Clause 1 - Civil partnership
Civil Partnership Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Ms Jacqui Smith (Minister of State (Industry and the Regions and Deputy Minister for Women), Department of Trade and Industry; Redditch, Labour)
I do not think that my hon. Friend is being serious, but he identifies one of the difficulties in which one might find oneself if one expects potential civil partners to undergo a test to check their declarations. That would not be satisfactory, but we want to ensure that people have every opportunity to
gain an understanding of what they are taking on by entering into a civil partnership. The Government will consider how to raise awareness of the new legal relationship and the rights and responsibilities associated with it. We will need to do that in the implementation period and to do so specifically for couples, perhaps by providing them with written information when they come to make their notice of declaration. We need to explore all those avenues, but making a legal requirement is unnecessary and could be legally difficult. For those reasons, I hope that hon. Members will not press their amendments.