Update on development of ethnicity question.

1. 23 October, 2017
2021 Census
Update on development of ethnicity
question

2. INTRODUCTION
Ian Cope
2021 Census Director
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3. Purpose of meeting
• Provide update on the research since the
topic consultation and where we are in the
process to reach a recommendation on the
ethnicity question
• To listen and to understand the perspective
of the Sikh community on whether or not to
have a Sikh tick box in the ethnic group
question.
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4. Agenda
• Introduction and background (Ian Cope)
• Developing the ethnic group question
(Garnett Compton)
• Research and engagement to date to inform our
recommendation
• Discussion – (facilitated by Jason Zawadzki)
• We are keen to hear all views and we request that
you listen in a respectful manner
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5. Note of the meeting
• We will be audio recording the meeting to
support an accurate note
• We will publish the presentations and note of
the meeting
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6. 2021 Census Topic consultation
• Consultation launched in June 2015 collecting evidence of
information needs from the 2021 Census
• Received 1,095 responses
• 279 responses from organisations, 816 responses from individuals
• Assessed evidence against a range of evaluation criteria (those
of most relevance to today highlighted):
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User Requirements Impacts of topic on: Operational
requirements
Strength of user need Data quality Improving coverage
Need at small geographies or
small populations
Public acceptability Coding of derived
variables
Suitability of alternative
sources
Respondent burden Navigation of form
Multivariate analysis Financial concerns
Comparability – across UK and
previous Censuses
Questionnaire design

7. Our response to the topic consultation
In May 2016, we proposed to:
• Collect information about 28 sub-topics (one of which is in
Wales only) – including ethnicity and religion
• Consider how/whether to meet the need for five sub-topics
• Number of rooms, Sexual identity, Gender identity, Volunteering,
Supervisory status
• Explore the potential for administrative data for three sub-
topics
• Income, Veterans, Year last worked
• Not collect - nine sub-topics
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8. Since our response to the topic consultation
• We have undertaken testing to assess the acceptability of
new questions or to improve questions, for example:
• Sexual orientation – 2017 Census Test (approx 100,000 hhs)
• Volunteering, gender identity and Armed Forces community
• Ethnicity, Marital Status, Number of bedrooms/rooms, qualifications
• We have shared progress and approach throughout with
interested parties, including:
• LGBT groups, Royal British Legion, Government Equalities Office,
Academics, National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Humanist
UK, Cornwall County Council, Department for Education, Sikh
Federation, UK Sikh Network, APPG for British Sikhs,
Gypsy/Roma/Irish traveller groups, etc.
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9. Where we are now
• For most topics, engagement, research and testing to inform
recommendations is complete
• For a few topics, we are yet to decide and are conducting
further research and/or engagement with interested parties
• Sexual orientation/ethnicity/gender identity/volunteering/qualifications
and some labour market questions
• No decision has been made on whether or not to make
changes to the ethnic group or religion tick boxes for the
2021 Census
• All decisions need to be evidence based
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10. Finalising the questions for 2021 Census
• Parliament agrees Census Order (includes topics) and
Census Regulations (includes questions) - 2019
• Government publishes White Paper setting out its
proposals on the Census, including topics - Spring 2018
• ONS finishes evaluating evidence and makes a
recommendation to government based on:
• Relative strength of user need and respondent burden
• Have we got space (including Welsh form)?
• Can we get a question that delivers quality information and is
acceptable?
• Are we harmonised across Government Statistical Service and,
where possible, Scotland & Northern Ireland?
• The next ONS Public Policy Forum (December) will focus
on census topics, to help inform our recommendations.10

11. 2021 Census: Ethnic group and religion questions
The options for a Sikh tick box
We will make a recommendation on a religion and ethnicity
question and the tick boxes for inclusion in the 2021 Census.
There are three options relevant to this event:
• Option 1 – include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity question
AND religion question
• Option 2 - Do not include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity
question BUT include a tick box in the religion question (the
2011 scenario)
• Option 3 - Include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity question
BUT NOT in the religion question 11

12. DEVELOPING THE ETHNICITY
QUESTION
GARNETT COMPTON
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13. Engagement and assurance on our approach
to developing an ethnic group question
Engagement
• Shared developments with Census Advisory Groups and other
interested parties e.g. Sikh Federation & UK Sikh Network
• Census Roadshows – attended by over 200 interested users in July
2017
Assurance
• ONS initiated an Ethnicity Assurance Panel to:
• Assure the approach to developing, testing and evaluating the question
• Assess changes against impacts on harmonised standards and on collection
of ethnicity data elsewhere
• Assure the recommended question and subsequent outputs meet user need
• Panel consists of users and collectors of ethnicity data from across
central and local government and other experts.
• DCLG, EHRC, MoJ, DfE, GLA, LGA, WG, Academics and others

14. Gathering evidence (2016 onwards)
Consultation and engagement
• 2021 Census topic consultation (2015)
• Ethnicity survey which gathered evidence of need for any
new tick boxes in the ethnic group question (2016)
• Engagement with interested parties for example, Sikh
Federation, Gypsy/Irish Traveller/Roma groups (2015
onwards).
Testing for ethnic group question which covered:
• Cognitive testing of different questions and terminologies
• Testing of different question styles
• Testing of a Sikh tick box

15. 15
2021 Census topic consultation – ethnic group
Our published next steps in 2016 included:
• Review of the ethnic group response options alongside
the national identity and religion response options
• Any changes to the response options will be tested to
evaluate how well the response options are understood
and how they work together as a set
• Consideration of the impact of any proposed changes on
other users of the harmonised question on ethnic group
• Review of the presentation of the 2011 ethnic group
question online

16. 46 organisations and 86 individuals responded to ethnic group
survey, a total of 55 requests for new ethnicity tick boxes
requested:
Afghan, Black African Breakdown, Black Other Breakdown, Bulgarian, Central/South/Latin
American, Congolese, Cornish, Cypriot, Eastern European, English, European, Filipino,
French, Ghurkha, Greek, Greek Cypriot, Gypsy, Gypsy/Roma/Irish Traveller, Irish
Traveller, Italian, Jewish, Kashmiri, Korean, Kurdish, Latin American, Lithuanian, Mixed
identities including an Irish identity ,Muslim, Nepalese (including Ghurkha), Northern Irish,
Non-European, Orthodox Jewish, Other nomadic, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Romany
Gypsy, Scottish, Sikh, Somali, Sri Lankan/Tamil, Syrian, Tamil, Turkish, Turkish Cypriot,
Vietnamese, Welsh, Western European, White European, White Other Breakdown,
Yemeni
Responses received requesting Sikh tick box from:
•Sikh Organisations: (5)- The Sikh Network, Sikh Federation UK and Sikh Network,
Sangat Television, Sikh Council UK, National Sikh Heritage Centre and Holocaust
Museum
•Other Organisations: (3)- University of Wolverhampton, Birmingham City Council,
Sandwell MBC
•Individuals (6)
Ethnicity Survey
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17. • The 2017 survey tested, a 2011 type question which
included a Sikh response option under the ‘Other’ category
• Voluntary survey, sampled 40,000 households in
Hounslow and Wolverhampton (20,000 each)
• No field follow up of non responders
• Overall response rates: 15% in Hounslow and 11% in
Wolverhampton.
Quantitative testing – Ethnic group questions (1)
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18. Quantitative testing – Ethnic group questions (2)
Just looking at the question including a Sikh tick box:
• There was no indication that the religious affiliation and
ethnic group questions are capturing different Sikh
populations
• It indicated that the religious affiliation question better captures
the size of the Sikh population
Based on the testing:
• All respondents who selected Sikh ethnic group also selected
Sikh as their religious affiliation.
• In 2011 Census only 1.6% in the 2011 Census who had recorded
themselves as ethnically Sikh did not record a Sikh religious affiliation.
• Of those that ticked they were religiously Sikh, one quarter
(24%) ticked they were ethnically Sikh
• In 2011 Census this 18%
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19. Consideration of evidence
• From ethnicity survey and testing only: Of the 55 requests for
new tick boxes. The following 8 were taken forward for further
consideration:
• Gypsy
• Irish Traveller
• Jewish
• Kashmiri
• Korean
• Roma
• Sikh
• Somali
• We are now considering this evidence of user need alongside:
• Views of stakeholders and interested communities for acceptability;
• Available space/quality constraints and impact on harmonisation of
other data uses 19

20. 2011 Census reminder
Summary table showing religion and ethnic group for Sikh/non-Sikh
Religion Ethic group
Sikh ethnic group
(write-in) non-Sikh ethnic group Total
Sikh religion 76,500 346,658 423,158
non-Sikh religion 6,862
Total 83,362
Total population (E&W) 56,075,912
83,362 people in England and Wales
identified their ethnicity as Sikh (as a
write-in response.
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21. Early analysis of names
• Analysed the 2011 Census and identified all
of the surnames who ticked Sikh Religion
• This gave 41k unique surnames which
amounted to 32.6 million people
• Surnames with a count of 10 people or less
were taken out – this removed approx 29k
names
• This left 12,000 names – these are currently
being analysed further
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22. Figure 1 - Religious breakdown of the
10 most common Sikh surnames
Provisional
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
SINGH KAUR GILL KAUL SANDHU SIDHU BAINS DHILLON RAI MANN
Religion top 10
Other
Sikh
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23. Figure 2 - Ethnic breakdown of the
10 most common Sikh surnames
Provisional
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
SINGH KAUR GILL KAUL SANDHU SIDHU BAINS DHILLON RAI MANN
Asian/Non-Asian ethnicity breakdown
Non Asian
Asian
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24. MAKING A DECISION
IAN COPE
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25. Making a decision
Decision on which of those three options to
recommend will be based on:
• Evidence gathered so far through testing and
consultation:
• Quality of question, strength of user need,
And
• Views gathered today on the acceptability of
those options to the Sikh community
• Other considerations, such as space
considerations, impact on harmonisation and
25

26. 2021 Census: Ethnic group and religion questions
The options for a Sikh tick box
We will make a recommendation on a religion and ethnicity
question and the tick boxes for inclusion in the 2021 Census.
There are three options relevant to this event:
• Option 1 – include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity question
AND religion question
• Option 2 - - Do not include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity
question BUT include a tick box in the religion question (the
2011 scenario)
• Option 3 - Include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity question
BUT NOT in the religion question 26

27. DISCUSSION
JASON ZAWADZKI
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28. Our purpose:
To clearly capture the views of the Sikh community on having a
“Sikh ethnic group tick box”
What does success look like us all today?
1. We have focused all of our conversation on
the purpose and the subject of tonight.
2. We end the session knowing we have all
represented the community well.
3. Everyone has had a the opportunity to share
their views on this subject.
Some simple rules to ensure our success
1. Act with clarity and purpose: When you
speak:
a) State your name
b) Affiliation
2. Show Respect: when others speak, allow
them to speak freely and listen carefully to
their views.
3. Ensure equality: everyone who wants to be
heard will have the chance to be heard.
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29. Our process:
Agree our rules, agree our options, discount together,
discuss what’s left
Step 1: Confirm we understand and accept the rules for tonight's discussion
(Done)
Step 2: Is there an option we can collectively discount?
a) If yes, which one and what can we learn from what we are agreeing on?
(up to 10mins)
Step 3: Work through the remaining options
a) 20 minutes per option remaining (more if time allows)
b) Following the discussion of options, allow 10 minutes for any final views/comments
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30. 2021 Census: Ethnic group and religion questions
The options for a Sikh tick box
We will make a recommendation on a religion and ethnicity
question and the tick boxes for inclusion in the 2021 Census.
There are three options relevant to this event:
• Option 1 – include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity question
AND religion question
• Option 2 - - Do not include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity
question BUT include a tick box in the religion question (the
2011 scenario)
• Option 3 - Include a Sikh tick box in the ethnicity question
BUT NOT in the religion question 30

31. Finally
• Thank you for your participation
• Please complete the feedback form –
including any additional comments
• Any further comments can be emailed after
the event to:
• 2021census.consultation@ons.gov.uk
• Next steps
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