Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to allow virtual civil partnership registrations during the COVID-19 lockdown.

At present, only civil partnerships or marriages conducted under the special procedure, for those who are seriously ill and not expected to recover, are being conducted, and only where the Registrar General thinks it is safe to do so according to Public Health England guidelines. The Government has no plans to introduce virtual registration of civil partnerships.

We understand the frustration couples planning a civil partnership or a wedding must be feeling, and as with all coronavirus restrictions we will look to ease them as soon as it is safe to do so. As set out in our roadmap, those decisions will be based on scientific evidence.