South Ayrshire Council’s Community Safety Committee has approved arrangements to progress the amalgamation of the five Registration Districts within South Ayrshire.

At present the five Registration Districts in South Ayrshire, operate from separate offices in Girvan, Maybole, Ayr, Prestwick and Troon. As from 1 January 2006, they will be amalgamated to form one Registration District, to be known as South Ayrshire.

The five offices will be retained to ensure that Council staff can continue to provide a local service to members of the public, and no additional resources will be required to implement the changes.

The amalgamation is a direct result of a document created in 2001 by the Registrar General for Scotland entitled “Civil Registration in the 21st Century”. This document proposed many developments and changes to the way in which the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages is delivered, in order to better meet the needs of the public.

The Registrar General is encouraging local authorities to amalgamate their Registration Districts in advance of new legislation. This would result in reducing the existing 300 Registration Districts to 32 Districts, with new Registration District boundaries aligning with those of each Council

Such amalgamation should provide an improved service to the public, as they will be able to carry out registration business, which requires to be registered within South Ayrshire, at any of the registration offices within the Council boundary.

The Council will now compile a description and maps of the areas and Registration Districts to be amalgamated, publish them in two local newspapers, and send confirmation to the Scottish Government Justice Department, who will receive any objections to the planned Scheme.

After a 31day period has elapsed from the publication of the changes the Scottish Government Justice Department will advise the Council of any objections, and then Ministerial approval will be sought.

July 2005