You asked
I am aware that the Government has recently published data on marriages. I am writing to request some information about this data under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would like the following information in electronic form: a breakdown of marriage data by each denomination or religion listed. I am aware that "'Other Christian denominations' includes Methodist, Calvinistic Methodist, United Reform Church, Congregationalist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Society of Friends (Quakers), Salvation Army, Brethren, Mormon, Unitarian and Jehovah's Witnesses." But I would like to know precisely how many Methodist marriages there were, how many Calvinistic Methodist, how many URC, and so on.
We said
Thank you for your request.
Following a search of our records, we can confirm that we do not hold the specific information you have requested for 2017, which is the latest year for which marriage statistics are available.
However, the information you have requested is available to commission as a bespoke analysis. Such services would fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime and would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreement of costs where appropriate. If you would like to discuss your requirements further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk. For more information about our charging rates, please see our website.
Because we consider this information is available via another route, the information you have requested is exempt under Section 21(1) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000. Section 21 is an absolute exemption, so no consideration of the public interest is required.
We have previously published user requested data on the number of religious marriages by denomination in England and Wales for 2016, which may be of use to you. This found be found via the following link: Religion marriages by denomination, England and Wales: 2016.