Federation Of Family History Societies

General Register Office transfers to Identity and Passport Service

As from 1 April 2008, General Register Office (GRO) becomes part of the Identity and Passport Service (IPS).

The GRO oversees registration services to members of the general public and its remit extends over a range of aspects relating to civil marriage preparation, celebration and registration and the registration of births, deaths, stillbirths and adoptions.

IPS is an Executive Agency of the Home Office, and is responsible for handling passport applications from UK Nationals and in the future, the issue of Identity Cards. It employs over 3,500 staff at various locations around the UK. You can find more information about them on their website.

Both the Identity & Passport Service and the General Register Office work to safeguard people's identities and provide secure documentation to help people prove their identity or demonstrate significant life events.

As such IPS and the Home Office is the natural home for GRO. The move follows changes to make Office of National Statistics more independent of Government, which means ONS will no longer be responsible for the registration role it currently holds.

The decision to make the transfer of GRO to IPS was finalised following the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

This announcement appeared on the GRO website.