My Lords, in moving Amendment 37, I shall speak also to Amendments 41, 54, 56 to 59, 91, 92, 108 to 110, 113 to 118 and 123 which together comprise the government amendments brought forward in response to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee’s fourth report which addressed this Bill’s approach to the exercise of powers. I start by thanking the committee for its scrutiny of the Bill. As always, the report was thorough and made sound recommendations, the vast majority of which the Government have accepted in whole or in part. I will explain the amendments broadly in clause order.
Amendments 37 and 41 will clarify the powers to make regulations in relation to the registration of places of worship for the solemnisation of marriages of same-sex couples and the arrangements for some shared buildings. Amendment 37 responds to the committee’s recommendation that powers of the Secretary of State in new Section 43D of the Marriage Act 1949—to make regulations about the registration of buildings which are registered as places of worship to solemnise same-sex marriages under the provisions of the Bill—should be subject to the affirmative procedure.
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The amendment clarifies the circumstances in which the power would be used, by providing that the Secretary of State may make regulations about the procedures to be followed and fees payable on matters such as the registration applications and the appointment of authorised persons to attend ceremonies. It makes more explicit the extent of the powers that can be exercised under the section. Amendment 41 responds to the committee’s concerns that the scope of the powers regarding shared buildings which are not shared under the Sharing of Church Buildings Act 1969 appeared to extend beyond religious buildings, and whether this was an appropriate use of the powers. The amendment clarifies the Secretary of State’s powers to make regulations about the registration of registered places of worship not subject to an agreement under the 1969 Act. The amendment makes it clear that the powers apply to buildings which have been registered as places of worship and not to any other buildings.
I turn now to Amendments 54 to 59, 108 to 110, 116 and 117, which collectively address the committee’s recommendations on Clause 9, relating to the conversion of civil partnerships. The committee was concerned that not all regulations made under Clause 9 would be purely administrative and that some were of sufficient significance to warrant the regulations being made by the Secretary of State rather than the Registrar General.
Although most regulations made under Clause 9 are likely to relate to administrative matters—and hence were not originally subject to any parliamentary procedure—we welcome the committee’s remarks and recognise that the first set of regulations will set out more important issues, such as where conversions can take place, the processes involved and whether couples will be given a choice of alternatives on such matters. We therefore agree with the committee’s recommendation that the Secretary of State, rather than the Registrar General as currently provided, should make regulations
under Clause 9 and that the first set of such regulations should be fully debated by Parliament by being subject to the affirmative procedure.
In Amendment 123, we propose enabling the Secretary of State to empower the Registrar General to make administrative regulations. However, thanks to the committee’s rapid and helpful input, it has come to our attention that the drafting of Amendment 123 means that its effect may be broader than we intended. We are considering this urgently and, if required, we will withdraw Amendment 123, when we reach it, and table a revised amendment as soon as possible, which will have a narrower effect, in response to the committee’s input and our original intentions.
Amendments 113, 114 and 118 respond to two committee recommendations. The committee felt that, when the Government seek by order under paragraph 1 or 2 of Schedule 2 to vary the general rule that marriages of same-sex couples in England and Wales are to be treated as civil partnerships in other parts of the United Kingdom, this should be subject to greater parliamentary control.
We accept this, but emphasise that already the Government can do nothing under this power without the consent of the Scottish Parliament or the Northern Ireland Assembly, as appropriate, where any such order contains provision within the legislative competence of either of the devolved Administrations. In the case of paragraph 27 of Schedule 4, we are again happy to accept the committee’s recommendation that any disapplication of the general rule that marriages of same-sex couples are to be treated under English and Welsh law in the same way as marriage between opposite-sex couples should be subject to the affirmative procedure. We welcome these observations and accordingly propose to introduce the affirmative procedure when the Secretary of State makes an order under paragraph 1(2) or paragraph 2 to Schedule 2 or paragraph 27 to Schedule 4.
I turn now to Schedule 6 and Amendment 91, which responds to the committee’s concern that aspects of these powers were not consistent with the quadruple-lock protections for the Church of England and the Church in Wales. This amendment clarifies the provision for Orders in Council in relation to the solemnisation through religious ceremonies of marriages of same-sex couples on Armed Forces bases overseas. This amendment clarifies that an Order in Council to make provision for the marriage of same-sex couples on Armed Forces bases overseas explicitly prohibits solemnisation of marriage according to the rites of the Church of England or the Church in Wales, in line with the religious protections elsewhere in the Bill. This amendment also provides that the Order in Council must, rather than may, make provision to secure that such a marriage under other religious rites and usages may not be solemnised unless the relevant governing authority has given written consent to marriages of same-sex couples.
I will now briefly cover Amendment 92, which does not derive from the recommendations of the committee. This amendment clarifies that, should the Church in Wales decide that the law of England and Wales be changed to allow the marriage of couples according to
the rites of the Church in Wales, the Lord Chancellor is permitted to make relevant amending provision. This will include amending provision to include Orders in Council for marriages overseas. Given the relatively technical nature of this amendment and, for administrative convenience, it is thought appropriate for the Lord Chancellor, as opposed to the Secretary of State, to make the order, even though it is related to the Armed Forces.
We thank the Delegated Powers Committee for its careful work and hope that it will be pleased with our response. I therefore commend these amendments to the House. I beg to move.