Hundreds Of West Sussex Newborns Still Unregistered

Over 400 babies, born to West Sussex parents during the peak of the pandemic, are still to be registered.

That's according to the county council, which has today (September 22) asked families to ensure registrations take place.

The procedure was suspended during the height of the coronavirus lockdown.

According to County Hall, when birth registrations restarted, the Registration Service originally only took bookings from parents whose babies were born in February, March and April of this year.

But today, the Registration Service said it is accepting birth appointments for all babies.

However, it added that there are still some parents, whose babies were born earlier this year, who have not booked an appointment.

West Sussex County Council's figures showed that there are over 400 babies born during lockdown who have still not been registered, alongside more than 500 babies who have been born in the last six weeks.

The appointments system is currently very busy with slots booked up a few weeks in advance at some locations, so parents are encouraged to book their baby's birth registration as soon as possible.

Duncan Crow, Cabinet Member for Fire and Rescue and Communities, said:

"In England, the law requires you to register a birth within 42 days, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government put birth registrations on hold, which meant the Registration Service here in West Sussex was unable to register births for a number of months.

"In June, when birth registrations started again, the service was in a position where they needed to register over 2,000 births.

"They have done a fantastic job of catching up, but there are still over 400 births from lockdown that are still to be registered and we urge those parents who haven't booked an appointment to go online and book one as soon as possible."

The County Council's Registration Service is available online, by visiting https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/registerabirth to find out more and book an appointment online.