My Lords, this draft order was laid before the House on 16 November 2021. I am pleased to have the opportunity this afternoon to debate these consequential amendments, which support the Scottish Government’s decision to introduce opposite-sex civil partnerships to Scotland.
Civil partnerships were first introduced across the UK through the Civil Partnerships Act 2004, with the first civil partnership taking place in December 2005. Opposite-sex civil partnerships were then introduced in England and Wales in 2019, and in Northern Ireland in 2020, following a ruling by the Supreme Court. The Scottish Government passed the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020, which enabled opposite-sex civil partnerships to become available in Scotland in 2021. Consequently, 22 opposite-sex civil partnerships were registered in Scotland in June 2021. From July to September 2021, there were a further 216 opposite-sex civil partnerships in Scotland, making a total so far of 238.
The order makes a range of technical changes to reserved legislation that are required in consequence of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020, which I will refer to henceforth as the 2020 Act. It is important that we support the Scottish Government to provide equality of opportunity as they introduce these changes in Scotland. Later in my remarks, I will outline the legislative changes that we seek to make in this order but, first, I want to offer a real-world example of what these changes will mean in Scotland. The order is complex, but one example is the change made to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 on assisted conception. The amendments will ensure that, when it comes to establishing the parentage of a child in assisted conception cases, couples in a civil partnership are treated in the same way as married couples.
Before we look at the legislative detail of this order, it is worth spending a moment explaining Scotland Act orders to everyone here today; I hope that the Committee will forgive me because I outlined this in the previous debate, when noble Lords were very patient in listening to me. This type of statutory instrument is a form of secondary legislation made under the Scotland Act 1998, which devolved significant powers to Scotland and formed the basis of the devolution settlement that has been in operation for more than 20 years. The order before us today is a Section 104 order, a type of order that allows for necessary or expedient legislative provision in consequence of any provision made by or under any Act of the Scottish Parliament. It can also be made in consequence of secondary legislation made by Scottish Ministers. In this case, provision is required in consequence of the aforementioned 2020 Act.
Turning to the purpose of this order, I shall highlight some of the key legislative changes made here. The main changes reflect that civil partnership in Scotland no longer includes a same-sex relationship; it now includes an opposite-sex relationship too. Therefore, amendments are made to the Equality Act 2010, for example, further to protect persons such as religious and belief celebrants who do not wish to take part in the registration of mixed sex-civil partnerships. These amendments to the 2010 Act, which is generally a reserved matter for Westminster, reflect that, in Scotland, religious and belief celebrants can register civil partnerships in much the same way as they can solemnise marriage.