Document Retention Timescales for Registration Service
Contents
Information about our document retention timescales and how Kensington and Chelsea Registration Service processes your data in accordance with legal requirements.
Document Retention Timescales
| Class of document | Period after which document is destroyed |
|---|---|
Appointment forms of registration officers | 1 year after retirement |
| Forms of appointment of authorised persons under the Marriage Act 1898 or the Marriage Act 1949 | 2 years after vacation of office |
| Registrar General’s authorities for registration after 12 months in accordance with sections 7 and 21 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 | 2 years |
| Books recording issue of books and forms of medical certificates (Form 17) | 5 years after last entry |
Notifications of disposals of bodies of deceased persons | 5 years |
Declarations made by applicants for certificates for disposal (no liability to register) | 5 years |
| Forms of consent to marriages of minors | 1 year |
| Caveats against the grant of a superintendent registrar’s certificate or certificate and licence or Registrar General’s licence for marriage | 2 years |
Superintendent registrar’s certificates and certificates and licences for marriage | 2 years from date of marriage |
Notifications of the issue of the Registrar General’s licence for marriage and Registrar General’s licences for marriage | 2 years from date of marriage |
Requisitions for certificates of birth, marriage or death issued under certain Acts of Parliament for the purpose of those Acts | 2 years |
Requisitions for certificates issued for the purposes of the 1st Schedule to the Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies Act 1948 and the 5th Schedule to the Friendly Societies Act 1974 | 6 years |
Certificates issued for purposes of certain other Acts of Parliament | 2 years |
Certificates of registration of births and still-births | 2 years |
Requisitions to persons liable to register who have failed to do so | 1 year |
Forms of report of death to coroner by registrar | 1 year |
Certificates for disposal
| 5 years |
Accounting books and records: Record and demand book | 10 years |
Cash book, Paying-in book/slips, Receipt books, Registrar General’s certificate and direction | 7 years |
| Form of account | 2 years |
| Routine correspondence relating to appointment and conduct of officers | 2 years |
Routine correspondence relating to registration of births, marriages and deaths, correction of errors, birth re-registrations not made (Forms LA1 and GRO 185 and copy documents), issue of certificates under certain Acts of Parliament, irregular burials | 3 years |
| Routine correspondence relating to false information given to registration officers, falsification and forgery of certificates of birth, marriage or death; marriage of foreigners and persons divorced abroad | 3 years |
| Routine correspondence relating to accounting transactions, charges, receipts | 2 years |
| Other correspondence | 3 years |
Statutory declaration regarding the loss or destruction of a certificate issued under the Industrial Assurance and Friendly Societies Act 1948 and the Friendly Societies Act 1974 | 6 years |
| Citizenship Cover Notes | 2 years |
| Email and general written correspondence | 1 year |
| Appointment and ceremony booking customer data | 1 year after delivery of service |
| Civil registration data for deaths, births, still-births, notices of marriage and civil partnership, marriages and civil partnership including indices and associated legal administration, mechanisms and documentation | Indefinitely on legal obligation |
Last updated: 11 August 2020