From Monday 22 June, Torbay Council’s Registration Service will be resuming their face-to-face service for birth registrations and Notices of Marriage and Civil Partnership.
Owing to COVID-19 all face-to-face registration services were suspended to comply with social distancing guidelines.
Due to a large number of birth registrations outstanding, booking priority will be given to babies that are two months old or more.
In order to be able to resume the face-to-face service safely, a number of safety precautions have been put in place to protect customers and staff.
Appointment times will be lengthened to avoid people gathering in the reception area. Please only attend the office at the time you are given, in some cases, you may be asked to wait outside of the building until the time of your appointment.
Birth registrations
Where possible (if married), only one parent is to attend the birth registration appointment and no other children are permitted to attend the appointment. You will be required to wash your hands or use the hand sanitiser provided on entering the building and at all times will need to follow the guidance of the registrar.
It is still possible to make a claim for child benefit or universal credit before the birth has been registered. You will need to contact HMRC directly to make a claim, details can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Death registrations
Death registration appointments will continue to be conducted by telephone. The registrar will contact the next of kin directly to ascertain the information. Residents are reminded that deaths do need to be registered within five days.
If you require Bereavement Support please visit the NHS bereavement website.
Marriage and civil partnership ceremonies
At this current time, all ceremonies remain suspended. Official advice states that you cannot gather in sufficient numbers for both indoor and outdoor ceremonies, regardless of whether your venue has a licensed gazebo or other outdoor structure. These restrictions remain under review and will be eased when it is safe to do so. We understand the frustrations all of our couples must be feeling at the time, but we have to wait for further instruction. We are able to accept new ceremony bookings for ceremonies taking place from 1 November 2020.
Citizenship ceremonies
Customers would normally be expected to book their citizenship ceremony within three months of being sent an invitation from the Home Office, UKVI has extended this period to six months. We are looking into the possibility of conducting ceremonies via video conferencing. A further update will be provided in due course.
Cllr Christine Carter, Cabinet Member for Corporate and Community Services, Torbay Council, said “As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, we are working towards safely resuming some of our face-to-face services. Anyone using our face-to-face services are asked to follow all of the instructions that have been put in place to protect staff and customers, and to remain patient whilst we adapt to these new ways of working”.
To make an appointment, book online via the website: https://www.torbay.gov.uk/registrar, booking priority will be given to babies that are two months old or more.
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