July 10, 2019

Statement from Government on mixed-sex CPs next steps

The campaign has received a statement from the Government department working on the implementation of mixed-sex civil partnerships.

“The government has today published a paper entitled Implementing Opposite-Sex Civil Partnerships: Next Steps setting out how it intends to implement opposite-sex civil partnerships by the end of this year. This includes important issues such as parental responsibility and parenthood, financial benefits and entitlements and the protections the government intends to put in place for religious organisations in relation to civil partnerships. The government’s approach is, wherever appropriate, to extend existing rights that apply to same-sex civil partners or opposite-sex married couples to opposite-sex civil partners. This document is not, therefore, a formal consultation.

The issue on which the government is keen to hear views is conversion into and out of marriage. The government is seeking views on proposals to introduce a new right for opposite-sex couples to convert from a marriage to a civil partnership for a limited period of time, before bringing this (and the existing right for same-sex couples to convert from a civil partnership to marriage) to an end. The consultation on conversion rights, Civil Partnerships: The Future of Conversion Rights, has also been published today and runs until 20 August.

The combined policy paper and consultation can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/civil-partnerships-next-steps-and-consultation-on-conversion

The government is not able to commit to a date for implementation of opposite-sex civil partnerships at this stage. The changes to the law extending civil partnerships and the associated rights and benefits to opposite-sex civil partners will be set out in regulations which are being prepared in parallel. These regulations will need to be debated in both Houses of Parliament before they can come into force. The government has, however, restated its aim that opposite-sex couples will be able to both give notice and register their civil partnerships before the end of the year.  Any changes on conversion rights are likely to follow at a later date. This is to allow the government time to analyse the responses to the consultation and to permit the General Register Office to make the necessary changes to its processes and systems.