Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of allowing celebrant-led weddings to be legally recognised on the economy.

On 16 July, the Government published the consultation ‘Tying the Knot: Reforming weddings law in England and Wales’, alongside an impact assessment which considers the potential economic impacts of the proposed reforms, including allowing independent officiants to conduct legally binding weddings.

The impact assessment does not provide a separate estimate of the economic impact of this measure alone. However, it estimates that the wider reforms could lead to a 3% increase in the overall number of weddings and sets out the associated costs and benefits. The link to the assessment can be found here: Tying the Knot: Reforming weddings law in England and Wales - GOV.UK.