Northumberland County Council

Births

Here you will find out how to register a birth and order copy certificates.

The latest information about accessing customer services.

This information was last updated on 19 July 2021.

Following the Government’s advice, it’s important we protect both our residents and our staff. The council has restricted public access to our buildings.

Customer Service Information Centres have moved to a first point of contact being a digital recommendation. We will not have any front of house staffing and facilities, and will only offer a limited face to face service available at our sites if it is safely managed, by appointment only, and after a risk assessment deems it necessary to do so.

The safest way for you to contact the council is via our website. You can also call us on 0345 600 6400 during office hours.

Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5pm
Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm

We now have dedicated Coronavirus section on our website dedicated to provide you with the information and updates on our services. Click here to view our coronavirus information and updates.

You will still be able to register the birth of your baby during this lockdown period. Register Offices remain open and are Covid safe. Please call 0345 600 6400 to make an appointment.

If you live in North Tyneside and your baby was born at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington, you will be able to do a birth declaration at the Riverside Children's Centre in North Shields. Please telephone 0191 643 8899 to make an appointment.

Registration

Who can register the birth?

If the parents of the child were married to each other at the time of birth, either can register. If they were not married, the mother alone may register the birth.

The father’s details can be added if he is present, or if both mother and father make a statutory declaration. It is possible to add the father’s details by re-registration at a later date if both parents agree.

Important information for unmarried couples:

The law has made it easier for unmarried fathers to get equal parental responsibility, providing both parents register the birth together.

Parental responsibility gives you important legal rights, treating you as the child’s parent. Without that, you have no right to be involved with decisions affecting your child's life.

If you have any queries, call us on 0345 600 6400.

What you need to bring to the appointment

It will take 20 to 30 minutes to register the birth. If available, please bring:

both parents’ birth certificates
parents’ marriage certificate, if applicable

You will be asked for:

baby's date and place of birth
time of birth, if a multiple birth
sex of the baby
baby's full forename(s) and surname
parents’ forename(s) and surname and, if applicable, the mother's maiden name
parents’ occupation at the time of the birth or, if not employed, their last occupation
town and county of parent's birth
parents’ address

It is not necessary for the baby to be there. There is no charge to register the birth but you may wish to buy copy certificates.

Once the birth has been registered, you will be asked by the registrar to check that the details you have given are correct. It is important that you do this before you sign the register page. If a mistake is found at a later date and you require a correction to be made, a fee of up to £90 is payable.

Other information we may ask for:

The following information is required under the Population (Statistics) Act. The details are not entered into the register but are used confidentially for statistical information by the registrar general.

parents’ date and place of birth
date of parents’ marriage, if applicable
whether the mother has been married more than once
number of previous live and still births

Birth certificates

Full birth certificates showing the parents details are available at the time of the registration for £11 per certificate.

Additional copies:

The cost for additional certificates is £11 (processed within 3 to 5 working days, posted 2nd class) or £35 (processed within 24 hours (Mon - Fri), posted 1st class)

Order a copy certificate

Birth certificate amendment

A baby's forename(s) can be changed once during the 12 months since birth, provided the child has not been baptised with the original name. There is a £40 fee for any forename changes. Please contact your local register office for advice.

Naming ceremonies

A naming ceremony is a non-religious way of celebrating your child's birth or welcoming an adopted or stepchild into the family. Ceremonies can be for a child of any age.

More information about naming ceremonies

Making an appointment

PLEASE NOTE: You will still be able to register the birth of your baby during this lockdown period. Register Offices remain open and are Covid safe. To arrange an appointment, please telephone 0345 600 6400.

If you live in North Tyneside and your baby was born at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington, you will be able to do a birth declaration at the Riverside Children's Centre in North Shields. Please telephone 0191 643 8899 to make an appointment.

Privacy Notice

This policy explains how the information we collect about you is used and your rights in relation to that information.

Personal information collected from you in order to register an event is required by law. The main legislation which governs the collection of registration information is the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, the Marriage Act 1949 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004. You may be legally obliged by these acts, and other pieces of legislation, to provide certain pieces of information. If you fail to provide information you are required to give us you may, amongst other things, be liable to a fine, or we may not be able to provide the service you are applying for, such as a marriage or a civil partnership.

Personal information may also be collected from you if you make an application to this office, for example for a certificate or to correct information contained in a register entry.

The information you provide will be held and processed by registration officers for this registration district.

The superintendent registrar is a data controller for birth, marriage and death registrations and can be contacted at County Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2EF.

The local authority is a data controller for civil partnership registrations and can be contacted at County Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2EF.

The Registrar General for England and Wales is a joint data controller for birth, marriage, death and civil partnership registrations and can be contacted at the General Register Office, Trafalgar Road, Southport, PR8 2HH.

The Data Protection Officer is Steve Smith.

A copy of any register entry will be provided by this office in accordance with the law to any applicant, provided they supply enough information to identify the entry concerned and pay the appropriate fee. The copy may only be issued in the form of a paper certified copy (a “certificate”). An application for a certificate may also be made to the General Register Office.

Indexes for events registered at this office are publicly available in order to help members of the public identify the registration record they might need. Indexes are available at www.gov.uk

A copy of the information collected by a registration officer will also be sent to the Registrar General for England and Wales so that a central record of all registrations can be maintained.

Registration information held at this office may be shared with other organisations in the course of carrying out our functions, or to enable others to perform theirs.

We will only share information where there is a lawful basis to do so for the following reasons:

1. Statistical or research purposes
2. Administrative purposes by official bodies e.g. ensuring their records are up-to-date in order to provide services to the public
3. Fraud prevention or detection, immigration and passport purposes

Further information on data held by the registration service and a full list of the organisations with whom registration data is shared, the purpose and the lawful basis for sharing the data can be found here Annex-A-Lawful-Basis-for-Sharing-Data Alternatively, staff at this office will be able to provide the information.

You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, to be informed about the collection and use of your personal information, for incorrect information to be corrected (where the law permits) and to request us to restrict the processing of your personal information. In certain circumstances you have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. Your information will not be subjected to automated decision-making.

Registration information is retained indefinitely as required by law.

If you have any questions or concerns about the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information please contact Kathryn Guy, Superintendent Registrar, Northumberland County Council, County Hall, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2EF.

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office about the way we are handling your personal information. Details on how you can do this can be found at https://ico.org.uk/

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Births

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This information was last updated on 19 July 2021.