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I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to permit stillbirths to be registered remotely in England and Wales; and for connected purposes.
I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce the Bill to the House today. It is a modest proposal. It is not about changing the legal definition of stillbirth. It is not about creating a new bureaucracy or imposing additional burdens on public services. It is about making a small change to an existing process that would make a meaningful difference to families experiencing one of the most devastating moments imaginable.
Every parent looks forward to welcoming a new baby into the world. No parent prepares themself for the prospect of registering their child’s stillbirth. However, every year, around 2,400 families in England and Wales experience that loss. On average, around seven babies are stillborn every day. Behind every one of those statistics is a family whose future has changed forever.
The inspiration for the Bill comes from my constituents, Cassie and Ryan Claydon from Chadderton in Oldham, who are here in the Gallery. They experienced the devastating loss of their daughter Matilda at 36 weeks. Like every bereaved parent, they carried hopes, dreams and plans for their daughter that were suddenly taken away. They spoke to me about the grief they experienced in the hours, days and weeks that followed, and the grief that remains with them today. But alongside that grief came something that need never have happened. Like all parents of stillborn babies in England and Wales, they were legally required to attend their local register office in person to register Matilda’s stillbirth.
That requirement may seem administrative. It may appear routine. But for grieving parents, it can become another source of trauma. As Cassie described in her petition:
“The in-person requirement meant sitting among new parents, blissfully registering their babies’ births. There, in a waiting room filled with celebration, we were engulfed in a contrasting wave of sorrow. This compounded our trauma during what was already the worst moment of our lives.”
My constituency office is based at Chadderton town hall, and many people will experience the most significant moments in their lives in that building, because it acts as the registrar’s office and the main council venue for weddings and citizenship ceremonies. It holds an important place in the story of thousands of lives in our borough. I hear the joy from reception rooms and from visitors waiting for weddings or to register the birth of a new arrival. I also recognise that for some, it is where they will have to register the death of a loved one, but that is quite different to the loss of a child, where someone must sit and wait with other newborns and their parents.
I know no law can remove the grief of losing a child, but surely the law should not make that grief harder to bear. The change that the Bill proposes is straightforward. It would allow parents the option of registering a stillbirth remotely, either by telephone, secure video appointment or another approved electronic process. More importantly, this would be an option, not an obligation. Many parents may still wish to attend in person, and they could continue to do so. Others, however, may wish to remain at home, surrounded by family and loved ones, rather than travelling to a register office at one of the darkest moments of their lives. That choice should be theirs.
What the Bill proposes is not an untested innovation. In Scotland, parents have already been offered the option of registering stillbirths remotely. Registrars can conduct appointments by telephone or online, while maintaining the necessary legal safeguards and verification processes. The system works, preserving the integrity of the register process, while giving bereaved families greater compassion and flexibility. If it can work in Scotland, there is every reason to believe it can work in England and Wales.
Indeed, the principle is one that the Government have increasingly embraced in other areas of public administration, with many services now moved online by design. In fact, during the covid-19 pandemic, Parliament recognised that requiring bereaved families to attend in person was neither necessary nor appropriate. Temporary provisions allowed deaths and stillbirths to be registered remotely, with information provided by telephone and other methods. Those temporary changes demonstrated that the system could operate effectively without insisting that grieving families attend in person.
If remote registration was considered sufficiently robust during one of the greatest public health emergencies our country has faced in generations, then surely it can work today. The pandemic showed us that when the Government need to be flexible, they can be. The Bill simply asks that we show the same flexibility because of compassion, rather than a virus. The Bill asks that bereaved parents are afforded the same consideration at all times.
In preparing the Bill, I have also been struck by the work of organisations such as Sands and Tommy’s. For decades, they have provided practical advice, counselling and support for families affected by pregnancy and baby loss. They also work tirelessly to improve bereavement care and maternity services across the UK. Their work reminds us that support following baby loss is as much about care and compassion as it is clinical care. It is also about every interaction that families have afterwards with hospitals, with local authorities and with Government itself. We have to put people first. We rightly talk in this House about trauma-informed public services, and it is important that the registration process reflects that.
More broadly, I hope that the Bill prompts us to reflect on how the state interacts with its citizens. Too often, users are expected to navigate processes designed for another era that do not put people first. I also hope that the Bill shows that there is something special about our democratic process. Cassie and Ryan first raised this issue with me at one of my constituency advice surgeries in Royton town hall. They came as grieving parents who believed that something in our law could be kinder than it is today.
Thanks to our parliamentary democracy, constituents can see the issues they raised debated on the Floor of the House and enter the official record. I think there is something profoundly important about that. It demonstrates that Parliament is at its best when it listens carefully, responding thoughtfully and seeking practical improvements to people’s lives.
The Bill has cross-party support. I know that not many ten-minute rule Bills make it into law, but I hope that this is something that the Government can listen to and take forward. For the sake of families like Cassie and Ryan, and in memory of Matilda, I commend this Bill to the House.
Question put and agreed to.
Ordered,
That Jim McMahon, Rushanara Ali, Anneliese Dodds, Maya Ellis, Carolyn Harris, Simon Hoare, Wera Hobhouse, Alicia Kearns, Uma Kumaran, Andy MacNae, Sarah Smith and Gareth Snell present the Bill.
Jim McMahon accordingly presented the Bill.
Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 4 September, and to be printed (Bill 121).