The relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom
A briefing paper on the relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom

This Commons Library briefing paper deals with current registration provisions relating to stillbirths and consideration of whether the law should be changed
Registration of stillbirth (326 KB , PDF)
This briefing paper deals with the position in England and Wales unless otherwise specifically stated.
The birth of a baby who is born alive must be registered, whatever the length of the completed pregnancy. The death of a baby born alive must be registered in the same way as any other death.
When a baby is stillborn (born dead) after 24 weeks of pregnancy, the stillbirth must be registered in the stillbirth register. The process for registering a stillbirth combines features of both birth and death registration.
There is no provision to allow the registration of stillbirths before the 24th week of pregnancy. Hospitals may issue a commemorative certificate when the stillbirth cannot be registered formally.
For some time, calls have been made, both inside and outside of Parliament, for the law to be changed. Tim Loughton (Conservative) has spoken of the arbitrary nature of the 24-week threshold. He highlighted one case where twins had been stillborn either side of the threshold and were treated differently for registration purposes.
The Government has said it does not plan to change the definition of stillbirth, which is based on clinical evidence and the age of viability.
Section 3 of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 requires the Secretary of State to arrange a report on whether, and, if so, how, the law should be changed to deal with the registration of pregnancy losses which cannot be registered as stillbirths under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953. The Secretary of State must publish the report prepared under this section.
This Act started as a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Tim Loughton.
In March 2018, the Department of Health and Social Care established the Pregnancy Loss Review. The purpose of the Review is to consider:
In March 2021, the Government said it expects the report of the Review to be published in 2021.
Registration of stillbirth (326 KB , PDF)
A briefing paper on the relationship between church and state in the United Kingdom
Statistics on the fees in a child maintenance application, and the enforcement steps taken when child maintenance is not paid on time or in full.
An overview of the Scottish civil legal aid system and related eligibility criteria.