Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of how many unregistered Islamic marriages there have been in the UK in each of the last ten years.

The Ministry of Justice does not collect data on the number of religious-only Islamic marriages that take place in the UK.

The Government is aware of the differential treatment faced by groups that do not have a legally binding religious ceremony under the current law, and that some people, particularly women, can face serious financial problems as a result, if their relationship breaks down.

That is why we have committed to weddings law reform that will make it more straightforward for religious groups to get legally married in accordance with their beliefs. We will be undertaking a consultation on the reform of weddings law in England and Wales, early this year.