Committee
Equal Opportunities Committee, 23 Oct 2007
23 Oct 2007 · S3 · Equal Opportunities Committee
Item of business
LGBT Hearts and Minds Agenda
Tim Hopkins:
Watch on SPTV
That is an interesting question. The census in Scotland is run by the General Register Office for Scotland. We have been talking to it about this for at least two years and the engagement has been positive. About a year and a half ago, the GROS did a postal test of the census. The full census forms were sent to selected rural and urban addresses in the west of Scotland and people were asked to fill them in and send them back. One of the reasons for the exercise was to find out whether different questions would change the response rate. There were two questions that the GROS were particularly worried about: one was a question on sexual orientation; the other was a question on income. It was thought that people might be unwilling to answer those questions. The forms were split into four batches, with some batches containing the questions and others not. It was found that the response rates for the forms that contained the sexual orientation question and those that did not were identical. There is a proviso, however, which is that the response rate for the postal surveys is quite low—I think that the percentage is somewhere in the 30s. The GROS said to us that, although the results showed that the inclusion of the question had no effect on the response rate in relation to the test that had been run, the fact that the rate of response was low means that the test does not absolutely prove that there would not be an impact on the 2011 census response rate. That said, the test helped to eliminate one of the concerns that the GROS had.The GROS is also concerned about the response rates from LGBT people, which is why we want to ask lesbian, gay and bisexual people more widely whether they would respond correctly. So far, the engagement that we have had with the GROS has been positive. Obviously, however, it will be up to the Scottish Parliament to decide what goes into the census.The census in England and Wales is run by the Office for National Statistics and my understanding is that it is less positive than the GROS about including a sexual orientation question in the English census. However, I know that some of the public bodies in England are strongly asking for that to happen. The Office for National Statistics did a study of the need for data on different issues from the census. Sexual orientation was one of the issues in relation to which it identified the strongest need for data. However, it went on to say that it was felt that that was an inappropriate question for the census, although it did not say why that was felt to be the case. Our colleagues down south are looking for a sexual orientation question in the English census.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Con
We move on to today's main business. It is my pleasure to welcome to the meeting Tim Hopkins from the Equality Network; Fergus McMillan from LGBT Youth Scotl...
Calum Irving (Stonewall Scotland):
I will kick off. I thank the committee for inviting us along. The hearts and minds agenda group, which has been hosted by the Scottish Government's equality ...
Tim Hopkins (Equality Network):
The Equality Network's main focus is on legislative and policy change at the national level. On the hearts and minds agenda group, I have been involved in th...
The Convener:
Con
That is helpful.
Fergus McMillan (LGBT Youth Scotland):
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about the group's work. For the members who do not know this, I work for LGBT Youth Scotland, which is a national organ...
The Convener:
Con
Hilary Third is here in an advisory capacity—we are pleased to see her.I would like to establish whether the new Scottish Government has given an undertaking...
Hilary Third (Scottish Government Public Health and Wellbeing Directorate):
Yes, the new Government supports the work of the LGBT hearts and minds agenda group. The three organisations that are represented today receive funding from ...
The Convener:
Con
To underline and to be crystal clear, although the group will not report until the end of the year, can you give us a steer on the key recommendations, which...
Tim Hopkins:
Yes, we can. We have a fairly good idea of the recommendations now. Each sub-group has drawn up recommendations, but they still need to go to the whole group...
The Convener:
Con
It is good to know that there has been a smooth transition and that the group's work is being supported.We now move to Bill Kidd, who has a question to ask o...
Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP):
SNP
Too many Bills.In my previous existence as a statistician, I remember having difficulty gathering data on LGBT populations. In policy development, are there ...
Tim Hopkins:
We have carried out survey work on sensitivities among LGBT communities, with a particular focus on the census. Local public bodies ask us how many LGBT peop...
Bill Wilson:
SNP
Why do transgender people, as opposed to lesbian, gay and bisexual people, not want such a question to be included in the census?
Tim Hopkins:
There are several reasons. Definitions are part of the problem. We use the word "transgender" as an umbrella term that includes several different groups of p...
Calum Irving:
Data are important, particularly with respect to public services. It is important that public services know who they are serving and which communities they a...
Hugh O’Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD):
LD
You mentioned the 2011 census. Have you had any engagement with the compiler of questions and, if so, what sort of reaction have you had?
Tim Hopkins:
That is an interesting question. The census in Scotland is run by the General Register Office for Scotland. We have been talking to it about this for at leas...
Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab):
Lab
I can see the need for accurate data. However, are you concerned that the exercise might be counterproductive, because it might result in statistics being ga...
Tim Hopkins:
We know that there will be underreporting; we have to say that up front and be absolutely clear about it. The underreporting will be different in relation to...
Marlyn Glen:
Lab
So the idea would be to put the argument out to public bodies at the beginning that it is really important to get that information.
Tim Hopkins:
Exactly. Notwithstanding the underreporting, asking the question would show differences around the country; we would get some useful data out of it.
Bill Wilson:
SNP
You said that public bodies run the census. Do you know of any other nations that conduct censuses and ask such questions?
Tim Hopkins:
I do not.
Calum Irving:
There are some, but I could not name them. We could get back to you on that.
The Convener:
Con
Is there a question around confidentiality for anyone revealing such information in the census?
Tim Hopkins:
Census data is kept confidential for 100 years. It is not quite confidential at the point where the census people employ an enumerator, who is responsible fo...
The Convener:
Con
That is helpful.You mentioned some health implications. Should there be something like a checklist? For example, we know that questions about childhood sexua...
Calum Irving:
I cannot say whether a checklist or other specific mechanism would be necessary. A lot of work has been done, but we would like to see more being done to ens...
Tim Hopkins:
The Scottish health survey—which surveys 6,000 people each time it is done, and is therefore much smaller than the census—already asks people about their sex...
The Convener:
Con
Are you confident that enough people understand the definition of transgender?