Document Retention Timescales for Registration Service
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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