Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make it her policy to allow different sex couples to enter into civil partnerships.

The Government carried out a consultation on the future of civil partnerships in 2014. The review found that there was no clear consensus and, therefore, the Government did not change the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

The decision not to change the law was judicially reviewed and the Government won in the High Court last year. The Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against the High Court judgment in February and confirmed that the Government’s approach is lawful.

We welcomed the Court’s ruling at the time and confirmed that we would carefully consider the judgment and its implications before deciding on our next steps. The claimants in this case have subsequently sought permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision. We are currently awaiting the Supreme Court’s ruling on whether to allow the appeal to proceed.