A new service to help grieving relatives has been launched.

Tell us Once has been launched by Sutton Council to cut stress and red tape when reporting the death of a loved one.

The new service will mean from 7 October residents only have to contact the Registrar’s office once to report a death.

Councillor Colin Hall, deputy leader of Sutton Council said: "In the past, residents have had to tell lots of different people about their life events, often at stressful times when it’s the last thing they need.

"Tell Us Once is designed to take the extra stress away from residents, saving them time and effort, whilst helping keep records up-to-date across all departments in the council.

"Nobody’s information will be shared without their permission, and we will only be informing relevant public sector organisations which residents would previously have had to contact themselves."

Currently residents have to register the death with the Registrar, then after purchasing several copies of the death certificates they contact several other separate council departments - such as council tax, housing benefits and the electoral roll and the Department for Works and Pensions.

Under the new Tell Us Once service you will only have to notify the Registrar, who - with permission - will then pass the right information to the relevant council departments and other public sector service providers, such as the Department for Work and Pensions, the Identity and Passport Service and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

The project is set to go live at the start of October to coincide with National Customer Services Week which starts on Monday 7 October 2013.

 

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