Hansard

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?