Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen on 8 March (HL Deb, col GC117), when the scoping study to identify Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities as separate groups will be completed.

The Department has asked NHS England to scope whether data collection within the National Health Service could include more of the protected characteristics listed under the Equality Act 2010. This would identify Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities as separate groups for the first time and provide a better understanding of these communities access to health services, their health outcomes and the extent of the inequalities that they face. The scoping work is underway and is due to be completed this year.