Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 4 November (HL1791), what plans they have to separate the categories of "Gypsy" and "Irish Traveller" in statistics in Government departments; and whether they plan to modify the Census to reflect this.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

The Baroness Whitaker

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

27 November 2024

Dear Baroness Whitaker,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Lord Collins of Highbury on 4 November (HL1791), what plans we have to separate the categories of "Gypsy" and "Irish Traveller" in statistics in Government departments; and whether we plan to modify the Census to reflect this (HL2732).

1. What plans we have to separate the categories of “Gypsy” and “Irish Traveller” in statistics in Government departments:

A category for ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ was added to the Census ethnic group question for the first time in 2011. Space constraints on the census questionnaire meant that separate categories for each group could not be included in the 2011 Census. Consultations with users of Census data revealed that although some users would prefer separate tick boxes, the majority of users of Census information considered the combined tick-box to be satisfactory. Other categories in the question also cover several ethnic groups, for example ‘African’ and ‘Indian’. Given the space constraints of the census questionnaire, the ethnic group question has always required a selection of categories that are few enough to be practical yet detailed enough to be useful for measuring real world racial inequalities.

The Census 2011 ethnicity questions were adjusted so they could be used in the 2021 censuses for England and Wales, and Northern Ireland; and the 2022 Census for Scotland. As part of this adjustment a Roma category was added in 2021. There was strong evidence of a different user need for population data on the Roma population when compared with data on the Gypsy or Irish Traveller population.

The ethnicity harmonised standard[1] we currently recommend to producers of official statistics is based on the 2011 Census questions across the UK. Development of this ethnicity standard is one of the priority topic areas for the Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation team. The broad aim of our ethnicity harmonisation workplan[2] is to improve the inclusivity of the question for minority ethnic groups. This will involve testing possible improvements and changes to the question design and response categories. To date we have undertaken a range of research including desk research, engagement with people who use or collect ethnicity survey and administrative data, and engagement with the public. We have published two reports exploring user needs for a new standard, in March 2023[3] and July 2023[4]. We are also gathering information to understand how ethnicity response options are used by participants, including reviewing data from the ‘write in’ responses collected across a range of data sources, and requests received for new proposed ethnic group response categories for Census 2021[5].

Qualitative research into the lived experiences of Gypsies and Travellers in England and Wales, published in 2022[6], highlighted the circumstances and needs of Gypsies and Travellers relating to a range of different areas including health, education, employment and accommodation. The findings provided insights into the culture and identity of Gypsies and Travellers, and how these are changing over time, including decision-making processes for individuals disclosing their ethnicity, for example to employers or service providers, and anticipated and experienced discrimination linked to this.

Our work to update the ethnicity harmonised standard will bring together information from all these sources to evaluate possible improvements and changes to the question design. This work will include further engagement with the public, community groups, people involved in collecting and publishing administrative data, civil society organisations and other interested parties both within and outside government.

2. Whether we plan to modify the Census to reflect this:

Decisions regarding the future of population and migration statistics, including the census, will be taken by the Government over the next two years with advice from the UK Statistics Authority. As such, it is too early to comment on specific approaches as part of a potential future census. The Future Population and Migration Statistics programme has an ongoing programme of user needs engagement and carried out a consultation in 2023, which acknowledged the importance of collecting data on a variety of topics, including ethnicity.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]Ethnicity harmonised standard – Government Analysis Function

[2]Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Team workplan 2024 – Government Analysis Function

[3]Review of ethnicity harmonised standard: findings from phase 1 of our research – Government Analysis Function

[4]Review of ethnicity harmonised standard: findings from phase 2 of our research – Government Analysis Function

[5]Ethnic group tick-box prioritisation report for Census 2021 in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics

[6]Gypsies’ and Travellers’ lived experiences, overview, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics