UNITED KINGDOM STATUTORY INSTRUMENT
1996 No. 273
MINISTERS OF THE CROWN
The Transfer of Functions (Registration and Statistics) Order 1996
Made 14th February 1996
Laid before Parliament 26th February 1996
Coming into force 1st April 1996
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 14th day of February 1996
Present,
The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty, in pursuance of section 1 of the Ministers of the Crown Act 1975, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:
S-1
Citation and commencementCitation and commencement
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Transfer of Functions (Registration and Statistics) Order 1996.
(2) This Order shall come into force on 1st April 1996.
Interpretation
2. In this Order “instrument”, without prejudice to the generality of that expression, includes in particular Royal Charters, Orders in Council, Letters Patent, judgments, decrees, orders, rules, regulations, directions, schemes, bye-laws, awards, contracts and other agreements, memoranda and articles of association, warrants, certificates and other documents.
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Transfer of functionsTransfer of functions
3.—(1) The functions of the Secretary of State under the enactments listed in Schedule 1 to this Order are hereby transferred to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
(2) The function of the Secretary of State for Health under section 9 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926(removal of bodies from England: regulations) is hereby transferred to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Supplemental
4.—(1) All rights and liabilities to which the Secretary of State for Health is entitled or subject immediately before the coming into force of this Order in connection with any function tranferred by this Order are hereby transferred to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
(2) This Order shall not—affect the validity of anything done by or in relation to the Secretary of State for Health before the coming into force of this Order; and anything which, at the coming into force of this Order, is in the process of being done by or in relation to the Secretary of State for Health may, if it relates to functions, rights or liabilities transferred by this Order, be continued by or in relation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
(3) Any legal proceedings to which the Secretary of State for Health is a party at the coming into force of this Order may, if they relate to functions, rights or liabilities transferred by this Order, be continued by or against the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
(4) Any approval, consent or direction given, or other thing done, by the Secretary of State for Health in the—excerise of any function transferred by this Order (or having effect as if so given or done) shall, if in force at the coming into force of this Order, continue in force and have effect as if similarly given or done by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
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Consequential amendments, &c.Consequential amendments, &c.
5.—(1) The enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 to this Order shall have effect with the amendments specified in that Schedule.
(2) Subject to the amendments made by Schedule 2 to this Order, any enactment or instrument passed or made before the coming into force of this Order shall have effect, so far as necessary for the purpose of or in consequence of article 3, as if for any reference to the Secretary of State or the Secretary of State for Health (including any reference which is to be construed as such a reference) there were substituted a reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
(3) Any reference in any instrument to the Central Statistical Office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (including any reference which is to be construed as such a reference) shall be construed after the coming into force of this Order (so far as the context permits) as a reference to the Office for National Statistics.
(4) Documents or forms printed or duplicated for use in connection with any function transferred by this Order may be used notwithstanding that they contain (or are to be construed as containing) references to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State for Health, the Department of Health, an officer of that Department, the Central Statistical Office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, an officer of that Office, the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys or an officer of that Office; and those references shall be construed as references to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Office for National Statistics or an officer of that Office, as the context may require.
(5) The Documentary Evidence Act 1868shall apply in relation to the Office for National Statistics—
(a)
(a) as if that Office were a government department included in the first column of the Schedule to that Act;
(b)
(b) as if the Chancellor of the Exchequer or any person authorised to act on his behalf were mentioned in relation to that Office in the second column of that Schedule; and
(c)
(c) as if the regulations referred to in that Act included any document issued by that Office.
N. H. Nicholls
Clerk of the Privy Council
SCHEDULE 1
Article 3(1).
Functions Transferred from the Secretary of State to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
1. Section 5 of the Non-Parochial Registers Act 1840(approval of regulations).
2. Section 7 of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855(direction as to printing of lists of certified places).
3. The following sections of the Census Act 1920, except in their application to Scotland:
(a) section 2 (directions as to census);
(b) section 3 (regulations); and
(c) section 6 (local census).
4. Section 12 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926(approval of regulations under sections 1 and 3).
5. Section 2 of the Population (Statistics) Act 1938(directions as to collection of information), except in its application to Scotland.
6. Section 94 of the Education Act 1944(regulations about certificates and returns).
7. The following sections of the Marriage Act 1949:
(a) section 46A(approval of premises);
(b) section 58(direction as to keeping of certified copies); and
(c) section 74 (approval of regulations).
8. The following sections of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953:
(a) section 28 (directions as to custody of registers); and
(b) section 39 (approval of regulations).
9. The following sections of the Registration Service Act 1953:
(a) section 14 (approval of local registration schemes);
(b) section 19 (annual abstract of registrations); and
(c) section 20 (approval of regulations).
10. Section 5 of the Public Expenditure and Receipts Act 1968(increase of fees), in so far as it relates to—
(a) the enactments listed in paragraphs 1(a) and 2 of Schedule 3 to that Act; and
(b) the enactments listed in paragraph 1(b) of that Schedule, except as regards Scotland.
11. Section 18 of the Marriage (Registrar General’s Licence) Act 1970(approval of regulations).
12. Section 67(6) of the Adoption Act 1976(approval of regulations).
13. Section 1 of the Industrial Diseases (Notification) Act 1981(regulations).
SCHEDULE 2
Article 5(1).
Consequential Amendments
The Non-Parochial Registers Act 1840 (c. 92)
1. In section 5 of the Non-Parochial Registers Act 1840 (searching of registers), for the words “one of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State” there shall be—substituted the words “the Chancellor of the Exchequer”.
Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 (c. 81)
2. In section 7 of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 (lists of certified places), for the words “one of Her Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State” there shall be substituted the words “the Chancellor of the Exchequer”.
The Census Act 1920 (c. 41)
3.—(1) The Census Act 1920 shall be amended as follows.
(2) In sections 2 (census), 3 (regulations) and 6 (local census), for the words which are to be construed as referring to the Secretary of State there shall be substituted the words “the Chancellor of the Exchequer”.
(3) In section 9 (application to Scotland), for paragraph (1) there shall be substituted—
“1 References to the Chancellor of the Exchequer shall be construed as references to the Secretary of State and references to the Registrar-General shall be construed as references to the Registrar General for Scotland.”
The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1926 (c. 48)
5. In section 9 (regulations), for the words “Secretary of State for Health” there shall be substituted the words “Chancellor of the Exchequer”.
6. In section 12 (definitions), for the words which are to be construed as referring to the Secretary of State there shall be substituted the words “the Chancellor of the Exchequer”.
The Population (Statistics) Act 1938 (c. 12)
7.—(1) The Population (Statistics) Act 1938 shall be amended as follows.
(2) In subsections (2) and (3) of section 2 (collection of information, &c.), for the words which are to be construed as referring to the Secretary of State there shall be substituted the words “the Chancellor of the Exchequer”.
(3) In section 6 (application to Scotland), for paragraph (a) there shall be substituted—
“(a)
“(a) references to the Chancellor of the Exchequer shall be construed as references to the Secretary of State;.”
The Education Act 1944 (c. 31)
8. In subsections (1) and (2) of section 94 of the Education Act 1944 (certificates of birth and registrars' returns), for the words which are to be...
