Registration of Births, Marriages & Deaths, 43 Westgate Centre (2nd floor, above shops). Access from multi-storey car park, Castle Street, or Old Greyfriars Street (lifts). Births and Deaths, tel 815900; Marriages, tel. 815127. Records of all births, marriages and deaths in the City of Oxford since 1837 are held here.

National Health Card. Forms available from any NHS doctor, who must first accept you as a patient. A list of all doctors may be seen at any Crown Post Office, eg St Aldate's.

National Insurance Number. Phone the Department for Work and Pensions’ Helpline on 0845 915 7006 (or 0845 915 5670). They cannot give you a National Insurance number over the phone but they can tell you how to go about getting an interview at one of their offices and what information you will need to identify yourself, and so on..

Passport. Application forms from central Post Office, St Aldate's, or Cowley central Post Office, or Headington central Post Office. You can complete part (but not all) of the process online at www.passport.gov.uk. If you need a passport renewal in a hurry, you'll have to go to the London Passport Office (Globe House, 89 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1PN, 0870 521 0410). But be warned - if you want it "fast-tracked", it costs a lot of money. You can apply for passport renewal up to 9 months before your old one runs out.

Television Licence. From any Post Office, or sign up to Direct Debit online. Valid for one year. Black and white £44 colour £131.50.

Driving Licence. You can now apply online at www.direct.gov.uk/motoring. Alternatively, you can get real application forms from any Post Office. You will need ID, a cheque book and a recent photo of yourself signed by "a reliable person" who has known you for more than 2 years. The St Aldate's Post Office operates a system whereby, for a small fee of about £4, you can go in and have an official check your passport and confirm that you're you. This means that you don't have to send away your passport and it also speeds up the DVLA's processing of your application, but you do have to take into consideration the half hour queue in the the St Aldate's Post Office.

Driving Test. Application forms from Post Office. NB, you are asked to specify your choice of test area. Oxford has two: Headington and Cowley. The Theory Test Centre will not let anyone publish its phone number, but you can book through 0870 600 0067 (Mon - Fri 8am - 6pm) or at www.dvla.gov.uk. You will need your provisional licence number and a valid credit or debit card. At the time of writing (June 2007) it costs £21.60.

Notary Public. There may come a time in your life when you require the signature of a Notary Public on a form. This might be in the course of starting up a Limited Company or something similarly official. Not all Oxford solicitors do this, but one firm that does is Blake Lapthorn Linnell, which operates in the building with the spike on it at the end of Botley Road. Their phone number is 01865 248607. In 2005, when we upgraded Daily Info to a Limited Company (Sole Trader status since 1964), it took about 5 minutes and cost about £5.