Hansard

It is a pleasure to be back here at the Equal Opportunities Committee to outline what the draft order will do and to ask the committee to recommend it. I clarify that the consultation that was announced to some fanfare two days ago and the draft order cover two separate issues. The draft order will allow people who are in a same-sex civil partnership that was registered outwith Scotland to marry here. The consultation is on the future of civil partnerships in Scotland generally. Any legislation following that consultation would be some way off and could not be introduced in this parliamentary session. The draft order will amend the definition of “qualifying civil partnership” in the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014. That amendment will mean that couples who are in a civil partnership that was registered in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and couples who are in a civil partnership that was registered in an overseas jurisdiction could, if they wish, change their relationship to marriage in Scotland, through having a marriage ceremony. The draft order also provides that under Scots law the couples are to be treated as married from the date when they first registered their relationship or from 5 December 2005, if that date is later. The reason for that date is that that was when same-sex relationships were first given legal recognition in Scotland, through the Civil Partnership Act 2004. We have laid a separate Scottish statutory instrument, which is not subject to parliamentary procedure, which will make some minor changes to the marriage notice form to reflect that, in future, couples in a same-sex civil partnership that was registered outwith Scotland will be able to marry here. The committee’s stage 1 report on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill recommended that there should be provision so that couples in a civil partnership that was registered outwith Scotland could change their relationship into marriage here. There was a vigorous debate in the committee on amendments at stage 2, after which the Government amendment was eventually accepted. I entirely accept that it has taken the Government—us—longer to lay the draft order than we would have liked. Last year, we were busy implementing a range of components of the 2014 act so that, in particular, the first same-sex marriages could take place in Scotland in 2014. This year, we have carried out two consultations on the provision that is now in front of you. The first consultation was on the general principles. The second, in line with section 9 of the 2014 act, was on a draft of the order. As the policy note indicates, we took a number of steps following those consultations. We are preparing guidance for registrars, and we have prepared guidance for couples and dealt with the transitional issues. The draft order forms part of our continuing work more widely to implement the 2014 act. Other work to implement that act includes the consultation to which I referred and our plan to consult on qualifying requirements for religious and belief bodies to meet before they can solemnise marriage or register a civil partnership. That will require very careful and close consultation with religious and belief bodies in particular. We continue to work with the Equality Network and the Scottish Transgender Alliance on regulations about the registration of marriages and civil partnerships following gender recognition, and we are preparing an order on alternative evidence, such as hormonal treatment, to be accepted by the gender recognition panel in cases in which a person transitioned to an acquired gender some time ago and seeks recognition thereof. The Government also promised to consider further the issue of the age at which people can obtain gender recognition. We are still considering that. Any changes in that area would definitely require primary legislation. A key issue is ensuring that sufficient support is available for young people in that situation. The Equality Network and the Scottish Transgender Alliance have an equal recognition campaign that covers a wide range of areas, of which that is one. The Government will consider what response we should make to that campaign, including on the question of the age at which gender recognition can be obtained. In conclusion, the draft order helps to further the implementation of the 2014 act. It is a further step towards equality and is in line with what the committee wished at stage 2. I invite the committee to recommend that the order be approved.