Clause 1

Part of Marriage (Wales) Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:00 pm on 24 February 2010.

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Photo of Alun Michael Alun Michael Labour, Cardiff South and Penarth 4:00, 24 February 2010

It is a pleasure to sit under your chairmanship this afternoon, Mr. Hancock. You may not be Welsh, but most of the south-west would have come within the boundaries of Wales if Owain Glyndwr had had his way, so I think that we should consider you an honorary Welshman for the purposes of this Committee.

I do not think that I have to declare an interest, but I am a member of the Church in Wales, although I was brought up in yr Eglwys Bresbyteraidd Cymru—yr hen gorff—so there is an ecumenical flavour to the event. Perhaps I could range a little wider than clause 1 and say virtually everything that I need to say on the Bill. I am delighted that there are hon. Members from all parties in Wales here providing support for the Bill. That reflects the degree of consensus, and even enthusiasm, that there is for it.

The background is that on 1 October 2008 the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008 came into force. Before then, banns of marriage could be called in a parish church if one or both of the parties to be married resided in that parish. If they lived in different parishes, the banns had to be called in the parish church of each party.

The Measure added five additional cases of “qualifying connection” with the parish. In summary, they are as follows: first, one of the parties was baptised or confirmed in the parish; secondly, one of the parties had, at any time, his or her usual place of residence in the parish for not less than six months; thirdly, one of the parties had, at any time, habitually attended public worship in the parish for not less than six months; fourthly, a parent of one of the parties, during the lifetime of that party, fulfilled either of the two previous conditions; and finally, a parent or grandparent of one of the parties was married in the parish.

Those connections are largely respected, especially as we have a more mobile population than we did in the past, when most people would have been born, brought up, married and buried in the same parish. People establish connections with a place during a particular phase in their life, or want to make a connection with  the parish of their parents or grandparents, as I know is the case for members of this Committee, including my hon. Friend the Member for Newport, East. I am sure that many other Members can think of situations in which family connections are valued.

The Church in Wales recognises the importance of those links, so the Bill has the full support of the governing body and the representative body of the Church in Wales. However, it is slightly ironic that whereas all that was needed for the established Church of England to bring about the changes was a Measure, we in Wales required, for the disestablished Church, a private Member’s Bill to go through its stages in this House.

Effectively, the Bill will extend the measures that have been in place in the Church of England since 2008 to the Church in Wales. That is why we are here today. I believe that the extension of powers is widely supported—it is certainly supported by all four parties represented on the Committee—so I hope that clause 1 will stand part of the Bill and that we can deal with the remaining clauses formally.