Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impacts of the declining marriage rate and birth rate in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th June is attached.
Dear Lord Jackson,
As Acting National Statistician, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking what steps are being taken to expedite the timely publication of marriage and divorce statistics by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (HL8355), and what assessment has been made of the potential impacts of the declining marriage rate and birth rate in the United Kingdom (HL8356).
The latest published statistics on marriages[1] and divorces[2] in England and Wales are for 2022. Divorces and Dissolutions in England and Wales, 2023[3] will be published on 2 July 2025. Marriages in England and Wales, 2023[4] is provisionally scheduled for publication in November 2025, alongside Civil partnerships in England and Wales, 2023[5].
The Marriages, Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019 (which came into force on 4 May 2021) has resulted in a new electronic registration system replacing the paper marriage register. This has improved the timeliness of the submission of religious marriage entries to the General Register Office (GRO) who in turn supply these to the ONS. Following this change to the way marriages are recorded, the ONS have been working to improve the timeliness of publication of marriage statistics and to consolidate the release of marriage and civil partnership statistics to improve accessibility for users and to bring the reference periods in line.
Marriage, civil partnership and divorce statistics incorporate rates as part of the publication; these rates use population estimates by marital status[6] as denominators so these estimates need to be available prior to calculation. The ONS aims to balance the need for timely legal partnership statistics with the timing of publication, and revisions to, population estimates by marital status in order to provide the most accurate rates possible. Estimates for 2023 and 2024 are provisionally scheduled to be published in November 2025.
The ONS does not assess the potential impacts of the declining marriage rate and birth rate in the United Kingdom.
However, in our National Population Projections[7] we analyse past trends in fertility rates to produce a projection of future fertility for the UK. These projections are widely used to support policy making. The numbers of people in each life stage are important when considering dependency ratios, which inform government financial planning. A common measure is the old-age-dependency ratio (OADR), which is the number of people of pensionable age for every 1,000 people of working age. It is projected that OADR for the UK will increase from 278 in mid-2022 to 289 in mid-2032, reaching 302 by mid-2047.
The ONS has published a UK population projection explorer tool[8] which allows users to vary the assumptions for future fertility, net migration and life expectancy to see the impact on the size and age structure of the UK population over the next 50 years.
The ONS publishes marriage and divorce statistics for England and Wales only. National Records for Scotland (NRS)[9] and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA[10]) are responsible for the publication of marriage and divorce statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
[1] Marriages in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics
[2] Divorces in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics
[3] Divorces and Dissolutions in England and Wales: 2023 - Office for National Statistics
[4] Marriages in England and Wales: 2023 - Office for National Statistics
[5] Civil partnerships in England and Wales: 2023 - Office for National Statistics
[7] National population projections - Office for National Statistics
[8] UK population projection explorer - Office for National Statistics
[9] National Records of Scotland (NRS)
[10] Home | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to expedite the timely publication of marriage and divorce statistics by the Office for National Statistics.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 11th June is attached.
Dear Lord Jackson,
As Acting National Statistician, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking what steps are being taken to expedite the timely publication of marriage and divorce statistics by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (HL8355), and what assessment has been made of the potential impacts of the declining marriage rate and birth rate in the United Kingdom (HL8356).
The latest published statistics on marriages[1] and divorces[2] in England and Wales are for 2022. Divorces and Dissolutions in England and Wales, 2023[3] will be published on 2 July 2025. Marriages in England and Wales, 2023[4] is provisionally scheduled for publication in November 2025, alongside Civil partnerships in England and Wales, 2023[5].
The Marriages, Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019 (which came into force on 4 May 2021) has resulted in a new electronic registration system replacing the paper marriage register. This has improved the timeliness of the submission of religious marriage entries to the General Register Office (GRO) who in turn supply these to the ONS. Following this change to the way marriages are recorded, the ONS have been working to improve the timeliness of publication of marriage statistics and to consolidate the release of marriage and civil partnership statistics to improve accessibility for users and to bring the reference periods in line.
Marriage, civil partnership and divorce statistics incorporate rates as part of the publication; these rates use population estimates by marital status[6] as denominators so these estimates need to be available prior to calculation. The ONS aims to balance the need for timely legal partnership statistics with the timing of publication, and revisions to, population estimates by marital status in order to provide the most accurate rates possible. Estimates for 2023 and 2024 are provisionally scheduled to be published in November 2025.
The ONS does not assess the potential impacts of the declining marriage rate and birth rate in the United Kingdom.
However, in our National Population Projections[7] we analyse past trends in fertility rates to produce a projection of future fertility for the UK. These projections are widely used to support policy making. The numbers of people in each life stage are important when considering dependency ratios, which inform government financial planning. A common measure is the old-age-dependency ratio (OADR), which is the number of people of pensionable age for every 1,000 people of working age. It is projected that OADR for the UK will increase from 278 in mid-2022 to 289 in mid-2032, reaching 302 by mid-2047.
The ONS has published a UK population projection explorer tool[8] which allows users to vary the assumptions for future fertility, net migration and life expectancy to see the impact on the size and age structure of the UK population over the next 50 years.
The ONS publishes marriage and divorce statistics for England and Wales only. National Records for Scotland (NRS)[9] and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA[10]) are responsible for the publication of marriage and divorce statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Rourke
[1] Marriages in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics
[2] Divorces in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics
[3] Divorces and Dissolutions in England and Wales: 2023 - Office for National Statistics
[4] Marriages in England and Wales: 2023 - Office for National Statistics
[5] Civil partnerships in England and Wales: 2023 - Office for National Statistics
[7] National population projections - Office for National Statistics
[8] UK population projection explorer - Office for National Statistics
[9] National Records of Scotland (NRS)
[10] Home | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have provided guidance for Ministers who wish to engage with the Muslim Council of Britain in their ministerial capacity.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Our policy on engagement with the Muslim Council of Britain has not changed.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 22 April 2025 (HL6561), whether there are informal or political committees of Cabinet which are not listed on the Cabinet Office's list of Cabinet committees and whether this includes a ministerial 'quad' meeting.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are various configurations of ministerial meetings. Cabinet committees are publicly listed on GOV.UK
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office on 15 November 2024 (HC11596), whether there is a quadrilateral meeting to discuss government business.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Various forms of Ministerial meetings take place.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the finding in the independent report published on 19 March, Independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender, by Professor Alice Sullivan, that there is a 'partisan climate on certain issues, including gender' within the Office for National Statistics.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician
The Lord Jackson of Peterborough
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
8 April 2025
Dear Lord Jackson,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what assessment has been made of the finding in the independent report published on 19 March, Independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender, by Professor Alice Sullivan, that there is a 'partisan climate on certain issues, including gender' within the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (HL6248).
The ONS has a long history of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders on all the census questions. We listen impartially and objectively to all voices to safeguard the production of official statistics that serve the public good in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics[1].
We welcome the Independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender and are reviewing the findings in detail. We are committed to working with others to improve the comparability, consistency, and coherence of government statistics. This year, the Government Statistical Service (GSS) is holding a series of regional listening events to inform ongoing work on the topics of sex and gender identity.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[1]https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 25 February, why the publication of the Civil Service diversity spending dataset is delayed, following the commitment made to publish the dataset in the Written Statement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 14 May 2024 (HLWS462).
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The data from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Review will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 25 February (HL5027), whether the (1) Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, (2) Government Legal Department, and (3) Government Recruitment Service, are paid members or affiliates of Stonewall.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Neither the Government Legal Department nor the Government Recruitment Service are paid members or affiliates of Stonewall. The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is independent of Government and we do not therefore hold information on any of its memberships or affiliations.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office on 22 October 2024 (HC8818), and further to the Written Statement by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 14 May 2024 (HLWS462), whether the equality, diversity and inclusion spending controls announced in that Written Statement apply to decisions by arm’s length bodies to use public funds to affiliate, or pay services, or renew subscriptions to Stonewall.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Guidance applies to the Civil Service workforce. That includes arm’s-length bodies that fall within the Civil Service. Affiliations, services or subscriptions to external organisations fall within the scope of external EDI expenditure, as set out in paragraph 7 of the guidance.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office on 7 February (HC27716), what is the timetable for publishing the diversity dataset from the Civil Service equality, diversity and inclusion review; and why it cannot yet be published.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The data from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Expenditure Review will be published in due course.