REGISTRARS of births, marriages and deaths are to get new employment rights following a campaign led by Bolton South-east MP Dr Brian Iddon.
Dr Iddon became Patron of the Society of Registration Officers after cominng up with the idea of moving Bolton's registry officer from Paderborn House to Mere Hall.
Since then he has led a fight on behalf of 1,700 registrars, who have historically had no legal employer despite being employed by councils.
That has meant they have had no rights as employees and have been unable to take claims of unfair dismissal to a tribunal.
Dr Iddon launched a private members bill in Parliament and the new Statistics and Registration Service Act makes councils the legal employers of registrars for the first time.
He presented a copy of his bill and the new act to chief registration officer Andrea Fitton and her predecessor Oliver Barton at Mere Hall, which employs 25 registrars.
Dr Iddon said: "I'm very pleased we have reached this conclusion. It's important that the employment rights of registration officers are protected as they become local government employees."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article