Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to end child marriage across England and Wales.

The Government continues to listen carefully to the debate on the legal age of marriage. Justice officials liaise closely with officials in other departments that have an interest in this matter and in forced marriage, which Government made an offence in 2014.

I am aware of my Hon. Friend’s Private Members’ Bill which seeks to raise the age for marriage and civil partnership formation in England Wales from sixteen or seventeen to eighteen years of age. It also seeks to provide for related offences including an offence of failing to protect a child from entering marriage. Her Bill would also place a requirement on certain professionals to notify the police, if any such marriage has taken place, or could take place, and seeks to provide for a new child marriage protection order.

My noble and learned friend Lord Wolfson, in his new role as minister for family justice, will arrange to meet with my hon. friend shortly to discuss these important issues with her.