FOI REF: FOI-2023-1151
You asked
This information request is related to birth records, data and notifications;
How long are birth notifications and or its data maintained by the Office of National Statistics?
Do birth notifications qualify as retention instruments which are subsequently archived?
Are records related to birth notifications and or birth registration assessed for permanent preservation?
If yes to the above, 3) what are the specifics or characteristics which would qualify for this data to be preserved?
We said
Thank you for your request.
The associated download 'Unique visitors to Census website Early 2021' shows the number of visitors to https://www.census.gov.uk/en/start/ for between 1 January 2021 and 21 April 2021.
It is important to note that Google Analytics doesn't specifically track each 'unique' visitor; rather it's the number of visitors which have a unique client ID (if Thank you for your request. Please see the following answers to your queries.
How long are birth notifications and/or its data maintained by the Office of National Statistics?
We retain the data until we no longer deem it needed for statistical purposes. At present we retain all individual level notification data that has been shared with us by NHS England back to 2006.
Do birth notifications qualify as retention instruments which are subsequently archived?
Birth notifications are provided by NHS England, they would be better placed to answer your enquiry. They can be contacted at enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk
Are records related to birth notifications and or birth registration assessed for permanent preservation?
With regards to birth registrations, we adhere to The National Archive's (TNA) best practice guidance (Annex A). Following this guidance, we would not assess birth notifications or birth registrations for permanent preservation, as they are temporary in nature (6.2 information of reference/short term value) and we are not the lead department (6.4 department or branch is not the lead).
With regards to birth registrations, in this instance the General Register Office (GRO) would be the lead department and would be better placed to answer your enquiry.
The General Register Office would be better placed to answer this enquiry. They can be contacted at foi@hmpo.gov.uk
With regards to birth notifications, NHS England would be the lead department and they would be better placed to answer your enquiry. They can be contacted at enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uka visitor deleted 'cookies', they'd be treated as a different visitor). Also key is the ability for visitors to not accept or refuse an analytical tracking cookies, which prevent any kind of analytical tracking from taking place.