Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with LGBT activists and organisations from the (a) Cayman Islands and (b) Bermuda where the right to marriage for same-sex couples is refused by their respective Governments.
Answered by David Rutley
The inhabited British Overseas Territories are separate, largely self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected representatives. The relationship with the Overseas Territories is based on partnership. Policy on marriage law is an area of devolved responsibility.
The majority of Overseas Territories have legal recognition and protection for same sex relationships, either through marriage or through civil partnerships as is the case in Bermuda. In 2020, the Governor of the Cayman Islands enacted civil partnership legislation to recognise same-sex partnerships in order to comply with the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. The UK Government continues to engage with and encourage remaining Territories that have not put in place arrangements to recognise and protect same sex relationships, to do so.
The UK Government remains open to further engagement with LGBT+ activists and organisations across the Overseas Territories to support increased recognition and protections for same-sex relationships in the Overseas Territories.
Asked by: Cherilyn Mackrory (Conservative - Truro and Falmouth)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether post separation abuse is a prosecutable offence under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Sections 1 and 2 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 included a strengthened definition of domestic abuse which recognises abuse can take place post separation.
Section 1 sets out that the relationship between an individual being abused and the perpetrator is one where they are ‘personally connected’. Section 2 expands what is meant by ‘personally connected’ and is explicit this includes instances where to people “are, or have been” in various forms of relationship, including marriage, civil partnerships, and intimate personal relationships.
The Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance, issued by the Home Secretary under Section 84 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, includes specific references to post-separation abuse, acknowledging “abuse can continue or intensify when a relationship has ended.”
Asked by: Peter Bottomley (Conservative - Worthing West)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether gender identity is a protected characteristic and what training material on the Civil Service learning platform for civil servants states that the precise definition of discrimination in the Equality Act 2010 includes gender identity.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
The relevant protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010 is ‘gender reassignment’. The Equality and Human Rights Commission website explains that: “To be protected from gender reassignment discrimination, you do not need to have undergone any specific treatment or surgery to change from your birth sex to your preferred gender. This is because changing your physiological or other gender attributes is a personal process rather than a medical one. You can be at any stage in the transition process – from proposing to reassign your gender, to undergoing a process to reassign your gender, or having completed it.”
The Civil Service training course ‘Inclusion in the Civil Service’ gives an explanation of the Equality Act 2010 as follows:
The Equality Act provides specific protection for people who have the following characteristics:
However, the training does reference ‘gender identity’ as an area that could lead to discrimination. The current training is shortly being replaced with a new product called “Civil Service Expectations” which will more clearly reflect the legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the difference in tax paid by (a) married and (b) unmarried couples in each category of taxation where marital status is relevant in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Marriage Allowance was introduced in April 2015 to recognise the importance of marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system. The estimated tax relief given to couples through the Marriage Allowance in 2020-21 was £580 million.
Personal Taxation is usually assessed on individuals’ incomes rather than couples or households. As a result, HMRC do not hold administrative data on which to underpin an assessment of the difference in tax paid by married and unmarried couples.
The cost of the Marriage Allowance, and other reliefs, are set out in HMRC’s tax relief statistics publication, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/minor-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/estimated-cost-of-tax-reliefs-statistics.
Asked by: Chris Green (Conservative - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the Marriage Allowance.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Government introduced the Marriage Allowance (MA) in April 2015 to recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system. It allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer 10 per cent of their Personal Allowance (PA) if their partner is a basic rate taxpayer.
At Spring Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced that the PA would be maintained from the years 2022-23 to 2025-26. The transferable tax allowance of £1,260 provided through the MA will remain at its current level until 2025-26.
As with all elements of Income Tax, the Government keeps this under review as part of the annual Budget process.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many couples claiming the Marriage Allowance are claiming retrospectively for (a) two years (b) three years and (c) four years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The information requested is not readily available to HMRC and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
HMRC estimated around 4.2 million non-taxpayer/basic-rate taxpayer married couples, and civil partnerships, are eligible to receive the Marriage Allowance.
Asked by: Jonathan Lord (Conservative - Woking)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the number of married couples eligible to receive the Marriage Allowance.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The information requested is not readily available to HMRC and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
HMRC estimated around 4.2 million non-taxpayer/basic-rate taxpayer married couples, and civil partnerships, are eligible to receive the Marriage Allowance.
Asked by: Lord Desai (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possibility of extending legal recognition to humanist marriages in premises approved for civil marriages and civil partnerships in advance of the outcome of the Law Commission review of marriage law; and, if any such assessment concluded that such an extension was not possible, why not.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
In 2014, the Government published a consultation paper and response assessing the potential merits of provision for non-religious belief marriages. This concluded that the matter was complex, and that by allowing Humanists to solemnise marriages in unrestricted locations, the Government would create a provision for Humanists that would not be available to all groups.
To ensure we are considering the implications of changing the law on marriage for all groups, we invited the Law Commission to undertake a review which is currently underway and is expected to report in July of this year. By looking at the law comprehensively, the Law Commission will seek to put forward proposals that would ensure that, insofar as possible, groups and couples are all subject to the same rules and the same level of regulation. That reform is not possible by only authorising Humanist weddings, even on a temporary basis pending the Law Commission report.
The Government will carefully consider the Law Commission’s recommendations when the final report is published in July, and it is right for us to wait for the outcome of the report before amending marriage law any further.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she last made an assessment of (a) the legal rights and status of LGBT+ people in the UK Overseas Territories and (b) any potential differences from UK domestic law and commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The inhabited Overseas Territories are separate, largely self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically-elected representatives. Our relationship with the Territories is based on partnership and we are working together to put in place arrangements to protect the legal status and rights of LGBT+ people. Nine of the Overseas Territories have legal recognition and protection for LGBT+ people, six have also introduced legislation to introduce civil partnerships or legalise same-sex marriage.
We continue to assess and engage with all the Overseas Territories to ensure that their legislation is compliant with their international obligations.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the implementation of the issuing of electronic marriage certificates under the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc.) Act 2019.
Answered by Kevin Foster
While the implementation of the Act provides for marriages to be registered in a central electronic register, marriage certificates continue to be issued in paper format only.
These new provisions have successfully enabled the modernisation of marriage registration in England and Wales, which includes the recording of the details of both parents in the entry, rather than just the father.