Committee
Equalities and Human Rights Committee 11 June 2020
11 Jun 2020 · S5 · Equalities and Human Rights Committee
Item of business
Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
That ends stage 2 consideration of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill. I thank the cabinet secretary and her officials, and I remind members that stage 3 of the bill is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 23 June. The deadline for amendments to the bill is Tuesday 16 June. The committee will next meet on Thursday 18 June, when it will hear further evidence in our inquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on equalities and human rights. Meeting closed at 09:37.
In the same item of business
The Convener (Ruth Maguire)
SNP
Good morning, and welcome to the 10th meeting in 2020 of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. The only item on our agenda is stage 2 consideration of t...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 1, in the name of Alex Cole-Hamilton, is grouped with amendment 2.
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD)
LD
Amendment 1 deals with an issue that was raised at stage 1. Section 3 provides that, for an interim period, mixed-sex civil partnerships registered outwith S...
The Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People (Shirley-Anne Somerville)
SNP
I am pleased to support Alex Cole-Hamilton’s amendments 1 and 2. They are quite simple, but, as the committee is well aware, they address a very serious poin...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 10, in the name of the cabinet secretary, is grouped with amendment 11.
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
Amendment 10 responds to the committee’s statement of support, in its stage 1 report, for the principle of married couples being able to change their relatio...
Alex Cole-Hamilton
LD
I thank the cabinet secretary for lodging amendments 10 and 11, which have a similar effect to amendments that I had offered instructions to the clerks to dr...
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
I do not have much to say in winding up. We are not seeking to impose a time limit on the conversion, meaning that it would have to happen within, for exampl...
The Convener
SNP
We resume consideration of the bill. Sections 4 to 12 agreed to. Schedule 2—Consequential modifications
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 3, in the name of the cabinet secretary, is grouped with amendments 7 to 9.
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
There are a number of technical amendments in the group. I hope that the committee will bear with me as I go through them. Amendment 3 addresses a point tha...
The Convener
SNP
Amendment 4, in the name of the cabinet secretary, is grouped with amendments 5 and 6.
Shirley-Anne Somerville
SNP
Amendments 4 to 6 seek to replicate for the law of Scotland what was put in place for England and Wales at the end of last year and for Northern Ireland at t...
The Convener
SNP
That ends stage 2 consideration of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill. I thank the cabinet secretary and her officials, and I remind members that stage 3 ...