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Registration services fees are set by the Registrar General for Scotland with the approval of the Scottish Ministers. The fee for a civil marriage ceremony conducted by a registrar is £55. This fixed fee applies in all parts of Scotland and has been in place since 2010.

Local authorities may charge additional fees to cover extra costs for accommodating additional guests and the use of marriage rooms or the attendance of an authorised registrar at places other than their registration offices. These fees are set by each local authority.

Registration service fees are set by the Registrar General for Scotland with the approval of the Scottish Ministers.

The Scottish Government has not considered waiving or reducing the statutory fees associated with marriage. The Scottish Government’s policy as set out in guidance in the Scottish Public Finance Manual is that charges for public services should generally allow for full cost recovery: Fees and charges - Scottish Public Finance Manual - gov.scot Consequently, the aim is for local authority registration services to recover the true cost of their statutory services via the fees set by the Registrar General.

With effect from 1 May 2022, the fee for submitting each marriage notice was increased to £45 from £30: The Registration Services (Fees, etc.) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022. This was the first increase in the marriage notice fee since April 2010.

The current fee for a civil marriage ceremony is £55 and the fee for the marriage certificate is £10 if purchasing within a month of the registration of the marriage.

The Scottish Government gathered information in advance of the 2022 Regulations about the overall costs of weddings for many couples: see under the heading of “Consumer Assessment” in the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the 2022 Regulations.

The Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 requires that for a marriage to take place, a completed Marriage Schedule must be available and both parties to the marriage must be present along with the registrar or celebrant and two witnesses aged 16 or over.

For couples cohabiting prior to 4 May 2006 it remains possible to seek a declarator from a court that they are married by cohabitation with habit and repute.

Some consideration was given to the possibility of remote marriage ceremonies in the progress of the Coronavirus (No 2) (Scotland) Bill in Parliament but no changes were made. There would be a risk of abuse, such as forced marriage, if the requirement for the parties the celebrant and the witnesses to be physically present were removed.

The Scottish Government has no plans to review or change the current arrangements.

The Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (SIETF) has offered: £3.1 million during 2021; £6.8 million during 2022; and £7.5 million across 2023 and 2024 combined.

Many projects are implemented in the subsequent year, or years. Therefore, the funding spent per financial year (FY) has been: £2 million in FY 2022-23; £5 million in FY 2023-24; and a forecast of £9 million in FY 2024-25.

This is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have asked their Chief Executive, Adrian Gillespie, to contact you directly with a response.

The information requested is not held centrally. This request should be directed to Skills Development Scotland.

This is an operational matter for Skills Development Scotland. I have asked the Chief Executive of SDS, Damien Yeates to write to you outlining these costs.

This is an operational matter for Skills Development Scotland. I have asked the Chief Executive of SDS, Damien Yeates to write to you outlining these costs.

Since the Scottish Digital Academy was established in 2018, there have been 1,348 employee registrations from Scottish public bodies. This includes recognised Advisory and Executive Non Department Public Bodies.

Broken down by year:

2018 (51)

2019 (39)

2020 (33)

2021 (56)

2022 (238)

2023 (483)

2024 to October end (448)

Number of registrations by public body:

Accounts Commission for Scotland (1)

Bord na Gaidhlig (1)

Cairngorms National Park Authority (4)

Care Inspectorate (40)

Children’s Hearings Scotland (19)

Community Justice Scotland (20)

Creative Scotland (14)

Crofting Commission (22)

Highlands and Islands Airports (4)

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (10)

Historic Environment Scotland (37)

Independent Living Fund Scotland (2)

Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority (33)

National Library of Scotland (52)

National Museums of Scotland (4)

NatureScot (93)

Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (2)

Public Defence Solicitors Office (1)

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (12)

Scotrail (6)

Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (1)

Scottish Childrens Reporter Administration (44)

Scottish Enterprise (146)

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (317)

Scottish Funding Council (48)

Scottish Land Commission (2)

Scottish Legal Aid Board (70)

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (16)

Scottish Natural Heritage (33)

Scottish Qualifications Authority (146)

Scottish Social Services Council (53)

Skills Development Scotland (71)

Sports Scotland (8)

Visit Scotland (11)

Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland (3)

Scottish Commission for Social Security (2)

Since the Scottish Digital Academy was established in 2018, the total number of employees completing courses is 9,452 which is 49 per cent of the total number of course registrations (19,209).

2018 (162)

2019 (400)

2020 (477)

2021 (771)

2022 (1712)

2023 (3307)

2024 to October end (2623)

Figures include core Scottish Government employees and Scottish Government Executive Agency employees.