Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government why, in the Race Disparity Audit published on 10 October, they have not included information on housing, including permanent and transit sites, as well as unscheduled tenure, employment, social capital, income, and crime and policing, in respect of Gypsies and Irish Travellers.

The ethnicity data published on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website includes data from the Census, published official statistics, numerous Government surveys and Departments’ own administrative records.

The website includes education, health and some housing data about Gypsies and Irish Travellers. It does not currently include information about permanent and transit sites, as well as unscheduled tenure, employment, social capital, income, and crime and policing for this group.

In relation to information on Gypsies and Irish Travellers, Government collects and reports data using a number of different ethnic group classifications.

The Department of Education collects information about Travellers of Irish Heritage and Gypsy/Roma separately whereas many other departments use the 2011 ethnic group Census classification which is Gypsy, Traveller or Irish Traveller. The Government will continue to add more data and update existing data on the website.

In many cases where survey data has been collected using the 2011 ethnic group Census classification, the number of Gypsy, Traveller or Irish Travellers interviewed is very small (eg English Housing Survey and Crime Survey for England and Wales). These statistics have not been provided as they are not reliable and in some cases could potentially disclose personal information about individuals.