Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Team workplan 2024

Current harmonised standard

The current harmonised standard for ethnicity is based on the questions used in UK censuses in 2011.

The recommendation is that people choose their own answer to the question about their ethnic group. This is because ethnicity will mean something different to each person.

It is also recommended that this standard is used together with the religion harmonised standard and national identity harmonised standard. The questions should be asked in the following order: national identity, ethnic group, religion.

For the censuses in England and Wales 2021 and Scotland in 2022, the current harmonised standard was reviewed and adapted. This was because of changes in respondent needs. The census questions were produced by balancing the new respondent needs with the need for coherence and comparability.

Because of this comprehensive work, if you are planning to include a new ethnicity question in your data collection and cannot wait for the review work to be completed, the questions in the censuses in England and Wales 2021 and Scotland in 2022 are recommended for data collection for ethnic groups at present. We recognise however, that user and respondent needs may have changed since the census questions were developed.

Progress since 2022

We began work to update the ethnic group harmonised standard following the publication of our initial workplan in 2022. Ethnicity was prioritised in 2022 due to:

• definitions, terminology, and thinking on the topic changing and developing
• events such as the Black Lives Matter movement and COVID-19 pandemic, which have demonstrated the need for more granular ethnic group data
• harmonisation’s response to the Inclusive Data Task Force’s recommendations to ensure the ethnicity standard reflects the diversity of the UK population

Ethnicity continues to be a focus for Harmonisation as an emerging priority of the future of population and migration statistics in England and Wales.

The broad aim of the work is to improve the inclusivity of the question for minority ethnic groups. We have now finished the research and early engagement work and published the findings from phase 1 and phase 2 of this discovery phase in 2023. These reports outline the issues discovered with the current question, as well as data user needs.

Priority activities

Priority activities for this next stage of work include:

• testing possible improvements and changes to the question design
• considering how any proposed changes to the ethnicity questions will impact the national identity and religion harmonised standards – in terms of how they are used and ordered when collecting data on cultural identity

Timescale

The project timescales are guided by Agile and Respondent Centred Design methodologies, adopting a ‘gold’ approach to our question design. Progress updates about the work and any revised timescales will be published on this page in early 2025.

We are now working to design and test updates to the ethnicity standard.

We expect to finish our research in the following timescales:

• online mode – March 2025
• paper mode – September 2025

These standards will be published thereafter, pending relevant approval and sign-off.

Other data collection modes will be designed after this.

Current harmonised standard

To collect data on disability in line with the Equality Act (2010) for Great Britain or the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) for Northern Ireland, the current recommendation is to use both of these standards together:

• long-lasting health conditions and illness harmonised standard
• activity restriction harmonised standard

Users can also collect data using the impairment harmonised standard. This will give more information about the things that people self-report they can or cannot do. These questions were developed before the UK censuses in 2011.

Progress since 2022

Work to update the disability harmonised standards began following the publication of the initial workplan in 2022. Since then, a review has been conducted to establish user needs, and a publication of the findings identified:

• the strengths and weaknesses of the current standard
• user needs for disability data
• areas for potential improvement

Priority activities

Priorities identified for future work on the disability harmonised standard include:

• a further in-depth review of the topic area
• additional work with stakeholders and user groups to capture any further user needs
• tests of possible improvements and changes to the question design for the disability standards

Timescale

Project timescales will be guided by feedback from stakeholders during the user engagement activities and developed in line with the ‘gold’ approach to question design. Progress updates will be provided on this page in early 2025.

Work is now resuming on the planned discovery research and early engagement work. The findings are expected to will be published in early 2025.

After this, work will begin to update the questions, ensuring they reflect the findings of the discovery phase. We anticipate this work will begin in 2025 when discovery is completed.

We expect to finish our research in the following timescales:

• online mode – November 2025
• paper mode – May 2026

These standards will be published thereafter, pending relevant approval and sign-off.

Other data collection modes will be designed after this.

Sex and gender identity

Work on the topics of sex and gender identity are currently paused pending the publication of findings from the independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), expected in autumn 2024. The review aims to:

• identify obstacles to accurate data collection and research on sex and on gender identity in public bodies and in the research system
• set out good practice guidance for how to collect data on sex and gender identity

Findings from the review, alongside the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR)’s guidance for collecting and reporting data about sex and gender identity, will help inform Harmonisation’s plans and priority activities for these topics. Following the publication of DSIT’s report, we aim to update plans in late 2024.

The current gender identity data harmonised standard is based on the Census 2021 question for England and Wales. This was developed based on in-depth engagement, research and testing work undertaken for Census 2021 in England and Wales. A review of the current standard has been published, detailing its strengths and issues and setting out a proposed workplan to develop the standard further.

Currently, there is no harmonised standard on the topic of sex, although harmonisation guidance on the topic of sex is available alongside OSR’s guidance.