Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Overseas Relationships and Consequential, etc. Amendments) Order 2005

The Committee will be aware that the proposal to introduce civil partnerships met with what might be called varying degrees of enthusiasm from within the Church of England. This is not the moment for revisiting the issues of substance; they were extensively debated when the legislation was before Parliament, and we are where we are as a result. As is a matter of public record, I salute the Government’s courage in bringing forward the Act. As the Minister has made clear, today’s task is simply to attend to the consequences of the main decisions that have already been taken. Happily, the need for such an order was foreseen in good time. When the legislation was in preparation, it became apparent that the detailed statutory changes needed would not be confined to Acts of Parliament but would extend to Church legislation, which is, of course, part of the law of the land, having been approved by Parliament and given Royal Assent. The Archbishops’ Council and the House of Bishops concluded, as the Minister said, that it would be sensible for the enabling power in Section 259 of the Act to be wide enough to cover Church legislation, so that all the necessary amendments could be made as part of a single package. The Government and Parliament agreed. I am happy to confirm that, since then, the Minister’s officials and those at Church House have worked together on the details and that the House of Bishops and the Archbishops’ Council have given their consent to the particular changes to Church legislation proposed in Schedule 3 to the order. They will remove a number of potential vulnerabilities to claims of discrimination. In conclusion, I echo what the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle emphasised last Wednesday in Committee on the Equality Bill—that civil partners, although they will rightly enjoy substantially the same property and other legal rights as married couples, will not in fact be married. Thus, in agreeing to consequential amendments to its legislation that ensure parity of treatment between spouses and civil partners in certain contexts, the Church is not in any way altering its doctrine of marriage; we are simply making it possible for the new legislation to achieve its proper objective of removing existing injustices. I support the order.