Civil partnership numbers plunge

The number of civil partnership registrations dropped by almost 50 per cent last year, new figures reveal.

Following an initial ‘boom’ in registrations after the law was changed in 2005, there were only 8,728 registrations last year compared to 16,106 in 2006.

It means fewer than 0.1 per cent of unmarried adults took out a homosexual civil partnership in 2007.

If the numbers continue at the present level they will fall well short of the Government’s initial high take-up target of 62,000 registrations in the first five years.

The Government’s initial target, which has since been revised, was based on the assumption that five per cent of the UK population is homosexual.

However, an official Government survey published earlier this year found that only one per cent are homosexual.

The last census revealed that only 0.2 per cent of UK households were headed by a same-sex couple.

Almost one quarter of homosexual civil partnership registrations took place in London last year with Brighton the second most popular location.