Civil Partnership (Judicial Pensions and Church Pensions, etc.) Order 2005

My Lords, I regret to say that my speech will be a little longer, but you will be aware that the proposal to introduce civil partnerships has been, and indeed remains, the subject of some controversy within the Church of England, although that is not the issue before us today. The purpose of this order, as it relates to the Church of England’s pensions schemes, is simply to ensure that those schemes will be fully compliant with the law when the Civil Partnership Act comes into force. When the Act was in preparation, it became apparent that consequential amendments would be needed to the legislation governing Church of England pensions. This legislation 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 therefore concluded that it would be sensible for the enabling powers contained in Sections 255 and 259 of the Act to be wide enough to cover Church legislation so that all the necessary amendments could be achieved as part of a single package. The Government and Parliament agreed. Since then, the Minister’s officials and the Church of England’s pensions administrators have worked together on the details and the Archbishops’ Council and the House of Bishops have given their consent to the changes proposed in Part 8 and Schedule 7 of the order. These will enable the Church to continue to comply with the requirements for contracted-out pension schemes, as well as removing potential vulnerabilities to claims of discrimination. The Church of England’s approach to this, as to other legislative changes arising from the Civil Partnership Act, has been shaped by the fact that civil partners, while they will rightly enjoy substantially the same legal rights as married couples, will not in fact be married. In particular, there need not necessarily be a sexual relationship between civil partners. So in agreeing to these amendments the Church is not in any way altering its doctrine of marriage. It is simply making it possible for the Church of England’s pension schemes to continue to operate legally and effectively for the benefit of their members. It therefore follows that I support the order.