The Government Equalities Office has launched a public consultation exercise outlining its proposals for allowing civil partnerships to be registered on religious premises. The consultation follows the Government's announcement in February of this year that it would be implementing section 202 of the Equalities Act 2010 to remove the legal prohibition on such registrations taking place.
According to the Equalities Office, the consultation will set out detailed proposals that will:
- enable faith groups to opt in,
- respect the different decision-making structures of different faith groups,
- minimise the risk of successful legal challenges, and
- be straightforward for local authorities to operate.
The proposals make it clear that faith groups will be under no obligation to permit civil partnership registrations to take place on their premises. It will also only be possible for a civil partnership to be legally registered on religious premises that have been approved for the purpose by the local authority. That approval will only be given with the agreement of the faith group concerned.