MP renews her call for Jewish and Sikh ethnicity to be recorded by public bodies
Preet Gill MP warns Jews and Sikhs are repeatedly missing from vital datasets that shape public service decisions
A senior Labour MP has warned that Jews and Sikhs are repeatedly missing from vital datasets that shape public service decisions, as a government review into ethnic classification remains ongoing.
Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill, who represents Edgbaston, made the warning during a Westminster Hall debate, arguing the issue goes to the heart of how the UK delivers public services.
She has previously been backed in her campaign for public bodies to to record Sikhs and Jews as ethnic groups by the Board of Deputies.
“This is not a theological discussion,” she said. “The Office for National Statistics has told all public bodies that they can only use the current ethnicity data categories for service delivery — and that is really important.”
Cabinet Office Minister Satvir Kaur responded by confirming she had spoken directly with the chair of the UK Statistics Authority and the permanent secretary of the Office for National Statistics.
She said she had been assured that the question of separate Sikh and Jewish ethnicity tick boxes would be considered as part of an ongoing review, ahead of the Government Statistical Service publishing its findings this autumn.
“I have further been assured — and I am confident of this — that at this stage the option to add tick boxes for Sikhs and Jews as ethnic groups is an open question, and that the ONS will reach an impartial, evidence-based decision,” the minister added.
On the question of legality, Kaur noted that the Equality Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty are central to the Government Statistical Service review, with the need for data to support equality monitoring listed as a primary focus.
Under the Equality Act, race is defined to include colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origins. That means that, under the Act, Sikhs and Jews are a racial group by reference to their ethnic origins. Both are also religious groups under the Act.
“Let me be clear: the Government, the ONS and the Government Statistical Service all recognise that Sikh identity and Jewish identity are ethnic as well as religious identities,” said Kaur.
Gill also raised concerns that the Home Office does not collect separate data for Sikh and Jewish communities, citing ONS guidance to use existing census categories as the reason.
Kaur reiterated that no decision had been made. “Whether Sikh and Jewish ethnicity tick boxes should be introduced is an open question,” she said.
“The Government should not and will not pre-empt the ONS’s ongoing, independent and impartial piece of work.
“That means we all eagerly await the publication of the Government Statistical Service’s findings this autumn, at which point I anticipate that she and I will be in regular contact about next steps.”
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