GRO Price Increase!

[Andrew Tarr]

It is very easy for the number crunchers to work out how much it costs to produce any item whether it is a Rolls Royce or a death certificate etc.

That's not my point, Guy.  The marginal cost of producing one item is pretty small.  Deciding whether the GRO makes a 'profit' is a completely different calculation, as you know.

[barryd]

That's about US $14.19 in US Dollars. No one hopes for the Pound to worth nothing in a few years. Possibility?

[Guy Etchells]

It is very easy for the number crunchers to work out how much it costs to produce any item whether it is a Rolls Royce or a death certificate etc.

That's not my point, Guy.  The marginal cost of producing one item is pretty small.  Deciding whether the GRO makes a 'profit' is a completely different calculation, as you know.

Please explain?
I have always understood in basic terms that Selling Price minus Costs to Produce equals Profit.
Of course in the real world there are far more nuances and complications but that is the basic rough and ready calculation.

You may not have seen the PS I added later of the supplied figures for a Superintendent Registrars Certificate
Cheers
Guy

[Andrew Tarr]

Please explain?
I have always understood in basic terms that Selling Price minus Costs to Produce equals Profit.
Of course in the real world there are far more nuances and complications but that is the basic rough and ready calculation.

You may not have seen the PS I added later of the supplied figures for a Superintendent Registrars Certificate

Thanks, Guy. I have studied your PS, which to me looks like a very artificial and elaborate attempt to dream up stages in the creation of a copy certificate.  And surprise, surprise, it comes out at almost exactly £9 per item.  All based on a cost per staff-minute (NB - all stages take non-fractional minutes!) of 31.2 pence, with no info about the source of that number.

And no mention of extras which might be called 'overheads' in other situations.  I may seem suspicious, but it feels like an invention for a FoI enquiry.

[rosie99]

PS
The figures below were provided by the GRO as a result of a FoI request by an individual.

This shows the outcome of work done by LACORS (the Local Authority Coordinating Organisation on Regulatory Services) – part of the Local Government Association - to help establish the cost to a local authority of issuing a certificate. The resulting statutory fee was set at £9 for 2010/11.

Calculations used to support the setting of a fee for certificates of birth, death or marriage issued from a register deposited with the Superintendent Registrar (2010/11).

Application, Staff Admin, Time (mins) 4 Cost (pence) 124.8
Search for entry, Staff Admin, Time (mins) 1, Cost (pence) 31.2
Locate register, Staff Admin, Time (mins) 1, Cost (pence) 31.2
Check application, Staff Admin, Time (mins) 1, Cost (pence) 31.2
Process fee, Staff Admin, Time (mins) 3, Cost (pence) 93.6
Produce certificate, Staff Admin, Time (mins) 5, Cost (pence) 156
Check and Sign, Staff, S.R., Time (mins) 2, Cost (pence) 136.8
Send Certificate, Staff Admin, Time (mins) 1, Cost (pence) 31.2
Associated administrative duties (filing applications, spoils, stationery), Staff Admin, Time (mins) 4, Cost (pence) 124.8
Stock control / indexing / quarterly copies and associated management functions such as ensuring compliance with audit and financial protocols and financial reconciliation etc., Staff, S.R., Time (mins) 2, Cost (pence) 136.8

Total Time 24 minutes Cost (pence) 897.6

I had already posted a link giving that information at reply 13 

Not current figures but the GRO replied to a freedom of information request in 2011 about the cost to produce certificates then

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01nf0/

[LizzieW]

At least with GRO giving maiden names for mothers from 1837 onwards it means I've not bought dozens of "wrong" certificates, so in that way I've actually saved money, before GRO put up their records I bought lots of "wrong" certs so wasted well over £100.  Plus ordering PDF certs means that they arrive much quicker than ones that have to come via Royal Mail.

[coombs]

At least with GRO giving maiden names for mothers from 1837 onwards it means I've not bought dozens of "wrong" certificates, so in that way I've actually saved money, before GRO put up their records I bought lots of "wrong" certs so wasted well over £100.  Plus ordering PDF certs means that they arrive much quicker than ones that have to come via Royal Mail.

Where is the "like" button.  I 100% concur.

The maiden names prior to 1911 have helped a great deal.

[medpat]

So has the ages for the earlier deaths. Try sorting out common names with no ages 

Found 3 correct death certs. that were impossible prior to the ages added and haven't ordered a wrong one since 

[Andrew Tarr]

So has the ages for the earlier deaths. Try sorting out common names with no ages.

Found 3 correct death certs. that were impossible prior to the ages added and haven't ordered a wrong one since 

Absolutely - but mustn't forget to allow for the occasional entry of 8 (for example, apparently years) when the original showed 8 months (or even weeks).  It's a big help when separating out parallel progenies with a shared surname too.  Though yesterday I extracted a family of eight children with mother's name recorded differently, probably in the original: Cain, then Kane, and one Lane (which I guess is a misread).