Register Office general information
Our services and service standards.
Service links
Follow the links below for information on each or our services.
Our services
- We register all births, stillbirths and deaths that occur within the Lambeth Registration district, including those for housebound customers.
- We register birth re-registrations.
- We annotate all adopted birth and re-registration entries.
- We take declarations from customers for births and deaths for other registration districts.
- We requisition customers regarding late registration of births.
- We notify relevant authorities of certain registrations - for example, we notify the Council Tax section of a death.
- We notify the Department of Social Security when a widow re-marries.
- We contribute to the collection of statistical information for the national index.
- We collect quarterly copies of marriage entries from clergies and authorised persons and pay the appropriate fees.
- We check accuracy and completeness and submit quarterly copies of births, deaths and marriage entries to the Registrar General.
- We collect and store completed registers from Registrars and Clergies.
- We attest notices of intention to marry from all Lambeth residents who wish to marry in the borough and issue the authority to allow the marriage to take place.
- We license approved venues within the borough.
- We perform civil marriage ceremonies at approved venues and the register office.
- We perform the above in homes and hospitals for housebound customers and detained persons.
- We arrange and perform civil ceremonies.
- We collect fees, both statutory and non-statutory, and account for all services provided.
- We issue copy certificates of births, deaths and marriages from records held.
- We arrange and perform commitment ceremonies.
- We arrange and perform re-affirmation / renewal of vows ceremonies.
- We arrange and perform naming ceremonies.
- We arrange and perform civil funerals.
- We arrange citizenship ceremonies.
Our service standards
- If we cannot comply with a particular request, we will give you a simple explanation of the relevant part of the law.
- We aim to see customers who have made an appointment within ten minutes of the scheduled time. If you haven't made an appointment, we aim to see you within an hour of your arrival. In either case, if we think you may have a longer wait, we will explain why and give you a suggested time.
- If a birth or death cannot be registered for legal reasons, we will give you a clear explanation why.
- If the record you are looking for is held in Lambeth and we have enough information to trace and produce it, we aim to issue the certificate within one hour of getting your form back - if we cannot do this we will let you know why not. If we do not hold the record, we will let you know which Register Office does.
- If you make a postal application, your form will be logged on the computer on the day it arrives. We'll produce the certificate within two working days, as long as you've enclosed the right fee and enough information for us to trace and reproduce it. If we either do not hold the record you are looking for or cannot trace it from the information you send us, we'll write and let you know within two days.
- We will provide an emergency service on Sundays and Bank Holidays for urgent burial. We will leave the emergency phone number on the out of hours voicemail.
What you can do to help
- Please be punctual if you make an appointment.
- Give us accurate information.
- Allow yourself time for copies of certificates or other documents to be made.
- Please remember we have to work within the law. If we can't help you for legal reasons, we'll explain why.