Baroness Levitt KC, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, has responded to a letter of 22 October from Andy Slaughter, Chair of the House of Commons Justice Committee, on the Government’s recent announcement on the legal recognition of humanist marriages in England and Wales and the Government’s proposed consultation on cohabitation.

On humanist weddings, she confirmed that the Government remains fully committed to legal recognition for humanist marriages in England and Wales; however, “[a]fter careful consideration, the Government has decided not to use the existing order-making power under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legally to recognise humanist weddings”.

The Government’s argument is that to do so “would introduce new inequalities into the legislation because it would give humanists more freedoms in relation to their weddings than most religious groups”. Further, “using the order-making power would not resolve other issues in marriage law which affect all groups. Under the current law, there are groups who are unable legally to marry in accordance with their traditions,” – for example, Muslims.

The Government believes that the issues are complex and that “only comprehensive reform will deliver a fair, lasting outcome for all groups” and would not be an efficient use of public funds, “as it would duplicate work and costs ahead of wider reform which will benefit all groups”.

As to the issue of providing legal protection for cohabitating couples, Mr Slaughter had asked whether a formal consultation on cohabitating couples was still expected before the end of 2025. To which Bs Levitt replied:

“As you know, we committed to launching a public consultation as to the form cohabitation reform should take and our priority remains to legislate on this manifesto commitment. My officials are working with me on the details of the consultation and I will share a more detailed timeline on this and other measures we are taking forward in due course.”

The text of the letter is here.