics’ as statistics which relate to matters in Scotland which are not reserved matters (for example, statistics on Scottish education or health), except where they are produced for reserved purposes (for example, information on vacant hospital beds in Scotland produced by the UK Government for emergency planning, which is a reserved matter). As set out in section 66(1)(b), Scottish devolved statistics also include statistics on reserved matters which are produced for devolved purposes (for example, where a Scottish public authority produces statistics which relate to coverage of financial service providers, a reserved matter, in the exercise of the devolved function of giving financial assistance to Scottish credit unions acting in areas of financial exclusion). Section 66(1)(c) includes in the definition of Scottish devolved statistics any statistics produced in pursuit of functions transferred to Scottish Ministers under an Order made under section 63(1)(a) of the Scotland Act 1998.
240.Subsection (2) provides that statistics are not Scottish devolved statistics where they are produced by cross-border public authorities in the meaning of the Scotland Act 1998 and bodies treated as cross-border public authorities for the purposes of some provisions of that Act, except where the statistics in question relate wholly to Scotland. Cross-border public authorities include the Forestry Commission, and the bodies treated as cross-border public authorities comprise the Food Standards Agency, the Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Health Protection Agency and the Security Industry Authority.
241.Subsection (3) defines ‘Welsh devolved statistics’ as statistics which relate wholly or mainly to the exercise of functions by a Welsh ministerial authority or a public authority whose functions are exercisable only in or as regards Wales (for example, Welsh education statistics, which relate to Welsh Ministerial functions on education and training). Statistics which relate to functions which are devolved to Wales, but which are produced in the exercise of reserved functions are not, however, included in the definition of ‘Welsh devolved statistics’ (the same example on vacant hospital bed statistics being required for reserved emergency planning purposes applies as for Scotland).
242.Subsection (4) defines ‘Northern Ireland devolved statistics’ as statistics which relate to Northern Ireland transferred matters, unless (as for Scotland and Wales) they are produced for reserved purposes. The definition also includes statistics which do not relate to transferred matters in Northern Ireland but which are required for transferred purposes.
243.This section defines certain terms used in the Act.
244.Subsection (1) sets out the meaning of a number of terms used in Part 1 of the Act: ‘Minister of the Crown’ is to have the same meaning as in the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975 c.26 and means the holder of an office in Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, including the Treasury and the Board of Trade.
245.Before the commencement of this Act, the rights and liabilities of the Registrar General for England and Wales were the responsibility of the office-holder. This section establishes the Registrar General for England and Wales as a corporation sole. The effect of this is to separate the rights and liabilities of the post of Registrar General from the office-holder.
246.It also provides for perpetual succession of those rights and liabilities between office holders, as a change of office holders would have no legal significance in contractual terms. The section also confirms that the Registrar General discharges his functions on behalf of the Crown and that the Registrar General is not a civil servant (although this would not prevent a civil servant being appointed as Registrar General).
247.Prior to the commencement of this Act, as statutory officers the 1,700 registrars and superintendent registrars in England and Wales had no legal employer and no recourse to employment tribunals.
248.This section provides for superintendent registrars, registrars and their respective deputies appointed under the Registration Service Act 1953 to become employees of the local authority that appointed them. It also provides for existing terms and conditions and pension rights to remain unaffected by the change of status and gives continuity of service for unfair dismissal and redundancy purposes. Existing responsibilities under the Registration Acts are unaffected.
249.Subsections (3) and (4) respectively provide for the retention of existing terms and conditions and the transfer of liabilities when these office holders transfer to local authority employment.
250.Subsection (5) provides that a person who was an office holder or a local authority employee for a period before the date of transfer should be regarded as having been in continuous employment.
251.Subsection (6) provides that where an office holder was a member of a specified pension scheme he continues to belong to that scheme when he becomes a local authority employee.
252.These sections make certain minor amendments to the Registration Service Act 1953. These are largely consequential to the change of registrars’ employment status. They also remove certain powers currently vested in the Registrar General, including the power to remove registrars from office.
Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007