Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to implement the Law Commission’s July 2022 recommendations for reforming weddings law in England and Wales.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government announced on 2 October that we intend to reform weddings law when parliamentary time allows. The reforms reflect a commitment to making marriage law fairer, simpler and more modern, whilst also protecting the solemnity and dignity of marriage. We want to create a level playing field for all groups, including allowing humanist weddings to be legally recognised for the first time. We will be consulting on the details early next year.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government has taken to review the provisions of the Marriage Act 1949.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government announced on 2 October that we intend to reform weddings law when parliamentary time allows. The reforms reflect a commitment to making marriage law fairer, simpler and more modern, whilst also protecting the solemnity and dignity of marriage. We want to create a level playing field for all groups, including allowing humanist weddings to be legally recognised for the first time. We will be consulting on the details early next year.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she plans to take to support people with Family Court cases who are unable to afford legal representation but are not eligible for legal aid.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government is already taking steps to ensure that financial hardship does not prevent parents from engaging with the family court system. To support access to justice, the Help with Fees scheme provides full or partial remission of court and tribunal fees for those on low incomes or in receipt of certain benefits. This includes applications made in the family courts such as applications for child arrangement orders.
The Ministry of Justice also provides funding to support the delivery of wider legal support services, which provide advice and support to individuals facing social welfare legal problems, including family matters. In 2025-26, the Ministry of Justice will provide over £6 million of grant funding to 60 frontline organisations to improve access to free legal support and information, both in-person and online, and to help people resolve their problems as early as possible. This includes funding for organisations including some local Citizens Advice and Law Centres, as well as AdviceNow, which provides online support on their website across a range of civil, family and tribunal issues.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting separating families, where appropriate, to resolve their issues without the need to come to court. The Mediation Voucher Scheme provides up to £500 towards the cost of mediation to help families resolve their child arrangement disputes outside of court, where this is safe and appropriate. The voucher is non-means tested and is available to anyone with a private law dispute relating to children. The scheme will be in place until at least March 2026 and has helped over 44,000 families to date.
Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help improve the experiences of rape and sexual assault victims in the criminal justice system.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Government was elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the next decade. Ministers from a wide range of relevant Government departments regularly meet to ensure we are using all available levers to achieve this, and we will publish our cross-government strategy this summer.
We are already taking action to improve the experiences of victims of domestic and sexual abuse by: