These Regulations amend the Marriage (Approval of Places) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 which provide for the approval of places by local authorities for the solemnisation of civil marriages.

They alter the ground of refusal to approve such a place on the basis of a connection with religion or religious practice. They provide instead that approval must be refused if, in the opinion of the local authority in which the place is situated, it is a place in premises used solely or mainly for religious purposes, or which have been so used (but not subsequently used solely or mainly for other purposes).