Same sex couples in civil partnerships who wish to convert to marriage will be able to do so without a fee for a year from December. Culture Secretary Sajid Javid laid draft regulations before Parliament confirming that the fee for converting from a civil partnership relationship to a marriage relationship will be waived for a limited one year period.
...In its submission to the Government consultation on same-sex marriage, which closes on 14th June, the Church of England states it cannot support the proposal to enable "all couples, regardless of their gender, to have a civil marriage ceremony".
Statistics showing the changing shape of society over sixty years have been released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Children's charity, 4Children, has responded to the Government's equal marriage consultation, supporting the step forward for equality, and asking the government to go further where there is a clear case for doing so.
A consultation on how to lift the ban on same-sex couples marrying in a civil ceremony has been launched by the government.
Recent data released by the Office for National Statistics has given a breakdown of the conception rate in England and Wales during 2010.
The Office for National Statistics has published a bulletin presenting annual statistics on family and household structure in the UK. A family is a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent with at least one child. Children may be dependent or non-dependent. Types of family include married couple families, cohabiting couple families and lone parent families.
The Government has announced that it will start consulting next spring on legalising same-sex marriages, reports the BBC.
There were 6,385 civil partnerships formed in the UK in 2010, up 1.7% on 2009, according to new figures from the Office of National Statistics.
A ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union has stated that a supplementary retirement pension paid to a partner in a civil partnership, which is lower than that granted in a marriage, may constitute discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. This is the case if the partnership is reserved to persons of the same gender and if it is in a legal and factual situation comparable to that of marriage.
Brits are showing caution with their finances when they decide to move in with a new partner, research from online bank first direct reveals. The findings show that for the majority, financial commitment is not on the agenda with couples keeping their distance in their money and property arrangements.
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.
The European Commission is proposing EU-wide rules to bring legal clarity to the property rights for married international couples and for registered partnerships with an international dimension.
As part of its commitment to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB and T) people, the government has announced that religious buildings will be allowed to host civil partnership registrations.
