Overview of the Act
The purpose of the Act is fourfold. Firstly, it confers powers on the Secretary of State to enable them to reform the way in which marriages are registered in England and Wales, moving from a paper-based system to registration in an electronic register. This will facilitate change to the register entry, both now and in the future, including a line for the inclusion of the mother in the marriage entry and create a more secure system for the maintenance of marriage records. Secondly, it requires the Secretary of State to make regulations to extend eligibility to form a civil partnership to opposite-sex couples by no later than 31st December 2019, and empowers the Secretary of State to make other provision in view of extension of eligibility. Thirdly, it requires the Secretary of State to prepare a report on whether the law ought to be changed to require or permit the registration of pregnancy losses which cannot be registered as still-births under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953. Finally, it requires the Secretary of State to prepare a report on whether the law ought to be changed to enable or require coroners to investigate stillbirths, and confers powers to make those changes.