| State the Delegated Authority that you are relying on in order to make the decision | |
| Subject of decision | The Register Office currently offers an 'out of hours' service for anyone who needs to make urgent burial arrangements or requires documentation to remove a body out of England. This weekend service is currently covered by one member of staff per week, being on an on call one weekend in every four weeks. The service propose to reduce weekend on call hours from 8 hrs (8am-4pm) per day to 2 hours (9am-11am) per day. There is also a proposal to reduce the opening hours on a Tuesday night, from 6pm to 4.00 pm. If the Head of Service agrees it is proposed the to implement the new opening and on call times from the 1st August 2018. |
| Text of decision | The Register Office currently offers an 'out of hours' service for anyone who needs to make urgent burial arrangements or requires documentation to remove a body out of England. This weekend service is currently covered by one member of staff per week, being on an on call one weekend in every four weeks. The service propose to reduce weekend on call hours from 8 hrs (8am-4pm) per day to 2 hours (9am-11am) per day 1. There is currently a disparity in the on call hours on a Sunday between Registrars and Crematorium staff who provide on call support to cover mainly religious deaths/ burials that seek to be buried as soon as possible after death. However, the service is used very infrequently with the on call service only being utilised 7 times (5 burial orders being issued and 2 death registrations to facilitate out of England orders being issued by the Coroner) in 52 weeks. The on call hours therefore seem disproportionate to the need. Also advice from the General Register Office is that the Registration Service should refrain from issuing ‘Out of England Orders’ for approx. 4/5 days in order to ensure that all legalities are adhered to before repatriation of the body – this would also safeguard the risk of any problems arising that the Coroner’s Office may face after repatriation. 2. There is also a proposal to reduce the opening hours on a Tuesday night, from 6pm to 4.00 pm. Whilst the service does have relatively good take up of the allotted time slots (65%) by the public, it is not felt that the time of the appointment is the main draw to use the service, but more a matter of that’s when the appointments are available for the public to attend. This would also allow the service to streamline with that of the Coroners service which currently operates at the hours that are proposed for the registration staff. At present we are unable to offer death appointments after 4pm as there is no access to the coroner’s officers for consultation. At the moment, the Register Office opening hours to the public are as follows; Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri - 9am - 4pm and Tues 10 - 6pm The proposal is to open as follows; Mon - Friday - 9:00am to 4:00pm Other local authorities of an ‘out of hours’ service, the time varies from 1 hour to 8 hours cover. If the Head of Service agrees it is proposed the to implement the new opening and on call times from the 1st August 2018. |
| Reason for decision | 1.The proposal would harmonise the hours with crematorium staff and reduce the on call hours to improve the work / life balance of staff. 2. This proposal would bring the operational hours in line with the Coroners service. 3. The proposed changes would allow more appointments to be offered during normal working hours, especially over the lunch period when demand for service is high and would possibly increase income as more express certificates (£25 each) could be issued. Accessibility would also be increased for all service users during weekdays. More appointments would be available during the core working hours when demand for service is high (12-2pm) and the ability to issue more certificates, answer telephone queries would be increased. 4. Reducing the hours will save the service approximately £880 and greatly improve staff work life balance. 5. There may be an increase in income due to more appointments being available at more suitable times for service users. |
| Other options considered (if any) | None |
| Has an Impact Assessment been carried out - if so please attach a copy to the decision using the upload attachment screen which follows | Yes |
| Declarations of Interest by any member or relevant local government body | N/A |
| Who have you consulted as part of the decision making process | |
| Date of decision | 19 July 2018 |
| Service area | Finance, Governance & Support |
| Name of Delegated Officer making the decision - i | Bryn Roberts - Head of Legal and Democratic Services |
| Name of the Officer making the decision - If power has been sub-delegated to another officer | |
| Issue date:- | 23 July 2018 |
| Creation date:- | 23 July 2018 by Bernie Carr |
| Background paper/Impact Assessment | Copy of Decision (31K/bytes) |