An increasing number of new parents are contacting me with regard to the difficulty that they are experiencing in booking an appointment to register their child’s birth in Croydon. Whilst parents are required to register their baby’s birth within six weeks, in Croydon the wait for an appointment is almost six months. Having just checked today, the next available appointment is one single slot at the end of April 2022 and then availability goes well into May 2022 for any other appointments.
The reason given for the delay is, of course, “COVID” but this is one service that really should not be using the pandemic as an excuse. This service has never included lots of people cramming into a room at the same time. A registration appointment only includes the registrar, the parents and a baby. There is no reason for less appointments to be available and for the backlog to be increasing rather than declining. When this was first raised with me, the wait was around 4 months.
So why does it matter whether the wait is 6 weeks or 6 months? Most parents will want to claim Child Benefit for which they will need their birth certificate. Whilst payments can be backdated, this only applies for 3 months and therefore this is costing new parents. Added to this is the loss of National Insurance credit that counts towards the claiming parent’s, primarily mum’s, future pension. I have also received a few queries from parents who need a passport for their baby but can’t apply without a birth certificate.
Croydon Council really needs to sort this out.
In the meantime, if you urgently need to register your child's birth, do contact the register office to explain your specific situation via [email protected]
More information can be found via these links:
Book an appointment at the Register Office | Croydon Council
