Non-Parochial Church Registers

The request was refused by General Register Office.

Dear General Register Office,

The General Registrar is not service in the civil service of the Crown, but the Registrar General is a Crown Servant for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act 1989.

Who/what The General Registrar is a servant of?

Mr Holdham

If your enquiry falls within the remit of a Freedom of Information request
Her Majesty’s Passport Office will send you an acknowledgement within the
next 2 working days.

If your enquiry does not fall within the Freedom of Information remit this
will not be forwarded or responded to. Therefore please contact the
appropriate department listed below:

• For a passport enquiry or complaint, please complete an online enquiry
form

• If your enquiry or complaint relates to a certificate which you have
ordered from the General Registrar’s Office, please complete the
certificate service order enquiries form.

• If your request is for information relating to your data held by Her
Majesty’s Passport Office or an individual it falls under the terms of the
Data Protection Act 1998 and may qualify as a Subject Access Request,
please email [email address]

• If your enquiry relates to nationality you should forward your enquiry
to the UK Visas and Immigration enquiry team who are better placed to
respond, please email    [email address

show quoted sections

GRO First Point of Contact,

Dear Mr Holdham,
 
Thank you for your enquiry dated the 28^th December 2017
 
Please note that we have handled your query as official correspondence
rather than under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. This
has made no difference to our response.
 
The General Register Office is a civil servant of the Crown. The Registrar
General acts on behalf of the Crown, and GRO is staffed with civil
servants
 
I am sorry that we are unable to assist you further on this occasion.
 
Kind regards
 
Alex
 
 
Alex Gaskill
Customer Correspondance Unit Manager
 
Her Majesty's Passport Office, General Register Office
I Smedley Hydro I Trafalgar Road I Southport I PR8 2HH
 
T:+44(0)300 123 1837 | Text Relay Prefix 18001
E: [1][email address]
www.gov.uk
 
 

show quoted sections

Dear GRO

The Registrar General is not a civil servant of the Crown as you can clearly see below in section 68 (1) (b) (5) of the Statistics and Registration Services Act 2007 and in section 1 (5) of the Registration Services Act 1953. I request you review your original response as it is incorrect and can you please supply an accurate response to my Freedom of Information request. Who is the Registrar General a servant of as the Registrar General is not in service in the civil service of the Crown?

68Establishment of Registrar General as corporation sole

(1)Section 1 of the Registration Service Act 1953 (c. 37) is amended as follows—
(a)renumber the existing provision as subsection (1);
(b)after that subsection insert—
“(2)The Registrar General is a corporation sole by the name of the Registrar General for England and Wales.
(3)The Registrar General may do anything (including acquire or dispose of any property or rights) which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of his functions.
(4)The Registrar General discharges his functions on behalf of the Crown.
(5)Service as Registrar General is not service in the civil service of the Crown; but the Registrar General is a Crown servant for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act 1989.”

1 Registrar General

F1(1)Her Majesty may from time to time under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom appoint a Registrar General for England and Wales, and any person so appointed shall exercise the powers and perform the duties conferred or imposed by or under any enactment on the Registrar General, whether described by that title alone or with any additional description, and shall hold office during Her Majesty’s pleasure.
[F2(2)The Registrar General is a corporation sole by the name of the Registrar General for England and Wales.
(3)The Registrar General may do anything (including acquire or dispose of any property or rights) which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the discharge of any of his functions.
(4)The Registrar General discharges his functions on behalf of the Crown.
(5)Service as Registrar General is not service in the civil service of the Crown; but the Registrar General is a Crown servant for the purposes of the Official Secrets Act 1989.]

Kind Regards

chris

GRO First Point of Contact,

Dear Mr Holdham,

Thank you for your email.

As our previous response includes the information requested we are unable to provide any additional information to assist you further on this occasion.

I am sorry that we are unable to assist you further.

Kind regards

Alex

Alex Gaskill
Customer Correspondance Unit Manager

Her Majesty's Passport Office, General Register Office
I Smedley Hydro I Trafalgar Road I Southport I PR8 2HH

T:+44(0)300 123 1837 | Text Relay Prefix 18001
E: [email address]
www.gov.uk

show quoted sections

Dear General Register Office,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of General Register Office's handling of my FOI request 'Non-Parochial Church Registers'.

This is a non-complaint internal review, which if unsatisfactory could result in a complaint to the information commissioner.

I request an independent internal review as the information regarding my simple requests on 28/12/17 and 10/01/18 has not been provided. I specifically asked who the General Registrar is a servant of as the General Registrar is not a servant of the Crown. The information has not been provided.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...

Yours faithfully,

Mr Holdham

If your enquiry falls within the remit of a Freedom of Information request
Her Majesty’s Passport Office will send you an acknowledgement within the
next 2 working days.

If your enquiry does not fall within the Freedom of Information remit this
will not be forwarded or responded to. Therefore please contact the
appropriate department listed below:

• For a passport enquiry or complaint, please complete an online enquiry
form

• If your enquiry or complaint relates to a certificate which you have
ordered from the General Registrar’s Office, please complete the
certificate service order enquiries form.

• If your request is for information relating to your data held by Her
Majesty’s Passport Office or an individual it falls under the terms of the
Data Protection Act 1998 and may qualify as a Subject Access Request,
please email [email address]

• If your enquiry relates to nationality you should forward your enquiry
to the UK Visas and Immigration enquiry team who are better placed to
respond, please email    [email address

show quoted sections

GROLRS Engagement,

Dear Mr Holdham
 
Thank you for your email in which you request an internal review of your
FOI request 'Non-Parochial Church Registers'.
Please note that we have handled your query as official correspondence
rather than under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. This
has made no difference to our response
We have reviewed our correspondence and as previously advised on 9^th
January 2018, the General Register Office is a civil servant of the Crown.
The Registrar General acts on behalf of the Crown and GRO is staffed with
civil servants.
I am sorry that we are unable to assist you further.
 
Regards
 
Liz Dixon
GRO People and Engagement
Civil Registration
 
Her Majesty’s Passport Office, General Register Office
Room 205 Smedley Hydro | Trafalgar Road | Southport | PR8 2HH
T: +44 (0)300 123 1837| Text Relay Prefix 18001
www.gov.uk
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

show quoted sections

Ian Rossiter left an annotation ()

Reference is made to 'Her Majesty' and the 'Crown'. Are these the same entity or is the latter: a Corporation, a heavy hat or Mrs Windsor?

Childnot left an annotation ()

So what they have basically told you (presuming they even know what they are talking about) is that yes the Registrar General is a civil servant of the Crown and is subject to the Official Secrets Act (without actually saying it directly), because the Statute tells you that in clear language, their is no need for statutory interpretation and rules here - quite clear.