There is a discrepancy between the Sudanese Child Act of 2010, under which anyone under the age of 18 is considered to be a child, and religious law, under which anyone under the age of 11 is considered to be a child. Along with the Sudanese National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW), we have lobbied the Government to ensure compliance with the Child Act and the removal of any discrepancies which lead to under-age children being married.

Broader work on child rights forms part of a programme supported by DFID, and run by UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which focuses on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This programme has included a workshop on reaching a national position on the legal age of marriage. DFID is also providing funding to UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which will include data on the percentage of women who were married by the time they reached 18. The findings of that survey, which will report by the end of 2014, will inform our discussions with the Government of Sudan.

DFID worked closely with the NCCW to ensure that the Government was represented at the Girl Summit which took place in London in July, and which had a particular focus on FGM and Child and Forced Marriage (CEFM). We welcome the Government of Sudan’s subsequent signature of the Girl Summit Charter, which includes a public commitment to ending CEFM. We are actively following up with the Government of Sudan to ensure that they maintain momentum on these issues.

There is a discrepancy between the Sudanese Child Act of 2010, under which anyone under the age of 18 is considered to be a child, and religious law, under which anyone under the age of 11 is considered to be a child. Along with the Sudanese National Council for Child Welfare (NCCW), we have lobbied the Government to ensure compliance with the Child Act and the removal of any discrepancies which lead to under-age children being married.

Broader work on child rights forms part of a programme supported by DFID, and run by UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which focuses on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This programme has included a workshop on reaching a national position on the legal age of marriage. DFID is also providing funding to UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), which will include data on the percentage of women who were married by the time they reached 18. The findings of that survey, which will report by the end of 2014, will inform our discussions with the Government of Sudan.

DFID worked closely with the NCCW to ensure that the Government was represented at the Girl Summit which took place in London in July, and which had a particular focus on FGM and Child and Forced Marriage (CEFM). We welcome the Government of Sudan’s subsequent signature of the Girl Summit Charter, which includes a public commitment to ending CEFM. We are actively following up with the Government of Sudan to ensure that they maintain momentum on these issues.

The Government is committed to ensuring that couples wishing to convert their civil partnership in to a marriage can do so from 10 December 2014.

The draft Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014, which were laid in the House on 3^rd July 2014, provide for a simple conversion process, which is not, and was never envisaged to be, a marriage ceremony. The draft regulations were prepared in accordance with the provision made by Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, in particular subsections (4) and (5), which was debated at length in both Houses of Parliament during the passage of the Bill.

The process was conceived in line with responses from those in civil partnerships to the public consultation in 2012, which called for a simple, straightforward and low cost way for couples to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. Stakeholders expressed a desire for a conversion process which would not undermine the significance of the original civil partnership and which would avoid creating undue new burdens or costs for couples. Accordingly the conversion process was not envisaged to be a process which would replicate a marriage ceremony, whether religious or secular, but was rather intended to be an easy administrative process by which couples converted their civil partnerships and had these recognised as marriages from the date the civil partnership was formed. Couples who did want to celebrate the conversion with family and friends could choose to hold some form of non-statutory celebratory ceremony following the conversion itself, if they so wished.

We continue to listen to the views expressed by stakeholders during the implementation of the Act. We have heard views articulated by stakeholders in recent weeks raising concerns with the conversion process as set out in the draft regulations as laid and in particular regarding the possibility of incorporating religious elements within conversions. We will consider these views and whether suitable options exist for addressing them within the legal framework established by the Act over the summer.

The Government is committed to ensuring that couples wishing to convert their civil partnership in to a marriage can do so from 10 December 2014.

The draft Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014, which were laid in the House on 3^rd July 2014, provide for a simple conversion process, which is not, and was never envisaged to be, a marriage ceremony. The draft regulations were prepared in accordance with the provision made by Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, in particular subsections (4) and (5), which was debated at length in both Houses of Parliament during the passage of the Bill.

The process was conceived in line with responses from those in civil partnerships to the public consultation in 2012, which called for a simple, straightforward and low cost way for couples to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. Stakeholders expressed a desire for a conversion process which would not undermine the significance of the original civil partnership and which would avoid creating undue new burdens or costs for couples. Accordingly the conversion process was not envisaged to be a process which would replicate a marriage ceremony, whether religious or secular, but was rather intended to be an easy administrative process by which couples converted their civil partnerships and had these recognised as marriages from the date the civil partnership was formed. Couples who did want to celebrate the conversion with family and friends could choose to hold some form of non-statutory celebratory ceremony following the conversion itself, if they so wished.

We continue to listen to the views expressed by stakeholders during the implementation of the Act. We have heard views articulated by stakeholders in recent weeks raising concerns with the conversion process as set out in the draft regulations as laid and in particular regarding the possibility of incorporating religious elements within conversions. We will consider these views and whether suitable options exist for addressing them within the legal framework established by the Act over the summer.

All responses to the equal marriage consultation were treated as individual responses for the analysis of the data exercise and were taken into account as part of the Government's response. This included around 75,000 responses identified as being part of a campaign. Where responses were received from organisations who described themselves as such, these were coded as organisational responses to allow more detailed exploration of the points raised. Petitions were not treated as responses to the consultation but these were qualitatively considered and are set out in Annex B of the Government's response. This was published on 11 December 2012. The decision on classification of the responses was agreed by Ministers.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for ONS, to Lord Roberts of Llandudno, dated January 2013.

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent questions on how many (1) marriages, and (2) divorces, there were in (a) 1983, (b) 1993, (c) 2003, and (d) 2010, and how many civil partnerships have been registered in each year since 2005. (HL5023)

The table below shows the numbers of marriages and divorces in England and Wales. ONS divorce statistics include both dissolutions and annulments of marriage.

. Figures for 2010 are provisional

Source: Office for National Statistics

The table below shows the numbers of civil partnerships formed in England and Wales.

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force on 5 December 2005 in the UK, the first day couples could give notice of their intention to form a civil partnership. The first day that couples could normally form a partnership was 21 December 2005 in England and Wales (18 civil partnerships were formed under special arrangements before these dates. These are included in the figures).

Source: Office for National Statistics

The Vital Statistics: Population and Health Reference Tables on the ONS website provide the number of marriages, divorces, civil partnership and civil partnership dissolutions for the United Kingdom and its constituent countries. See Annual Time Series Data table at: www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/vital-statistics--population-and-health-reference-tables/winter-2012-update/rtd-annual-table.xls.

As has been the case under successive Administrations, it is practice not to disclose the agendas of Cabinet and Cabinet Committees.