Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to promote to the Jain population in the UK the ability to identify as a Jain in the 2021 census, and if he will make a statement.

The Government will be guided by the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) recommendations, to Government and Parliament, regarding the demand for particular questions in the next census.

These recommendations were published in the White Paper ‘Help Shape our Future: The 2021 Census of Population and Housing in England and Wales’ in December 2018 (Cm 9745).

Under the ONS proposals, everyone who wishes to identify as being of the Jain religion in the 2021 Census will be able to do so using the write-in option and the new online search-as-you-type facility.

The ONS will work with local groups and organisations to ensure anyone who wishes to identify as Jain knows that they can use these options to do so. The ONS has been in discussions with the Institute of Jainology (IoJ) about how best to reach and work with Jain communities, as well as working with local authorities to identify areas with Jain communities.